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1981: Steeple for blaze-hit church

  • 2 days ago
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West Sussex County Times, Friday February 27, 1981


A GIGANTIC crane last week manoeuvred into position the steel frame for Cuckfield Holy Trinity Church’s new steeple, a replica of the original spire built in 1350.


On May Day last year, a blaze destroyed the spire and severely damaged the bell tower. It took firemen nearly three hours to control the blaze, which caused more than £100,000 of damage to the 13th-century church.

Flashback to the scene of the blaze in May 1980; the Reverend Eric Hayden and Phillip Welch pick up the golden cockerel which used to sit proudly on top of the Cuckfield Church spire from among the rubble
Flashback to the scene of the blaze in May 1980; the Reverend Eric Hayden and Phillip Welch pick up the golden cockerel which used to sit proudly on top of the Cuckfield Church spire from among the rubble

Vicar of Cuckfield, the Reverend Eric Hayden, said he was delighted the work was nearing completion, and the major operation of erecting the new frame had been carried out without a hitch.


“The work should be completed by the end of May,” he said. “The new spire will look exactly the same as the one that was burned down, but the original oak frame has been replaced by steel.


“The cost of the work and the shortage of the light timber made the cost of a new oak frame prohibitive,” he said. “We have no idea how the fire started,” he added, “we didn’t know then, and we probably never will.”


 
 
 

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