Innovative restoration work sees historic Saltaire church wins award

Saltaire United Reformed Church, on Victoria Road, Saltaire, and Russell Trudgen, founder director of architects Arctic Associates, based in Morley, won the King of Prussia Gold Medal at the National Church Awards in London.

Saltaire United Reformed Church at Russell Trudgen won the King of Prussia Gold Medal at the National Church Awards. (Image: UGC)

The King of Prussia Gold Medal celebrates innovative, high-quality conservation or repairs. It was presented to Mr Trudgen and Jane Bunyan-Murray, who was representing the historic Saltaire church.

As a key building within the Saltaire UNESCO World Heritage Site, the church attracts many visitors from around the world because of Sir Titus Salt, who is buried in a mausoleum at the building.

Saltaire United Reformed Church (Image: Russell Trugden, Arctic Associates)

The judging panel commented: “The restoration of the plaster ceiling and tower exemplifies environmental sustainability and the mitigation of the building’s carbon footprint, employing traditional building conservation techniques. It’s a remarkable piece of work.”

In February 2020, Storm Dennis caused the partial collapse of the church ceiling.

Damage to the church caused by Storm Dennis. (Image: Russell Trugden, Arctic Associates)

“It was a plaster disaster,” said the architect Mr Trudgen. “Storm Dennis caused the ceiling fall. A half a tonne of plaster hit the deck, breaking a couple of pews.

“It happened at night, so thankfully nobody was injured in the catastrophe.

“We wanted to restore it as it was. The technique needed to be done correctly because it is a historic building in the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The completed restoration work. (Image: Russell Trugden, Arctic Associates)

“We had to take casts of the some of the tiles on the ceiling to make new ones.

“There was quite a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with Historic England about the work.

He said there were problems that arose along the way trying to carry out work, including getting the scaffolding up.

Plasterer Paul Wilmott does some restoration work to the ceiling (Image: Russell Trudgen, Arctic Associates)

“We couldn’t set the scaffolding on the floor as it could have created a collapse issue, so we put it up between the window sills. It was up for a long time.

“The work happened during lockdown which meant there were protocols to follow but it was also a wonderful opportunity to get on with the work with a good contractor.

“We had two plasterers who were third and fourth generation plasterers, and I’d like to dedicate this award to one of them, Joe Wilmott, who sadly died of cancer at age 31.

“He was a young man and this was the last job where he worked together with his dad (Paul Wilmott).

“They finished the restoration work and this award is a testament to their skill and craftsmanship.”