COULD THE OLD BUILDING NOT BE RESTORED?

Not practically. The old building was not as solid as it looked. Although the walls appear to be stonebuilt, they are actually a local facing stone called Kentish ragstone, over brick. The side walls had virtually no foundations so the stability of the building was not very good and alarming cracks existed around some of the upper windows and wall joints. Two incendiary bombs fell in Ledbury Road during the blitz, blowing in the windows and seriously damaging the west wall and roof.  Combined with a roof at the end of its life and a poor interior structure for modern use, the cost of restoration of the original building would have run into millions, which the church simply did not have access to. The interior features were not of rarity or high quality. The original spires and railings were missing since the second world war, and the widening of the church in 1866 together with the loss of the spires had degraded the architectural proportions to a low squat appearance.  After many years of rising maintenance bills, impossible winter heating costs yet still putting on overcoats for the sermon, and rain dripping through the roof into buckets, it became clear that a new step had to be taken to safeguard the facility for future generations.