CSsR Treasure in our midst...
It is easy to take the glorious Spire of St Mary's Church, our Redemptorist base in Clapham, for granted. It has a been there a long time (160 years), it is part of the landscape, a landmark for the whole of South London. Now it has become the talking point of all around. It is covered spectacularly in scaffolding. You can see from the photograph that it is an amazing sight just now.
After so many years the stone work has suffered a great deal from the frost, the winds and the rain. Iron bands, essential to the structure when it was built, have rusted and corroded, and damaged some of the stonework. So the Spire needed repair and restoration.
It has taken a number of months to put up the scaffolding and the masonry work has not yet begun. This highly skilled specialist work will take most of 2015 to complete. In the meantime the busy parish continues its mission in the heart of south London.
English Heritage are helping on the grand scale and there will be many activities through the year to help people recognise and value the treasure in our midst.
