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Collapsed church repair was 'mission impossible'

Harry Parkhill
BBC News
Scott Dalton
Radio Lincolnshire
Reporting fromHigh Toynton
Harry Parkhill/ BBC Rubble and debris lie on a frosty graveyard floor in front of a church in the bakground. There's a large hole in the corner of the church with beams and bricks splling out of the holeHarry Parkhill/ BBC
The tower at St John the Baptist church, in High Toynton, collapsed in January 2020

Repairs to a church which partially collapsed five years ago are nearly finished, stonemasons say.

The tower at St John the Baptist Church, in High Toynton near Horncastle, fell down in January 2020.

Stonemasons said the job "looked like mission impossible" when they first started work last year.

The work was part-funded by a £200,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant along with money raised by the village.

Scott Dalton / BBC A tattooed man in a t- shirt is crouching on scaffolding and sponging down sandstone bricks on the church. You can faintly see one of the bricks has a carving in it saying High Toynton - 2025.Scott Dalton / BBC
Ben Chittell and his fellow stonemasons are putting finishing touches on repairs to High Toynton's church

Repairing a church constructed in 1872 with "poor materials" used by Victorian builders has been challenging according to the team.

Stonemason Robert Girvan, from Booths Stonemasonry & Masonry Conservation, said: "We did see it at the start and it almost looked like mission impossible.

"A lot of the stone is a Spilsby green sandstone and I don't even think you can get your hands on that any more.

"But once you clear out the old and start building with the new it soon starts coming together," he added.

A grey and green sandstone church building with a short square tower topped by an octagonal tiled roof. Bare branches of trees overhang the churchyard with headstones.
The church, seen here with the tower intact, was built in 1872

Speaking in 2023, Reverend Charles Patrick described the tower, which had been a Victorian addition to the church, as "too big for the building".

He said it had been "held tight" by metal braces for many years before being underpinned at a cost of £30,000 in the late 1980s.

A decision was made not to rebuild the tower and, instead, a new glass door, entrance and pathway will be installed.

Kenny Bell, 72, who maintains the churchyard, said: "The change in the church has got to be seen to be believed."

He said villagers "were devastated to see the state of the church" after the collapse but said it had helped bring the community together.

"The phoenix can rise from these so-called ashes," he said.

"It's a weird thing to say something so dreadful has had - in the end - a very positive feeling of bringing people together."

Scott Dalton / BBC the church with lots of scaffolding on it on a sunny day - you can see lots of clean sandstone contrasting with the old brick showing where the repairs have been madeScott Dalton / BBC
Repairs to the church are almost complete, stonemasons said

Mr Girvan said: "None of us are going to be millionaires doing what we do, it absolutely is a labour of love. We get paid but we are fortunate we love what we do."

Fellow stonemason Ben Chittell, said they have "only got a few weeks left on the job".

"It's a nice thing to be able to do. It's a legacy, and makes you proud. It's what we do it for."

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