Leave your mark on the lead

St Mary’s Church is having the bell tower worked on. It was discovered that the wooden frame which supports the bells was loose and moving within the stonework of the tower and there was concern that the several tons of bells could end up in a heap on the chancel floor or worse. It was also found that the gap between the inner and outer stonework of the tower had only been filled with rubble. Detailed measurements were made over a period to define the amount of movement and the tower is now being strengthened and the bell frame secured. The work is proceeding on plan and no more nasties have come to light. However the scaffolding would make it easy for metal robbers to climb up and remove the lead roofing. Lead is worth a lot of money at the moment. To deter thieves the lead has been painted with a coating with a secret DNA tracer which gives police forensic evidence and links the suspect to the crime scene. Don Sanderson of St Mary’s Church, went to a lot of trouble to put up a notice warning thieves of this – I think that was over and above the call of duty. However he tells me the notice has been stolen!