Since 1309 Boston Stump has been an iconic la
ndmark on the skyline of Lincolnshire, attracting the affection of local people and the admiration of visitors. It enjoys a reputation for high-quality musical, cultural and worship events.
The Parish of Boston received a confirmed National Lottery grant of £1,166,700 for its ‘A Passion for People’ heritage project in July 2018. The total cost of the project, with money raised by the Parish of Boston, will be £2.7million.
Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, ‘A Passion for the People’ is an ambitious project to transform one of this country’s most architecturally iconic churches into a centre of cultural learning, heritage interpretation, all-age people development, musical excellence and community integration. The project will increase the number of visitors, engage tourists, and promote Boston’s heritage to an overseas market.
Supported through the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project includes the repair of the West Face of the tower and tower roof, urgent repair and development of our pews, installation of underfloor heating and the construction of draft proof, flood-resistant and accessible porches on the North and South doors. An educational interpretation and activity scheme will also be created, telling the stories of the people of town and church.
A Passion for People
From the beginning…
November 2018
Remembrance Sunday, and it’s the final day of a fantastic two week ‘Festival of Remembrance’ – The church is looking fantastic lit up in red to commemorate the 100 years of the end of the First World War… and the last day of normality for almost the next 2 years…
One day later the Harris fencing is up… the work begins. 2 days later the first of many scaffolding deliveries arrives and work to erect the mammoth scaffolding begins but not before the ground is checked by radar for anything that could cause a problem.
… with a job this big, accurate measuring for the scaffolding is essential!
December 2018
Outside we saw the last view of the whole tower for quite a while… the scaffolders start the foundation of what will be a mighty structure which, eventually, will reach the very top of the tower. The scaffolders created a ‘chain’ in the early stages of the construction to start taking the boards up as the structure grew.
Meanwhile, inside there was progress as the pews began to be moved and the old, now mostly rotten, pew platforms were taken up to reveal mud! No wonder the pew platforms had seen better days, the entire structure was built on a single brick wall around the outside with minimal support in the centre.
January 2019
As the month went on, gradually the west face of our great tower disappeared. Through the bitterly cold weather, our dedicated scaffolders continued to build, by the end of the month they reached the viewing gallery!
The works inside continued and a small number of items found. Sadly the only items were old oyster shells (probably from someone’s lunchbox when the platform was installed!), bits of clay pipes and a modern £1 coin… Once the floor was up it was time for the geophy machine to investigate to see what lay beneath the soil. unfortunately, although fortunately for our project timeline, nothing was found.
