ST PIRAN TRUST NEWSLETTER

Since my last newsletter there has been the usual slow progress supplemented by exciting news. This newsletter will bring you the latest news of the Old Church, the Oratory and, very exciting, the first performance in the Round for a long time!

The final touches are being made to the Old Church, which, as I said in the last newsletter, had been excavated. Volunteers have turned up in the pouring rain to clear the north wall, reveal the window sills, and prepare the walls for the masons who will be restoring them and rendering them weatherproof, all under the capable and good humoured supervision of Dick Cole of the Archaeology Unit of the County Council. The work will be undertaken by the Bodmin firm of Darrock and Brown, which has a lot of experience of this sort of work. The north wall still has plaster, and is covered up with plastic bubble-wrap and hessian until it can be protected properly, which will involve covering the old plaster with new plaster painted with lime mortar: the wall will have to be repainted annually. It also has some areas of weakness, and needs consolidation and strengthening. We have cleared away some of the sand pressing against the exterior to make it more stable. Darrock and Brown will also undertake localized rebuilding where needed.

We hope by September the works will be complete. As you can see, these things take a long time, but the Old Church has been waiting even longer to be looked after. It will now be more stable and better protected than before: some people have said to me that it would have been better to leave it alone, but there was no doubt that much of the fabric was deteriorating. I sincerely hope that the doubters will be generous enough to acknowledge the achievement.

For the next stage, uncovering the Oratory, we will need unqualified and constructive support: we simply do not consider it as a desirable option that the Oratory should be left buried.  We in the St Piran Trust feel very pleased indeed at the outcome.  We have gained much experience which will feed into our eventual goal of uncovering the Oratory, and we have shown how a small organization like ours can have a catalytic effect working with funders and the county council to achieve what we set out to do.

Although the masons will not be finished, please note in your diaries that we will be hosting A Summer Evening with St Piran with readings and music at the Old Church on Friday June 16. Come along at 1930 to hear Dew Vardh (otherwise known as Bert Biscoe and Pol Hodge), Chris Blount, the Perran Brass Quartet, Neil Plummer and friends, Ann Trevenen Jenkin, Les Merton and Donald Rawe, and Bagas Penmor. It will be fun and, of course, it is free, though we would like you to give us some money while you are there. You can park at the Holiday Camp, which has kindly given us permission.

So, what about the Oratory? Same story, and not much news to report. Dave Watkins, who has provided his services without charge to undertake the analysis of the water table readings, has not had time to finish his report, but we hope it will be completed soon. However, as I said in the last letter, we now have two years of readings and Dave has confirmed that there is absolutely no hydrogeological reason why the Oratory cannot be uncovered. The shoredock dune slack is above the main acquifer and perched on mining materials that have produced an impervious clay pan (we had to make sure that the piezometers – the instruments for measuring water level – did not pierce the pan). Indeed, it is clear that the shoredock dune slack is fed by rain water and not ground water at all. It is a ‘perched system’ and not a ‘connected system’.

What does this mean? It means that the Oratory can be drained down to the stream, and that there are no engineering problems to be faced. The drainage will have no impact on the shoredock in particular or the ecology in general. That is indeed good news.

Once Dave has completed his report it will be validated by the Camborne School of Mines, and we should be on our way to open discussions with the statutory bodies as well as the public in general.

It seems to me that we need to think about the end at the beginning, rather than the beginning (if you see what I mean). What do we want the Oratory to look like when it is finished?  How should it be protected?  Where protection is concerned, expert opinion informs us that there should be no problem in using similar techniques we have used on the Old Church, meaning that the Oratory would not need to be protected by a cover. If we can reach a consensus about what people would prefer at the beginning of the operation, it will consolidate support and avoid unnecessary conflict. Clearly we are interested in a solution that at the same time is cost-effective, provides more than adequate protection, and that fits in with the environment.

So let us know what you think. You can do this by writing or emailing us, or by visiting our web-site where we will shortly set up a consultation page for people to send in their ideas.

And finally, we are really pleased to announce that the first proper performance of a play in the Round for 20 years, on July 18, at 2000 hrs. The Miracle Theatre Company will perform The Government Inspector, which promises to be a good laugh. Tickets from Barbara Tremewan on 01872 572121.