Features
RAISING THE ROOF
20.01.2012 / Heritage / 0 Comments
Patrick Kelly on efforts to combat the rising tide of heritage crime
It may seem a long way from a massive lead battery factory in India to the little Orthodox church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in a quiet Oxford suburb. But the factory owners in Kolkata or Shanghai want what the parishioners of St Nicholas have. Equally the priest and his parishioners are keen to make sure they don't get it, at least not from them. The commodity in question is lead.
The recent upsurge in the price of metals, fuelled by massive industrial demand in developing countries, has boost- ed prices for scrap metal and has led directly to an extraordinary rise in the theft of lead from churches.
So concerned were the church community at St Nicholas the Wonderworker about the precious lead that adorned the roof of their church (a church which they had completely renovated just five years ago) that they organised night vigils to prevent thieves from getting their hands on it.
Six members of the congregation of the Russian Orthodox Church camped overnight at the church, scaring off at least one gang of would-be thieves. Said Tikhon Vasilyed, 34, one of the volunteers: "They tried to get in during the night - they looked like a serious gang who would do it professionally, so I was worried. But when they noticed me at the window they immediately fled." Other congregations are following suit. Earlier this win- ter a warden slept overnight in his church at Hessett in Suffolk to ensure nothing was stolen while building work was carried out.
However, other places have not been so lucky.
In Chester, thieves have plundered lead, copper and bronze from ancient roofs, bronze and brass plaques from war memorials, cast iron guttering and downspouts and even a church bell, weighing 180 kg. There have been 14 attacks on churches, war memorials, manor houses and Chester's Roman remains, including a £2,500 theft of lead from a roof at Chester Cathedral.
- In Lincoln, massive quantities of lead were looted from the roof of the historic Bishop's Palace, next to the Cathedral.
- Thieves stole the £40,000 bronze statue of a Second World War soldier from a memorial in Tidworth, Wilts, to sell on as scrap metal.
- Historic plaques at York Minster were wrenched from the walls and railings of the cathedral.
- In Portsmouth, a weather vane dating back to 1904 was stolen from the ceremonial garden at Queen Alexandra Hospital.
- In Maidenhead a statue commemorating four schoolboys killed in a 1988 skiing accident was discovered in pieces by police. The statue, which is now believed to be beyond repair, was about to be melted down.
- The most high profile recent case of heritage crime was the theft of Barbara Hepworth's Divided Circle, estimated to be worth more than £100,000, from Dulwich Park in South East London.
Things have got so bad that in February last year, English Heritage, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) set up a nation- wide network to systematically tackle and reduce metal theft, as well as other heritage crimes such as architectural theft, criminal damage, illegal metal detecting, graffiti and arson.
The Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage (ARCH) now spans more than 70 organisations, from the National Trust, the Church of England, Crime Stoppers and the Ministry of Defence to National Parks, the Woodland Trust and the Historic Houses Association, the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers and Canterbury City Council.
And they have drafted in a senior police officer, Chief
Inspector Mark Harrison, to oversee the project. Scotland Yard has also launched a dedicated unit, the Waste and Metal Theft Taskforce, to tackle the issue which is believed to cost the economy up to £700m a year.
Using the model of neighbourhood policing, local history societies, amenity groups, neighbourhood watch and residents associations and church groups are being encouraged to raise awareness of the risk of criminal damage to local historic sites and buildings and to report suspicious behaviour. Many police forces are giving senior officers specific responsibility for heritage crimes.
Lead is the main concern for many in the heritage world. Adaptable for many uses and easily recycled, it has proved a magnet for thieves and for unscrupulous scrap dealers who are none too particular as to where they get it.
"There is not a diocese in the country unaffected by lead theft," says Katri Link of Ecclesiastical Insurance, which insures many church buildings and has had to pay out £25m in claims over the last five years.
English Heritage and insurers like Ecclesiatical have called on churches to take security measures to prevent theft. These include more lighting, locking gates and doors gates and erecting bollards to prevent cars and vans getting access to their grounds. Churches are also being advised to use anti-climb paint and install CCTV or paint their lead roofs with a forensic solution called Smart Water which helps trace lead to back to its original owners.
They also want the government to introduce tougher
laws to control scrap metal dealing, including compulsory "cashless" transactions which can trace buyers and sellers. But many parishes struggle to raise the money for expensive security measures and recent advice to cut back trees which act as a screen for gangs was condemned by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, describing it as "a tragedy that in order to save their roofs, churches are being forced to hack back and disfigure their neighbouring trees."
Derek Campbell, of the British Metal Recycling Association, said that there are up to 700 unlicenced scrap metal dealers in the UK. Many of them will ignore regulations designed to prevent stolen lead getting into the legiti- mate supply chain. While supporting new regulations, he believes that tougher enforcement of existing laws would close down the dodgy dealers.
Baroness Andrews, Chair of English Heritage, said: "Heritage crime robs us of our history. Its effect on our lives is insidious and felt often too late. Society needs to work together to combat these criminal activities."
Chief Inspector Harrison hopes the courts will take into account the damage the thieves are doing to the country's heritage when they are caught and prosecuted.
Comments (0)
Leave a comment
Make sure you enter the * required information where indicated.