In the 1980s, the Saxon tower at St Michael at the North Gate was refurbished. A staircase was installed so that visitors could climb the tower for a view over Oxford city centre. A Treasury was created to display historic artefacts, parish documents, and communion plate. Although the work won an award from Oxford Preservation Trust, some fifty years, on the tower interior is looking tired.
The Tower Project aims to refurbish the tower, install new windows, and improve the heritage displays in the Treasury. The first stage was to be make the tower watertight. Some of the leadwork had perished due to footfall on the roof, causing water ingress, staining the limewashed walls. With a generous grant from Oxford Historic Churches Trust, the lead was removed, recycled and reinstalled; cement pointing around the parapet was replaced with lime mortar; the exit onto the roof rebuilt; the safety rails were replaced with ones that conform to current Health and Safety regulations. New matting has been installed to protect the lead but also allow rainwater to evaporate. Inside the tower, asbestos and plasterboard was removed to open the roof space so visitors can see the original roof timbers. Existing steel beams were repainted in same colour as the bell frame fittings. With internal scaffolding, the upper levels were lime washed and the archway was pigeon-proofed so that the Sanctus bell can now be seen. This first stage will be completed this month with the restoration of the early nineteenth-century weathervane. The work was overseen by Henry Sanders of Hestia Architects Ltd. and undertaken Lang Conservation Ltd.
HISTORY
Originally built around 1000–1050, with the Saxon tower of 1040 still in existence, The church is Oxford’s oldest building and the current City Church of Oxford. The architect John Plowman (1773-1843) rebuilt the north aisle and transept in 1833. The church was substantially restored in the 19th century by G.E. Street (1824-81), and again after a near disastrous fire in 1953.
