Mark Reckless MP for Rochester and Strood - our guest blogger

Asbestos Stops Play

The Dean of Rochester Cathedral, The Very Revd Dr Mark Beach, has asked me to write a blog after I was shown round the multi-million improvement works being undertaken at the cathedral.

I am used to waiting in the cathedral crypt on Remembrance Sundays before we lay wreaths at Rochester War Memorial. I have never before explored them to the extent I did yesterday and, while the crypt works are the single largest part of the current cathedral building project, there are many other aspects to the work.

Having recently spent time in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, I am delighted that we will, thanks to this investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund and others, now be making much better use of our crypt. Education activities will benefit both locals and tourists, whilst I know anyone who takes their children to Sunday School at the cathedral will appreciate having just the one set of stairs to negotiate, and with a lift option.

I was disappointed on my arrival at the cathedral yesterday to learn that the discovery of unexpected asbestos has led to key works being delayed for four weeks. Apparently it was the most dangerous blue type of asbestos that was discovered in the ducting for electrics installed forty to fifty years ago. But what is four weeks in the scheme of a cathedral that in its current incarnation is now not too far from a millennium old?

Other finds in the works have included a contractor's note from 1975 and two newspapers dated a few days either side of the outbreak of World War One. Amazingly these were found in a space no-one previously knew existed, behind paneling which concealed a bricked up staircase. The two photos respectively show the stairs and the entrance to them ,where Head Contractor, Dave, points to where he supervised the removal of paneling.

I can't wait to discover what will be found as several inches, if not feet, of early concrete and other added cathedral flooring is removed to reveal the more original crypt base underneath, and support more appropriate stone.

Perhaps most exciting of all for visitors, will be the refurbishment of the library "extension" (acutally fourteenth century) to allow the proper display of our Textus Roffensis from c.1123 which includes the oldest surviving English law code.

I will be back, and would encourage others to come to Rochester to see what is being unearthed within and beneath our cathedral. 

Working together

Working together

Camera shy Verger Eddie is caught on camera with  Dave Nash! Eddie came to ask about access to the library to remove some contents and how possible it was  to get the cherry-picker over the protective covering on the Kent Steps as it is needed to replace some lightbulbs. Maintenance work within the Cathedral goes on as usual! Dave was keen that this blog recorded the excellent working partnership that the Verger team have built with the contracting agents who are constantly having to refer to the Vergers’ knowledge of the workings of the existing infrastructure and of course Cathedral events and routine services. 

 Mystery hole

Embedded in the crypt floor in the North West corner is a wooden trapdoor . This reveals previous alterations to the floor level as the frame for the trapdoor sits on a course of bricks to which the concrete infill has been levelled. The hole revealed under the trapdoor remains a mystery even to Graham Keville the Cathedral Architect. It is the shape of an inverted bell. What was its purpose? Did it contain a vessel of some kind or was it a socket for a structure? Clearly it was thought important to preserve it by constructing the trapdoor and brick surround, so when was this done and why was it important? Answers on a postcard please to Mark Beach.

Conservation and reuse

Dave is pleased to be working in Rochester as he comes from Beckenham and is usually sent to Plymouth by his firm! Here he is wrapping the pillars of the crypt in plywood to protect them when work starts on breaking and digging  up the floor. Stone from the demolition of the infill has been carefully saved (visible here under the windows) to be reused. Reusing building material in both public and domestic buildings has been common practice, through the centuries. Many Roman buildings were plundered by those that followed, to provide  material for new Anglo Saxon buildings . Much later here in Rochester, the Gundulfian  crypt was remodelled in Medieval times and it is possible that the ornaments shown here in the photographs of the “cleaners store” in the walls were embedded in this early recycling initiative.

Old vestries cleared 

What a different space! The panel dividing walls for the choir vestry and stores has been removed to reveal the original room. Issues with damp are evident, revealed here in the photograph of bitumen found under a layer of plywood under a layer of marmoleum. Yet another mystery: why does the floor slope? A door frame (pictured) shows how the floor slopes considerably from East to West. When you are aware of this, it really does feel as it you are awaking up hill as you move towards the windows! Honestly!

The space is to be transformed into vestry and education spaces.

 Improving access

Many door openings are not wide enough to allow access for wheelchairs and, where possible, modern infill will be removed or remodelled.  Two examples are shown here. You can also see the precautions the contractors have taken to protect ancient stones, here in the photograph we are looking at the exit from the crypt towards the south door. What a contrast with the practice of previous builders: in the last photograph there is one of many examples of adaptations to the building. Only fragments of previous architectural elements remain in this corner, the rest removed when new walls were constructed.

Secret stairway revealed 

Work in the the cleaners store (on the right at the foot of the stairs as you enter the crypt) has cleared away alterations which had blocked up this entrance (jpg 1804 insert here). What was it for and where does it go? Through the opening a staircase is revealed which ascends  to the South Choir. The top of the stairway has been bricked up but it is believed to connect to a doorway in the wall at the top of the Kent steps. John McALeer records in this in his  book  Rochester Cathedral, 604-1540: An Architectural History (1999, University Toronto Press) (insert tiff file here) .Dave, the Site manager tells me that it is called the Temptation Stair and was a passage down from the choir into a locked room – did you notice the hinges indicating a door at the foot of the stairs. He thought that it was 

a punishment room, but for whom and why? Is anyone able to shed light on this and able to blog about it? 

Day 30 - A discovery in the Strong Room

These scrawls were found in the Strong Room the other day when they removed the shelves.  You will see that they were left by the people who constructed the shelves on 23 October 1835.  On closer inspection you will see that it was signed by Mr. (Isaac) Kingham, Virger, he was Head Verger here between 1832-1847.

I'm sorry that the photo is not of the best quality but we have tried to get the best one possible.

