Barrowden Re-ordering – Background

Barrowden Re-ordering – Background

For some years it has been evident that the Church’s heating system is not fit for purpose; it is expensive to run, so noisy that it has to be turned off just before Services start and because it works on blowing hot air into the nave, it is almost impossible to keep the church warm.

Back in 2009 the Parochial Church Council [PCC] set about the best way of replacing the old oil fired system.  After extensive research they concluded that under floor heating [UFH] was the most practical and aesthetic option.  However this would mean extensive structural work – the removal of the pews, relaying of the flooring and the rewiring of the ancient electrics.

Faced with this, the PCC then started to outline what else could be done to make the church space fit for the needs of the 21st century, and the re-ordering project was born. Various proposals were discussed with a final recommendation that if the beautiful space within the church were to be optimised we would need to install the following:

  • Disabled toilet,
  • Servery for preparation of hot and cold food and drinks
  • Meeting Room/Crèche
  • Movable chairs/benches
  • New organ

Since the proposal was drawn up there has been considerable discussion with the DAC on both the suitability and viability of the project.  St Peters is a Grade 11 * listed building and all work carried out has to recognise this and be sympathetic to its history. In November 2016 we got the green light from the DAC and are now embarking on delivering the project.