Changes Over The Years
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Over the years our beautiful church building and grounds have demanded and received plenty of TLC and innumerable changes and repairs have been made both to the church fabric and to the church yard.
During the 1990s the church building benefited from restoration work on the roof, windows and stonework. The chancel was reordered and a Lady Chapel was established. A church centre with kitchen and toilet facilities was incorporated sympathetically into the west end of the building. In 1995 an organ constructed by Wood of Huddersfield was located above the church centre. In 2002 significant repairs were carried out to the chapel, main and tower roofs and to the Drugaser heating system. 2002 also saw the beginning of a partnership with the charity Groundwork who agreed to assist in maintaining the church yard while tackling the ever persistent problem of Japanese knotweed. This partnership led to the setting up of the Friends of the St Cross Churchyard Trust which had its own account and the specific aim of involving the wider community in the conservation and historical and environmental significance of the churchyard. Although this partnership has since been superseded by a partnership with Community Payback, the PCC of St Cross recognise that there is nevertheless a strong historical precedent for a churchyard-based school projects which aims to explore the wealth of information held in the St Cross Churchyard about events, people and wildlife in Clayton. Historically St Cross also has a relationship with the War Graves Project (in association with Youth Offenders Project) all of whom may be used in help create such a project going forward into 2020. In 2004 attention was given to some of the high level brickwork throughout the exterior of the church and the apex of the roof. In 2005 the church’s electrical system was overhauled. In 2008 several handrails were replaced and a thorough lighting system including independent organ spots were installed. In 2010 kitchen in the church centre was upgraded and fully refitted with catering grade equipment to make the centre more attractive to outsiders who would pay to use the facilities and the heaters in the church were replaced 2010 the Church Centre itself was refurbished. This involved the laying of a new floor and the purchase of table and chairs In 2011 some thought was given to alter the interior of the church. This included screening off the chancel, the removal of some of the pews and the installation of underfloor heating. While none of these proposal came to pass the Lady chapel was redecorated and some of the external lighting to the church was restored. In 2014 the external west path was rebuilt to enhance disabled access, and memorial stones were re-laid on the north side of the church. In 2016 a new heating system was installed. |
