Norwich City Council Announces Restoration of 15th-Century St Bartholomew's Church Tower

City Council Announces Restoration Plans Norwich City

Council announced plans to restore the medieval tower of St Bartholomew's church on Heigham Street.

The restoration aims to address ongoing structural concerns and rectify issues stemming from earlier post-war interventions on the tower. Authorities intend to focus on these repairs as part of the programme. The primary concern of the restoration plans centers on substandard cement over-pointing applied during the post-war clean-up operation more than seven decades ago.

Surveyors have identified that the flint quoins on St Bartholomew's church tower have fallen into poor condition. The cement render on the tower's eastern face has deteriorated. The tower has been damaged by vandalism, including graffiti.

Cleaning of graffiti is part of the restoration programme for St Bartholomew's church tower. Repair work on the tower was carried out during the 1950s following its wartime damage.

During World War Two St Bartholomew's church on Heigham Street is the sole surviving remnant of a place of worship destroyed during World War Two.

The 15th century structure of the tower was struck during the Baedeker Raids in April 1942. The Baedeker Raids were conducted by German forces targeting historic English cities in retaliation for British attacks on German cultural sites. Photographer George Plunkett captured an image of St Bartholomew's Church from the graveyard entrance on a cloudy Monday in late May 1938.

This pre-war photograph provides a record of the structure before the raids. The original St Bartholomew's Church building was heavily modified during the Victorian period.

The 19th century south aisle of St Bartholomew's Church sits against the unified nave and chancel structure.