Derbyshire church defaced by graffiti artists has been restored
The Anchor Church, near Ingleby, was vandalised two years ago
Last updated 13th Aug 2023
A Derbyshire church which was defaced by graffiti artists has been fully repaired.
The Anchor Church, near Ingleby, was vandalised two years ago.
It's said to be the oldest surviving Anglo-Saxon structure of its kind in the UK.
Mark Knight is from the Transforming the Trent Valley project: "The Church is important to Derbyshire, it's also important, nationally. It's the only surviving domestic Anglo-Saxon interior, so it's, you know, it's significant in that sense. "
Mark described the equipment they used to remove the graffiti: "In effect, it's a big old kettle. It just heats water to a very high temperature, 150 degrees centigrade. It comes out as a super heated steam and that peels back the paint layer by layer. Of course, doing that sensitively, so to not damage the monument itself, means that it takes a very long time."
Mark hopes people look after sites like The Anchor Church: "I've been visiting that site since my children were young. It's significant to me. It's part of my my job role to try and look after these things or report on these things. And so it felt significant to make sure that we did the best we could by this monument.
"A site left on its own and nobody visiting it is is almost pointless. I think it's really important that people go out, enjoy the countryside, enjoy the sites. But then be sensitive about those places. We need to save these monuments for the future and and restore them."