Climate change

Keeping a weather eye on our churches

There is a strong wind that significant and rapid changes to the environment are taking place and are set to continue over the coming decades.

This could mean drier summers, wetter winters, increasing volumes of water in storms, more frequent windstorms with higher wind speeds, a rise in average temperatures and an increase in the extremes of temperatures.

Possible knock-on effects for the CCT:

• Increased subsidence - many of our Medieval churches have little or no foundations. Although traditional building materials can accommodate substantial movement, these climatic changes may be too great
• Increased flooding – some of our churches are prone to flooding and with more severe rain storms predicted there is a potential risk to other churches
• Accelerated decay of stonework as a result of drier summers and wetter winters
• Drainage and rainwater systems unable to cope with increased volumes of water
• Changes in the numbers and species of pests - warmer but damper conditions are a boon to most pests found in churches
• Higher humidity levels internally causing significant damage to wallpaintings and stained glass
• More storm and wind damage to roofs

Riding the storm

In the future, we may need to repair our churches more frequently and in some instances may have to re-design certain elements to cope.

It also probably means that we’ll need to react to more unpredictable, one-off, events such as flooding and storm damage.

For more information on climate change, see 'further reading' or visit the English Heritage website.