Drains at St. Paul's
10/08/2016

ON DRAINS… AT LAST!

Father Malcolm joyfully addresses the question of… drains and St. Paul’s!

It is said that the secret to ancient Rome’s power lay in its drains. Even today, those same drains are an essential part of the city’s drainage system. In contrast, one of the weaknesses of St Paul’s has long been, yes, it drains.  The facilities at St. Paul’s, whether for waste water or the WC, has been a small cesspit and soak-away, which would easily overflow if some big occasion took place. Drains at St. Paul's-pipeOver eleven years, various plans have been submitted to the Ministry of Culture to provide improved facilities particular for a WC on ground level. Each has been turned down. Why?  Because St. Paul’s is a listed historical building and nothing is to detract from its exterior appearance. ‘Hey, Ministry of Culture, this listed historical building needs to finance itself if it is to remain in a reasonable state of repair. Hence we need helpful facilities.’ Our cry fell on deaf ears. Through the initiative of churchwarden Nigel Daniels and with the support of the Chaplaincy Council, this July St. Paul’s was at last connected with the city’s main drainage system. This is a start. We hope that it will also resolve a rising damp problem that we were observing in the crypt and in the church. But a ground level WC – that would be our dream. Does anybody know the solution and a source of money to construct it?

Fr. Malcolm Bradshaw

1 Comment

  • Jean Mertzanakis

    19/08/2016 at 13:24 Reply

    Congratulations to everyone involved! As Father Malcolm points out, this is the answer to a long and frustrating sequence of requests and refusals, which included being asked to provide an aerial photo of the church, giving rise to some hilarious suggestions as to how this could be obtained! Send our resident up in a balloon? Hijack a passing pigeon? This was before the age of drones, of course! I’m sure that friends and members of St. Paul’s will rise to the occasion once again and support the provision of a ground level structure that will make toilet access so much easier for all our members and visitors, especially the elderly and the disabled. The matter is even more urgent due to the huge success of our concert programmes that attract hundreds of visitors throughout the year.

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