The boundary wall of the All Saints Church Leamington church runs along three sides of the churchyard, the area requiring repair was at the North West corner and was approximately 6m in length and 400mm in width.
The wall had suffered with years of neglect and a combination of root infestation, mortar wash out and damage due to overhanging trees had caused the sandstone copings to decay and to the destabilization of the underlying blue and white lias stone courses.
The church dates from the late 13C and is listed Grade II*
Please click on each photograph for more information.
During October and November 2019 the coping stones requiring replacement and rebedding were recorded, numbered, and taken down. All coping stones were laid out and assessed for their suitability for reuse. On further inspection some coping stones were extremely soft and friable, possibly from being continually wet. All coping stones that were to be retained were taken back to the workshop to dry out and to be repaired if necessary. The remaining wall was covered over and protected from the elements until repair work could start in the spring of 2020.
![Some coping stones were considered too decayed and incomplete to be able to provide long term protection for the wall. New stones were a sensible option.](http://www.sleightconservation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cache/Picture10-1/1169998235.jpg)
![Wooden recording frames were placed against the wall to number each stone before dismantling to aid accuracy in reconstruction.](http://www.sleightconservation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cache/Picture11-1/142933060.jpg)
![The external side of the wall was faced with a single skin of handmade bricks that had decayed and had to be repaired using matching handmade bricks.](http://www.sleightconservation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cache/Picture14-1/2855088294.jpg)
![Original stones were reused together with new Lias stones. The core of the wall was filled solid with stone and lime mortar.](http://www.sleightconservation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cache/Picture15-1/3876916601.jpg)
![With agreement of the client and architect new stones were purchased for use as new coping stones. The stone used was Hollington Tearne sandstone.](http://www.sleightconservation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cache/Picture16/3919840485.jpg)