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Home Building News Transept Update - April 2008
Transept Update - April 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 01 April 2008 00:00
Just before Palm Sunday our builders completed the construction of the internal arch of the Transept. The South Transept is now a mirror image of the North. On Wednesday our builders completed the installation of the coping stones on the gable of the Transept. Once the stone mullions (the skeleton for the window) arrive - due to be delivered in the next couple of weeks - they will be installed and the final plaster finish will be applied to the exterior walls. On Maundy Thursday the re-instatement of the
memorials was completed. The next stage after Easter is the completion of the heating installation. After testing, the system will be run until the church is warmed through and the plaster is thoroughly dry. Then the painters will paint the ceiling and upper walls and the electricians will fix the new unobtrusive light fittings to the roof beams. The three brass chandeliers are now being made and should be delivered in early April. Once the aerial work is complete, the hydraulic cherry-picker used for that difficult task will be driven out through the Transept doorway and the door frame will then be installed. With the cherry-picker out of the way, the floor insulation will go in followed by more cement and the tiling. The painting will be finished. The paths outside will be laid in paving blocks. In the March Outreach we said we might be back in the church by the end of April. Make that the end of May or early June, to be on the safe side! Having come such a long way since the middle of last September, another month or so is  not going to be crucial. This project proceeds at its own pace, as it has always done. The stained glass window is under way. The artist is now painting the design full size. The templates from which the glass will be cut to the exact dimensions will only be made when the mullions are in position. The work could only begin in March when the stone people finished their technical drawings for the stone mullions. The window will be installed by the end of November. While awaiting the Transept window we can worship in the church once everything else is finished, hopefully by the end of May. We are arranging a dedication of the Transept, the Window and the Lights for Candlemas Day, Sunday 1st February 2009. The Archbishop of Armagh will preach. We hope the Bishop of Maridi will confirm and  celebrate the Holy Communion that evening.