The pity is that we don't think we can save the scrawl!

Day 29 - Guest Blogger Canon Malcolm Green

The works at the Cathedral Thursday 4^th September 2014 at 1:00pm

When visiting today at, I believe week 7 of a 44 week contract, I was taken around by Jason Everest who is currently standing in as Site Manager for Dave Nash who is on holiday.  Jason was unfortunate to pick up an infection in his knee from kneeling on the ground – always a risk when working in historic buildings!

Crypt floor revealing asbestos

It is still early days as part of the crypt and southern parts of the upper floor are carefully unpicked. Soon the concrete floor in the crypt will be broken up revealing many secrets for the archaeologist to unravel.   One not so pleasant secret has already been found in the crypt floor and library joinery in the form of the dreaded asbestos, and a specialist firm is now awaited to remove this.

Kent Steps

Connecting the two levels on which the asbestos can be seen are the Kent Steps.  Now the stair lift is gone what an interesting comparison between the old brick and stone steps, visible on the south part, and the startling brightness and grain of the plywood treads and risers which cover the remainder.  It is all so well done- just for temporary protection.

'Pigeon Parlour'

Staying with changes in level there will be no doubt excitement as the levels of the flagstones in the up to now enclosed ‘pigeon parlour’‘are lowered down to crypt level to form a space, once roofed over, the new kitchen.

Whole through arcade

In the vicinity of the new kitchen site and the now stripped out existing facility, an opening has been formed through arcade infilling which revealed a very old ‘criss cross’ of timbers which acted as props to the arch before being embedded in the stone infilling. The timbers have rotted away and now an opening is being made through the rubbles walling for a  door and the old timber props  ‘job’ is being fulfilled by modern steel acrow  props.

By the end of my visit men were back from lunch and the sound of tools was audible throughout the east end of the Cathedral. 

Canon Malcolm Green

Day 28 - Nothing to report

The truth is that nothing much has happened today ....

Day 27 - Health and Safety gets it right

Outside the site safety signs are prominent, and before getting any access at all, Jason, managing the site, issues me with a hard hat and the ubiquitous hi-vis vest, of the kind detested by those who believe that ‘elf and safety’ has gone mad. A lovely touch is a notice amongst the safety warnings informing all and sundry that ‘Bad language will not be tolerated on this site’. Presumably that’s a warning for construction personnel and not for enthusiastic liturgists. Good to know.

And so into the cathedral, through the crypt and up, past the stairs where the old stair lift lies gutted, across the screened-off south transept with its temporary meeting space and up, into the great library.

It’s quiet in the library; and of course it should be quiet in a library. But in the midst of the ‘Hidden treasures: Fresh Expressions’ renovation project, a quiet library almost exactly not what is required at this stage. Elsewhere the work continues; below in the crypt the space on the south-west side for entrance to the new lift is cleared, ready for the next phase of building. Across the crypt to the east, the formerly filled-in arch is yielding more secrets – slots are clearly visible which held the great wooden beams which the Victorian engineers jammed up against the arch to counter the threat of subsidence. The clearing out of the rest of the crypt space is progressing too, accompanied by the sound of powerful electric saws and grinders. Fortunately the noise isn’t enough to disturb the midday prayers above. 

But in the library it is quiet. In truth, there should also be quite noisy activity here; the oak panelling needs to be fully stripped out and a new floor needs to be laid, with stronger timbers to carry the weight of additional holding hundreds of books, and exhibition capacity – the whole pace made more accessible for use as research, display and demonstration space. Beneath the library is the vestry – already cleared of its oak, in preparation for adaptation into space for educational and musical activities – flexible enough to be used by two groups at the same time. Presumably the sound insulation will be up to the task ...

Much to do, and yet it is quiet in the library. Quiet, that is, except for the soft hiss you might miss from a small yellow box with a black stand holding a short length of plastic piping attached to what looks like an old 35mm film container. It hisses comfortably for what will be a spell of half an hour. All work has stopped in this space, and the yellow box provides the clue.    

‘Asbestos,’ says Jason, who is now gingerly showing me round; ‘We found some asbestos under the paneling by the window.’

A quick glance is enough to confirm the presence of a sheet of dull gray tiling, a tiny amount picked away at the edge, presumably in the act of the dismantling which has revealed its deadly presence.

‘They probably used it as heat protection around a radiator,’ he says, and goes on to explain that a small amount has also been found in a cable duct. Prevention against a cable fire; enough to stop flames coming through. All in the age before the destructive effect of its silicate fibers on human health was generally known.

I’m taken back to a wet afternoon in the science lab at school. Whilst while our teacher tried valiantly to unlock the mysteries of chemical equations, two of us were busy picking apart the asbestos covers in the bunsen burner apparatus. That was also the same lab in which we were encouraged to dip our fingers directly into a heavy glass jar full of mercury, so that we could experience the feel of a metal which is liquid at room temperature.But no such chances are being taken today. The yellow box is steadily sucking in the air and the micro filters in the black canister will be examined under a microscope for the presence of fibers which will determine the level of protection needed to be put in place by specialist asbestos removers who will enable the work to continue.


In safety.

The Revd Jonathan Jennings - Vicar of ST Augustine's Gillingham

Editors Note - No trace of asbestos was found in the Library by the "yellow box" - Our Guest Blogger was safer than in his schools days!

Day 26 - Organ installation complete

Remember a week or so back I showed you the electronic organ that we will be using during the building work. Well it's now fully installed...

This was quite a challenge because the ladder to the loft is very narrow.

 Anyway, here they are in situ. I wonder if people will spot that its not the real Cathedral organ playing on Sunday.

Finally, here is Andrew, the person who doe slots of sound and vision related stuff in the Cathedral wiring up the speakers...All systems go, or very nearly!