| Grantchester Church ReVaMP Project: January – March 2025 After several years of consultation, planning and seeking the correct permissions we are delighted to announce that we have all the necessary green lights for the Grantchester Church ReVaMP Project to get started. It will involve… Restoring our beautiful church Vestry refurbishment Maintenance work (and saving the best till last..) Path regraded for step free, level access into the church. The building work will commence at the start of January. The last service will be on 29th December after which the church will be closed until the beginning of April, opening in time for Easter. Churchyards 2, 3 and 4 will still be accessible via the path behind the vicarage and we are hopeful that a safe path can be created from the second churchyard to the Garden of Remembrance. Alternative arrangement for worship has been made as follows: 1st Sunday : 9.30am Communion, St Mark’s, Newnham. 2nd Sunday : 11:15am Communion, Grantchester Reading Room. 3rd Sunday : 9.30am Communion, St Mark’s, Newnham. 4th Sunday : 11:15am Communion, Grantchester Reading Room. Please would you prayerfully consider supporting this worthy project? Donations would be deeply appreciated. You can use this link – Grantchester – Parish Giving Scheme or send a cheque to Grantchester PCC, c/o Mrs S Buss,16 Crome Ditch Close,CB3 9NR If you are able to Gift Aid or you would like to inform the church of your donation, please contact Sandi on treasurer@churchgrantchester.org.uk The ReVaMP Project Details Restoration and Maintenance This will involve some re-plastering inside, mainly where the walls have been damaged due to damp, and repointing and repairing of flintwork and walls on the outside of the church. It will require scaffolding both inside and outside the church. Vestry refurbishment The vestry has a lot of purposes! The intention is make the vestry a more welcoming space where in addition to sidepersons and priests preparing for services and congregation making coffee, flower arrangers working, and brass being polished, the vicar can also hold meetings and parents can be with young children during a service. All furnishings will be replaced and there will be a new sink and work surface placed to the opposite side. There will be storage cupboards under the work-surface. The old sink area will house a tall cupboard for (yet more) storage including the vicar’s robes. Next to it will be a space for seating. The table under the window will be replaced with a desk that fits into the window recess. The floor slab will be replaced with limecrete on which terracotta tiles will be laid. Plan view of vestry layout, Sink and cupboarding  Path regrade for step free, level access into church. What we have now… Currently, the path to the church rises from the narrow pavement by the dangerous bend in the High Street. The surface is of broken tarmacadam and gravel. The slope up to the churchyard gates is 1 in 10 at its steepest (Building regulations state that new paths should not be more than 1 in 20 gradient). Beyond the gates the path rises more gradually to the porch threshold.  There are four steps down to the floor of the main body of the church which is about 60cm below the porch threshold. The passage is narrow and dark and can only be accessed by wheelchair users by using a demountable ramp and the help of two able bodied people. The floor of the church is 20cm higher than the top of the High Street kerb at the start of the path. So the path rises 80cm up to the porch and then, to get to the level of the church floor, it steps down 60cm.  The existing toilet is behind the hedge to the left of the churchyard gates. Its layout is designed to meet the needs of everyone including those in wheelchairs, however the approach to it is not good for the elderly and wheelchair bound.  What we will have… After the ReVaMP project, the path will be regraded from the road kerbside so that it is level with the church floor at the threshold of the church. The redundant stone steps will be re-used and laid flush on the exterior to slope gently away from the door. The reinforced gravel in front of the porch will be widened to provide a meeting space outside the church. The ancient doors will be refurbished and extended down to the threshold, all in accordance with the conservator’s detailed proposal. The area around the War Memorial and toilet will also be regraded to improve access to the toilet where there will be a near level landing area in front of the door .   |