Historic Bristol church re-roofed with Welsh slate
WELSH roofing slate was used during a £4.5m restoration of one of Bristol's oldest standing buildings.
St James' Priory is almost 900 years old and is also used as a treatment centre for people with addiction problems.
The medieval church was founded by Robert, First Earl of Gloucester, as a small priory for Benedictine monks in around 1129.
Restoration work on the Grade I listed building began in 2009 after it received £3m of Heritage Lottery money.
At the time, the dilapidated church was on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register.
The vital repair work included a like-for-like replacement of the Welsh slate roof.
This required more than 14,000 500x300 Heather Blue roofing slates from Welsh//Slate’s Penrhyn quarry in North Wales across the 850 sq m roof area.
Welsh//Slate, based in North Wales, is the world’s leading manufacturer of high- quality roofing slate, architectural and aggregate slate products.
Welsh slate is proven to be the toughest natural slate product known to man, and has the longest lifecycle of any slate.
Carl Downward, Welsh//Slate’s sales and technical manager for Wales and south west England, said: “St James’ Priory is a fascinating building with a rich history.
“As a Grade I listed building it was important that the restoration work respected its original appearance, which is why Welsh slate was chosen.”
Robert Harding, project manager at the St James' Priory Project, said: “Complex timberwork and structural work had to be carried out before the roof could be re-tiled.
“We are delighted with the end result – the new roof looks fantastic and I’m sure it will stand the test of time.”
Camilleri Roofing based in Barry, South Wales, acted as roofing contractor. CS Williams, based in Taunton, Somerset, was the main contractor for the restoration project.
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St James' Priory is almost 900 years old and is also used as a treatment centre for people with addiction problems.
The medieval church was founded by Robert, First Earl of Gloucester, as a small priory for Benedictine monks in around 1129.
Restoration work on the Grade I listed building began in 2009 after it received £3m of Heritage Lottery money.
At the time, the dilapidated church was on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register.
The vital repair work included a like-for-like replacement of the Welsh slate roof.
This required more than 14,000 500x300 Heather Blue roofing slates from Welsh//Slate’s Penrhyn quarry in North Wales across the 850 sq m roof area.
Welsh//Slate, based in North Wales, is the world’s leading manufacturer of high- quality roofing slate, architectural and aggregate slate products.
Welsh slate is proven to be the toughest natural slate product known to man, and has the longest lifecycle of any slate.
Carl Downward, Welsh//Slate’s sales and technical manager for Wales and south west England, said: “St James’ Priory is a fascinating building with a rich history.
“As a Grade I listed building it was important that the restoration work respected its original appearance, which is why Welsh slate was chosen.”
Robert Harding, project manager at the St James' Priory Project, said: “Complex timberwork and structural work had to be carried out before the roof could be re-tiled.
“We are delighted with the end result – the new roof looks fantastic and I’m sure it will stand the test of time.”
Camilleri Roofing based in Barry, South Wales, acted as roofing contractor. CS Williams, based in Taunton, Somerset, was the main contractor for the restoration project.
Outwrite PR