Church leaning more than Tower of Pisa has become ‘dangerous’
A church which is leaning more than the famous Tower of Pisa has become dangerous to use and has cracking in its walls as funds are being raised to repair it.
Parishioner Mike Hine said residents of Dry Doddington in Lincolnshire were “up in arms” when they were told the severely tilted tower of St James’ Church in the village could be forced to close if its flooring was not fixed. Mr Hine, who is part of the church council, said £150,000 will be needed to repair the Grade II listed building, which has a tower leaning at 5.1 degrees compared to the tower in Pisa, Italy, which leans at about 3.97 degrees. Mr Hine told the Press Association: “The problem at the moment is that the floor inside the church in the nave is getting quite dangerous. “The paving slabs are settled in some places quite unevenly and the timber areas under the pews have got woodworm and dry rot and wet rot. So some areas have sunk below the paving level. “We’ve got trip hazards, basically. We use it for a very limited number of services, and that’s all at the moment.” He added: “At the moment, because it’s unsafe to let people wander around, we’re having to keep it locked up unless someone from the church is there to be responsible.” Richard Loynes, the church warden, wrote on an online fundraising page: “Our beautiful 14th century church, which has the famous tower that leans more than Pisa, is central to our community. “If we cannot raise the money to replace the floor, ultimately the church will have to close.” Mr Hine said the tower’s movement has caused “nasty cracking” in the walls, causing plaster to fall off. “The intention is we deal with that at the same time as the floor and make good all the plastering so that it’s safe to use again”, he said. Mr Hine said the building is part of Dry Doddington’s history and heritage, adding: “We did put it out to people in the village – if the church wasn’t there, closed down, how would you feel? “And they were all up in arms, (saying) we need to restore it and keep it. “We don’t get services very often but it is regularly used for weddings and funerals. People want it to be there for that in the future.” The reason for the tower leaning away from the building is unknown, said Mr Hine, but the building’s foundations are not very deep and the ground is mainly clay, which moves with the weather. Mr Hine said a grant application has been submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and people are being asked to donate money. More than £6,500 of donations have been made to the online fundraising page so far. Mr Hine said: “If Heritage turns us down, we’re then forced to look at the smaller charities and get smaller grants that’ll add up to cover the total. “The problem there is, of course, the longer it goes on, the more the cost increases.” The church was built initially as a chapel of ease for All Saints Church in the nearby village of Westborough, before becoming a separate parish later. The building contains a memorial to an RAF Avro Lancaster that crashed near the village on November 26 1944, killing two of its crew.
Published: by Radio NewsHub