Replacing the Lighting in St Mary's
Latest News
Installation of Our Replacement Lighting Update - 3rd July 2025
When writing the update for the July edition of the Parish News, I reported that we had reduced our funding gap to £14,000 from £38,000. By the time that edition was published we had reached full funding and the editor helpfully added a Stop Press to note this. In addition to the amazing support from you all, we made 6 grant applications to Trusts and Foundations, 4 of which were successful. We also received an anonymous donation to fund the spotlights for the roof bosses in the nave and chancel, which are not lit at present, and which were an additional, optional item. The other optional item, lighting the statues in the south and north aisles can also now be progressed.
The outline of the programme for the installation is:
Start Date – Monday 4th August. Natural England have informed us that no work can be done at ceiling level except in the west tower until Monday 15th September, due to the maternity roost of bats in the church, they visit every summer.
Target completion date – Friday 13th March 2026
Break for Christmas – Thursday 27th November or Friday 5th December, depending on progress. The contractors will leave and take their equipment with them.
Storage of equipment – all of the new light fittings will be locked away in the boiler room until they are installed. The contractor’s mobile scaffold tower will be stored at weekends, covered with sheeting, in place of two pews against the north wall of the church.
Each weekend. The church will be “handed back” to us each Friday with all equipment tidied away so that weekend services can continue normally.
Approximate more detailed programme:
4th August to 12th September: Work includes installing the control electronics in cupboards at the west end of the church, shelving out these cupboards to make space, re-cabling the choir stall lights, running a cable across the organ loft and fitting the new lights in the west tower, running a data cable across the steps at the west end of the nave.
15th September to 17th October: Fit new lighting in south and north aisles.
20th October to 27th November: Fit new lighting in the nave.
5th January to 6th February: Complete nave works if required, fit new lighting in chancel.
9th February to 6th March: Fit new lighting in north and south chapels.
9th to 13th March: Test and commission.
The existing lighting will be removed when work starts in each area and temporary lighting will be provided during the period when the new lights are being fitted.
For Christmas we may have the new lights in both the side aisles and nave with controls which are just a simple on/off switch.
For the period of the installation the following services and activities have been moved to the parish rooms: Tinies, Wednesday Morning Prayer, Wednesday 9:30am Holy Communion, and Silent Prayer.
Work will stop for funerals and weddings.
There will be a display in church from late August onwards which I will endeavour to keep up-to-date to show progress and, of course, updates on the church website and in the Parish News. If you have any questions at any time, please do not hesitate to ask.
Steve Hasler
3rd July 2025
Prayers for the Lighting Project
Please also support the project with your prayers.
“We are responsible for this wonderful building and are fortunate to use it for our worship and for it to be used by the wider community, by local schools, for music concerts, and to welcome many visitors each year, both from nearby and from all over the world. With this responsibility comes the need to maintain it in good condition, and to ensure that its facilities continue to support and enhance our worship and welcome in keeping with its grade I, national status.” Rev'd Jeremy Trew.
Here is a pdf of the presentation about the Lighting Project.
You can discover some more information about the project in advance of these meetings by scrolling down or by clicking on these links:
Why are we progressing this project?
Our main altar, dim and only half lit
|
The existing lighting was installed in the 1970s and is now failing. It is not so much that the bulbs are failing but the units and system into which they are fitted. Much of the nave lighting has failed and the chancel and sanctuary are now particularly poorly lit. In the south aisle you may have noticed that the statues are now either green or yellow! Unless we replace the system, we will be back to using candles,
doing nothing is not an option.
We are proposing a new design, moving to low energy LEDs, to enhance all the activities and services in every part of the church. An improved atmosphere will highlight the architecture of our magnificent church, improving both our worship and the welcome we offer.
Nave uplighters north side, only 1 of 6 still works
|
On winter Sundays, when the lights are on for at least 6 hours, we consume enough electricity to boil 400 domestic kettles! The lighting is the single biggest user of electricity in the church, and is a bill we could reduce by up to £2,000 pa. This would cut our carbon footprint and be a considerable step along the way to become a net carbon zero church, in line with the target set by
General Synod.
There will also be a very significant reduction in the maintenance costs of the current system. Currently a team of at least 6 people have to replace all of the bulbs every 5 years. An LED system of this quality should only require that sort of maintenance every 25 years!
Progress so far
With the agreement of our PCC, the team started to assess the lighting in 2022, developing a Statement of Needs, a Liturgical Statement and an assessment of all the other uses of the church by the wider community of Saffron Walden. A Project Brief was generated and sent to 5 Lighting Designers to request a proposal and cost estimate for a Concept Lighting Design for St Mary’s.
Team members then visited 6 reference projects and the PCC then approved the appointment of CBG Light Perceptions, headed by Bruce Kirk. Bruce has designed the lighting in many cathedrals around the country including recently at St George’s Chapel Windsor.
Bruce’s Concept Design can be seen in 6 videos clips, each 2 minutes long, which show the look and feel of the proposed lighting. Click on each one to play. Each video shows part of the church, first in daylight and then in darkness, followed by the effect of turning on the various proposed new sets of lights. The labels on the right of most slides should help.
Nave Facing East - Wide View
Nave Facing East - Close View
Nave Facing West
Chancel
Remembrance Chapel
North Chapel
Funding and Fundraising
Due to the sheer size of St Mary’s, our own funds will be insufficient to pay for the design and installation. A Fundraising Team have started researching possible Trusts and Foundations so that we can make applications as soon as the project costs are finalised. The Fundraising Team are also considering whether Crowd Funding might work.
Some legacies and other donations have been given for improvements to the fabric of the church, and are restricted for these uses rather than the mission and day-to-day running of the church. The lighting project will not use funds donated through our stewardship scheme or pledged to the Stewardship Campaign earlier this year, which are explicitly for the day-to-day needs of the church.
St Mary’s church is a building of national significance so we hope that funders who support the heritage of our nation will contribute significantly to the cost of the project.
The Lighting Team
Please feel free to approach any members of the Lighting Team with any questions you may have:
• Steve Hasler - Project Leader
• Barbara Flaxman – Congregation member and Team Secretary
• Edward Gildea – Eco Church representative
• Paula Griffiths – Retired member of our clergy team, with previous career in church buildings
• Simon Potter – Churchwarden
• Denis Tindley – former Churchwarden and Chair of Property Committee
• Noel Starr – Church Choir representative