View from the top

A steeplejack took more than three hours to fix a ladder to the steeple at St Thomas’s Church in Wells so he could climb up and establish the extent of the damage caused when the top of the spire crashed to the ground during the high winds of storm Eunice.

St Thomas’s made headline news across the country when two and a half metres of the spire, plus its two and a half metre long weather vane came down during strong winds. The whole thing was captured on camera as the steeple top swayed in the wind before plunging into the church yard. Weather forcasters estimated that wind reached speeds up to 70 miles an hour on the day of the storm.

Revd Claire Towns saw the whole thing, “I literally thought to myself the church will be ok, it’s been here since Victorian times – and then two, three minutes later I had a telephone call from the police.” 
“The building has been up since the late 1800s and the spire here can be seen from quite a long way. We were just really shocked that this happened. But equally feeling very thankful that nobody was hurt. Our prayers are with those who did lose loved ones during the storm.”

St Thomas’s, which is around 165 years old, and its grounds were closed for safety as structural engineers took away the damaged masonry, and checked the building. This week a steeplejack climbed to the top of the building to take a closer look at the damage. A wooden, waterproof structure has now been fixed to the top of the spire and all loose masonry has been made safe. Finials damaged by the spire on its way down, have also been made safe. The church was open for services on the following Sunday, but the grounds remain off limits.