Raiders swipe paving stones from church
THIEVES DIG UP SLABS FROM NEXT TO FAMILY VAULTS IN SHOCKING ACT OF DISRESPECT
THIEVES targeted a Grade church in a shocking theft.
The gang dug up more than a dozen Yorkshire stone slabs, most from in front of the main entrance, at All Saints Parish Church in Stand, Whitefield.
Operating under the cover of lockdown and darkness, they showed no respect for the church’s history – or the dead.
They prised the slabs out from between two 200-year-old family vaults. The vast churchyard is covered in part with flat tombstones.
All Saints, which stands on a hill in a conservation area, is one of a series of ‘Waterloo’ churches across the country built to mark victory over the French at the 1815 battle. The theft has appalled parishioners and church workers.
I-listed
Mandi Davies, one of two church wardens, said: “We are assuming they were taken in the middle of the night. It is not the first time it has happened at All Saints – this is the third occasion. We have had a number taken from in front of the main entrance and, another from just around the corner, and another from the north side of the church.
“I am not sure whether it is the original stone, but it is very old. The church was consecrated in 1826. Last year we had Yorkshire slabs taken from a path at the side of the church.
“Because it is a Grade I-listed building, only heritage specialist companies can work on it. We have asked for an estimate to replace the stone. Working on what we had to pay previously, it will be in the region of £4,000.
“It is a great shame what has happened. We have a group of volunteers who do work in the churchyard and to lift those slabs would take at least two, possibly three, people. “They must have had a vehicle too – possibly parked in the church hall car park or on the main road.”
In 2002, work was started on major restorations, with a £500,000 new roof and repointing, and strengthening of one of the bay windows. It was supported mainly by English Heritage and the congregation also raised tens of thousands of pounds.
£1m was set aside for all the Waterloo churches in 1818 and was further enhanced by £500,000, as part of the government’s strategy to counteract the possibility of political unrest culminating in the ‘Peterloo Massacre’ in Manchester in 1819.
Sir John Soane, a distinguished London architect, was approached in 1821 to prepare designs for the church to cost no more than £12,000 and seating some 1,800 people. He found this to be impractical and the commission was passed to Charles Barry and the limit raised to £20,000.
Barry was later best known for rebuilding the Palace of Westminster and also designed the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Manchester. The foundation stone was laid on August 3, 1821, and the Bishop of Chester consecrated the church on September 8, 1826.