The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A fundraising page has been launched after thieves twice stole over 100-year-old lead from a church roof within 24 hours.
About six tonnes of lead from St Peter and St Paul’s Parish Church in Gosberton was taken on both occasions in the early hours of Friday and Saturday mornings.
Reverend Ian Walters said: “It was Friday morning we got a call about the roof and the police came down and took pictures.
“Then Saturday morning the thieves came again and took a similar quantity from a different part of the roof.
“A lot of the locals are shocked. It’s something taken from the community.
“Two or three people have told me there’s been a lot of this sort of thing, mainly in the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire area, though I did hear of another similar case north of Boston.”
A member of the public heard the thieves on Saturday morning and alerted police.
Spalding Police inspector Gareth Boxall said: “Our officers arrived within five minutes of being called but unfortunately the offenders had already left.
“We are very grateful to the vigilant member of the public who called us though. We are now following a number of lines of enquiry.
“Clearly any theft is wrong and impacts on the victim but to steal from a historic building and particularly a place of worship makes these crimes particularly unpleasant.”
Reverend Walters, who has been at the 14th century church for the last 13 years, says it’s known that the roof itself dates back to the Victorian era.
He also says its likely to be replaced with a less valuable material.
He continued: “We have insurance but it won’t cover the full cost of replacing the roof.
“All insurers now place a cap on what you can claim so we won’t get all of the value back.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Stephanie Jo Redman entitled Gosberton Church Roof.
She says: “This church is beautiful and needs to be loved and cared for.”
Among the donations so far is one from Canada.
Helen Joel wrote on the page: “This church is part of my families history.
“I grew up in Gosberton and live in Canada now.
“My husband Don & I had our marriage blessing here.”
Rev Walkers said of the fundraising page: “We’re very grateful to Steph for setting it up.”
