During July work has continued on clearing the interior of the church, including the lifting and storage of the floor tiles, stripping out the old heating system and asbestos removal. Testing of cleaning methods for the fire damaged brickwork has been undertaken and preparations for the removal of the floor slab are in progress, with this work expected to happen during August.
Additional internal scaffolding is being erected to stabilise the large brick nave arches and give safe access for repairs to start on the top of the brickwork walls, while work carries on below. Several of the fire damaged individual elements have been carefully taken out of the building and moved offsite for specialist conservation repair, including the altar, the altar rail, plaques, crosses, windows and doors.
Progress has also been made on obtaining final permissions and the detailed specification for the layby on Church Road and work should start soon. This is important to allow Buxton better access to the site for the heavy equipment which is needed for the next stages of the project.