Phase
1
To
Rewire
the
Church
is
Complete

March 1, 2017
Featured image for “Phase 1 To Rewire the Church is Complete”

The electrical works to rewire the church at Great Badminton, which was the aim of Phase 1 of the Restoration project, were completed on Ash Wednesday (1st March) 2017. Although the bulk of the disruptive works were completed in November, there have been plenty of smaller tasks, many of them in areas of the church out of view to the congregation, which have taken longer to bring to completion.

By Remembrance Sunday in 2016 we had finished the work to rewire the church – from top to bottom – the installation of new distribution boards and fuse boxes and the installation of the heaters. This service can therefore be recorded as  the first relatively warm autumn service in most people’s memory, given Great Badminton Church is notorious for the cold draughts, which scuttle through the Georgian leaded windows. As well as this, the brass chandeliers had been removed and shipped off to the other side of the country for renovation, cleaning and rewiring. these too were back at Badminton and rehung in time for Remembrance Sunday.

By Christmas the ancient spotlights in the Chancel had been removed and new, energy efficient LED spotlights had been discretely installed to light the Chancel and choir stalls.

The final works in the roof-space and tower have been completed and Phase 1 is officially complete.

The works have been so professionally carried out that it is as though nothing has happened at all. The church looks exactly as it did before the restoration work to rewire the church began, except to the most observant visitor, who will have noticed the improved lighting in the Chancel, which picks out the most important features; that the chandeliers are clean; and of course, they will have noticed the soft flow of warm air within the pews.

We thank D.A. Eldridge & Sons Ltd. of Malmesbury and Didmarton for their excellent standard of work to rewire the church throughout this phase of the project, and Chandelier Cleaning & Restoration Services Ltd. of Fyfield, Essex for their work on the chandeliers.

A Chandelier Above the South Aisle is Removed
The 1st Duchess of Beaufort's Chandelier Being Rehung

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