HISTORICAL experts have moved in at Otley Parish Church to start work on an £84,000 repair project.

The project is being carried out as part of the £200,000 Open to All Appeal, which is intended to take the church - which has a 1,350 year history - into the new millennium.

English Heritage advisors and Bradford-based architects Langtry and Langton, are overseeing the work of specialists Lawson Peel Ltd, of Leeds.

The company's craftsmen are carrying out work on repairing the ageing roof over the organ chamber, vestry and north aisle of the Grade I listed church.

Lead box guttering on the north and south aisles is being renewed, as are operating gears on the windows of the nave area.

There is a small area of dry rot which will be treated and the final part of the project will be carried out on the church tower's leadwork.

Kevin Ingham, the leading architect on the project, said: "We often find that the firms we know can carry out this type of work are busy with other projects.

"Lawson and Peel, who are now working at Otley, have just finished work on the restoration development at the Royal Baths at Harrogate," he said.

"The chap who will be repairing the lead work has done this all his life and has worked on some of the oldest buildings in the country.

"We have to work with firms who can complete what we ask of them to a very high standard. You can't just go and get an ordinary roofing firm in to do the work," he added.

A spokeswoman from English Heritage said: "All Saints received money from us through the Joint Charities Scheme.

"Because of that, and its Grade I listing, we will have an English Heritage advisor visiting the site throughout the construction period," she added.

Lawson Peel managing director, Andrew Smith, said: "We are taking the slates off and sorting through them because they have been up on the roof for more than 150 years.

"We will then go to local savage yards and make sure the replacement slates are as near in age to the existing ones as is possible," he added.

"There will be a total of four specialists working on the leadwork during this first phase of repairs who will be making up replacement panels of lead.

"Each of these are tooled on the ground and are then taken up individually to line the roof edge before the slates are replaced," he added.

Rev Ian Rodley, Vicar of Otley, said: "I am delighted that the work has finally started, although I will not get to see it completed because I am moving to another parish this summer.

"I may have to make a special visit back to see the church when it's finished," he added.

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