Lead thieves target an historic church

May 3 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

ONE of the oldest churches in the North East suffered damage estimated at thousands of pounds after being targeted by lead thieves.

The thieves struck early yesterday morning at St Mary’s Church in Staindrop, County Durham, which dates back to 771.

They stripped large sheets of lead from the roof and bundled it together in the churchyard ready to take it away, the latest in a spate of similar incidents across the North East.

Fortunately, they were disturbed by a group of farmers returning home after a night out, whose suspicions were raised by two Land Rovers parked in the church grounds.

The group alerted police, but although they were on the site within minutes the thieves had disappeared, leaving the lead they had taken from the church roof propped against a wall.

Yesterday St Mary’s Vicar the Reverend Ken Steventon said: “I was alerted about this in the morning.

“I went down to inspect the damage and when I saw the lead piled up against the wall I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“We went up to the roof to have a look and it seems we have been quite fortunate.

“It didn’t rain too hard overnight so the damage has been lessened.

“We have covered the roof with plastic sheeting now so hopefully nothing else will be damaged. I just feel saddened and a little angry by this, that these thieves would target a church in this way.”

It is hoped that insurance will cover the cost of repairs, which could total more than £10,000.

Several people are believed to have been involved and police are asking the community for help in catching the thieves.

Inspector Kevin Tuck of Durham Police said: “The rising price of scrap metal has made buildings like this easy targets.

“Churches are important rural community building and in cases like this the thieves are stealing our heritage. There is no doubt this attack has upset many people in the community.

“ We need members of the community to help us detect such crimes. It was fortunate that these farmers were public spirited enough to tell us about this.

“I’m certain without their actions this lead would have been stolen.

“I would ask everybody to act as the eyes and ears of the police and report any suspicious activity.”

The recent spate of lead thefts is being blamed on rising prices for metal, caused by increased demand from China and other developing countries.

Last week thieves took £3,000-worth of lead from the guttering at Blyth Links bandstand and £20,000-worth of lead was taken from St John’s Church in Seaham, County Durham.