| INSURANCE payouts on lead thefts from churches are likely to top £10 million this year.
Chris Pitt, of Ecclesiastical Insurance, said that his company receives 300 claims a month from Anglican churches affected by lead thefts, costing it about £1 million a month. It seems likely that this year’s claims total will surpass last year’s amount of £9 million.
Mr Pitt said he had seen a drop in lead thefts last year, after the launch of the company’s SmartWater campaign, where churches coat lead in liquid with a DNA-type forensic code. But since then, lead thefts have continued to increase, possibly because of the credit crunch and the continuing rise in global metal prices.
The Congregational & General group, which is based in Bradford, also confirmed a rise in lead claims over the past six months, with 132 claims from 1 March to 31 August, a 37-per-cent increase on the same period last year. This is in addition to an overall increase of 86 per cent in lead-theft claims from churches of for the whole of last year, the insurers said.
Mr Pitt said that churches needed to balance the need to maintain their history with the practical needs of protecting the building. “On the one hand, we want to protect the heritage of churches and respect the historic nature of the buildings. But putting lead back on churches can make them vulnerable; so we need to look at the situation pragmatically.
“English Heritage is, in some cases, encouraging replacing lead with lead, in which case churches need to improve security measures as well to deter thieves. But we don’t want our churches to become
like fortresses, and become inaccessible.
“One solution is to replace lead with stainless steel, which looks like lead when it is terne-coated, and is much more difficult to remove, but does exactly the same job.”
One church where this has been done is St Helen’s, Treeton, in the diocese of Sheffield, which last year had ten lead thefts from its roof in three months.
Chris Leverton is a Reader at the church and vice-chairman of its restoration committee. “We decided to go down the route of stainless steel: it looks really smart, and is harder to take, as it can’t be rolled up like lead. It is much brighter than lead, but has a coating which will weather. We have also set up a security system on the roof.”
A statement released by English Heritage described metal thefts as an “irresponsible and disheartening crime, attacking the spiritual, communal and architectural backbone of our villages, towns and cities”. The organisation explained why it recommended “like-for-like” replacement of lead.
“Lead is very durable and performs extremely well as a roofing material. It can easily be repaired, and much of it comes from recycled sources. It is also authentic and beautiful. But our guidance is by no means a diktat, and each case should be considered on its merits.
“If replacing with lead is not immediately affordable, we recommend that owners find a temporary solution, using materials such as felt, which can last as long as ten years.”
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