Church repairs after the lead theft, are finally finished!

The final restoration in St Mary’s Church, Potton, after four years

In June 2016, most people in Potton will remember the major theft of lead from the roof of St Mary's Church. It has taken all this time to fully complete the repairs as this week, the damaged interior paintwork in the Chancel and Vicars Vestry was finally re-painted covering up the watermark damage caused by rain running down the walls for a very long period. We had to wait till the external work on the roof was completed and fully water-proofed to allow the interior walls to dry out. A small team of painters this week put the final touches to these walls by applying a new coat of the special paint over the whole area. It now looks immaculate so thanks to the team, led by Paul Pibworth, Geoff Tomlinson and Churchwarden Brendan Moore for this last big push in the restoration.

The Romanian gang responsible for the damage, and it involved 30 other churches across the eastern region, will finally appear at Lincoln Crown Court, in October. The investigation into the thefts, was led by Lincolnshire Police.

The picture shows how the Chancel area looks now after the restoration. The three larger pictures below, show the restored walls, the others show the area after the damage was caused.