Lych gate saved
The small Victorian church at Clay Hill, Enfield, built a lych gate as a memorial to the fallen of the Great War using surplus funds from a bell appeal. After 100 years of service this simple oak framed structure was leaning dangerously, from subsidence and tree root activity. Ablett Architects surveyed and recorded the building and detailed the complex timber repairs to be undertaken. The building was dismantled and stored, new replacement oak members made and the whole re-erected using traditional construction methods. The structure now sits on a new piled raft foundation. The client has been closely involved including cleaning each individual salvaged roof tile and sourcing reclaimed Yorkstone slabs for the floor. Completion is due soon and the structure will be rededicated in November on Remembrance Sunday.