Historic church faces months of repair after crypt floods with sewage

By Jacob Phillips, local democracy reporter

A grade I listed church is facing months of repair work after its crypt was buried two feet in sewage.

St Cuthbert’s Church in Earl’s Court is facing thousands of pounds worth of damage and months of restoration work – as sacred music and historic vestments were ruined by the flooding.

Father Paul Bagott was forced to rush to the church after he received a call from musicians in the church explaining the toilets had flooded on Monday (July 12).

When he arrived the church’s crypt – it was under two feet of sewage water and many sentimental items had been damaged.

He said: “I could smell the sewage and hear the water absolutely pouring in.

“The water was almost to the top of the step. Sewage was just pouring out of the sinks.”

When Father Paul assessed the damage he also discovered water from nearby drains spilling down the church’s steps into the basement.

The church has lost a wide range of items due to the water damage.

Vestments and robes have been severely damaged.

Sheet music, which had been carefully added to the church’s music archive for several decades, were soaked through and sections of the church’s photo
archive had been spoilt.

A wide range of items of clothing that had been collected for the homeless had to be abandoned due to contamination from the sewage.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage has also been done to the church’s boiler.

The carpet which once decorated the whole crypt has now had to be torn up, furniture has been thrown out and industrial dehumidifiers are being used to try and prevent damp and mould from spreading.

Community meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous and choir rehearsals will now have to be moved to a different location while lengthy restoration works take place.

Sacred vestments are still hanging to dry in the main section of the church 15 days after it flooded on July 12.

Many of items are unsafe to wear as they were coated in sewage and it will take several months for the items to be restored by specialists.

The church thankfully avoided even more serve damage, although parts of its organ were surrounded with water they were not ruined.

To repair the historic instrument would have cost £600,000.

Despite the church flooding when staff checked its sewage pipes they were completely clear.

The water had instead run down from drains on the street.

Building work on St Cutherbert’s church began in 1883 and work did not finish until 1913.

The historic building has grade I status as it has been left untouched since then.

But now the church’s crypt could be completely out of use if it remains at risk to flooding.

Father Paul is now worried that a similar incident may happen again.

He said: “If every year or even every ten years there is a flood we can not waste money on a new boiler that will be damaged again.

“Maybe we can not use the crypt at all. That’s a vast area of the church.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “The extreme weather which caused widespread flooding has been devastating for many people, and we sympathise with everyone affected.

“Finding your home, business or place of worship filled with flood water is a horrible experience.

“Thames Water cleaning crews have been getting to affected properties as soon as possible, but because of the scale of the problems caused by the heavy rain over the past two weeks, this has been taking a little longer than normal.

“We’re now in the process of arranging a visit to St Cuthbert’s Church to carry out any necessary clean-up work.

“We share flood risk responsibility with a range of organisations across London, and we look forward to continuing working with them on viable and sustainable solutions to combat two of the main causes of flooding – climate change and population growth.”