Thousands of pounds worth of Lead stolen from Shrewsbury Church

St Mary’s church, Shrewsbury, was hit by thieves twice in the space of 4 months during 2017. First in July, when 250ft² of lead was stolen from the roof of the church and again in September, 150ft².

The historic fabric of the building was damaged and, in both cases, Battlesfield Cafe had to close while the building was secured.

Jessica Robertson, spokeswoman for the Churches Conservation Trust, said: “The Churches Conservation Trust is the national charity protecting historic churches at risk.” 

“The cost of replacing the lead and repairing the damage to the historic fabric of the building will run into tens of thousands of pounds for our charity. In addition, on both occasions, the popular Battlefield Café was forced to close while the building was secured.”

This is the eighth church in the Trust’s care which has been hit in 2017 alone.

Jessica said: “At present, we need to raise more than £1 million to re-cover all of the roofs stripped of lead in our estate.”

Metal theft is recognised as being a serious problem in the UK and it’s increasing every year. The former National Metal Theft Taskforce has warned that a current lack of expertise is fuelling an increase in offending and problems linked to metal theft. If the cost of metals continues to rise or stays the same there could be an ‘explosion’ in metal theft and associated problems.

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