Easton - in - Gordano

St Georges' Church, 

Easton-in-Gordano 

A Very Quick History

The church of St George in Easton in Gordano was largely rebuilt in the late 19th century, and as such the tower is the only surviving element of the former 15th century structure. Documentary evidence held at the Somerset Record Office show that the tower has been subject to several substantial phases of remedial works, the results of which are clearly visible in the present structure.

We were commissioned to carry out the condition report by Beech Tyldesley. So that the architect could schedule the works and items that needed attention, Mark hired in one of these spider cranes... Very good fun!

Its kit like this along with our rope access team that allows very accurate scheduling meaning contractors like us and most importantly the clients don't get any shocking surprises once the scaffold is erected.

The condition of the tower before works.

The fantastically carved blind arcading that made up the parapet was found to need quite a bit of consolidation and repair. The four figures in the center of each elevation were suffering quite badly from sitting water and laminating stone. 

West parapet

Below, the figure is clearly in a bad way.

South central figure

Open Joints in the masonry have been taking in the weather. Almost all of the detail to the head of this figure on the north elevation has been lost.

Architect Mark Taylor from Beech Tyldesley.

To the left you can see the lamination's to the nosing detail

A section of the parapet was originally thought to be beyond repair but after inspection from Mark and Chris Minors from English Heritage, it was decided that the masonry could be repaired and kept.

The pointing on the elevations of the tower had lots of failed cementious attempts.

These open joints and hanging cement pointed joints allow water to sit and ingress. The damage that this can cause to the stone can be seen quite clearly.

The tower was completely scaffolded so that an entire repointing programme of the red sandstone could be carried out.

The lime putty mortar that was used for this project was a joy to work with and





what a difference it made

It may look like it but... No,


He's fine!

I was tasked with replacing sections of the 'bendy' string course...

Every masons nightmare.

Kerry and I also had to work a large percent replacement of the Bath stone louvre blades.

I forgot how many

I haven't forgotten how repetitive those few days were!


Below is one of the openings with the new blades fitted.

Lee and Lisa went about the repairs to the hunkypunks. To protect the stonework from deterioration in the more immediate future, a sheltercoat was applied. This will protect the stonework without damaging but it will also make these fantastic carvings stand out from the ground.


Um.. are we sure Lee is fine?!

Here's a few examples of the sheltercoat enhancing the detail of the carving.

The shadow contrast below is what makes the carvings able to be appreciated from the ground.

The masons defiantly had some fun when building this church tower, here's a picture of one of the beasts seemingly eating a naked peasant whilst holding on to his legs! 

As the scaffolding was being struck, we were able to see what the sheltercoating had achieved from a distance.

Check out the hunky punk on the left!

While the works were taking place, the horological engineer restored the clock face and mechanism.

To top it off, the dragon weather vane was put back. Fully restored by Ironart of Bath.



Ironart can be found on Twitter here

The blog they wrote on this dragon can be found here

A finally Lisa Etherton, the project manager, makes sure all the gutters and lead work are free of debris before the scaffolding is struck.

So there it is. The church of St George, Easton-in-Gordano completed.

The tower can be seen from the motorway so... If you are ever travelling down the M5 past Gordano services..