St Michael's Church, Myddfai: Roof Repairs

Although this grade 1 listed church has kept its medieval, wagon vaultedroof, the structure was in trouble. Most of its mortised joints, ravaged bywoodworm, had begun to open up. The roof was spreading and the ceiling plaster laths so damaged that the ceiling panels were in imminent danger of collapse. The problems were similar to those at St Gwenog's Church but in this case there was no access into the roof space to survey the damage. We took off some slates but the massive roof timbers were so close together
that it was still not possible to get in. The survey was done by holding a camera at arm's length and shooting blind then making an informed guess as to the extent of the damage. As at St Gwenog's Church, money was limited.Joints had to be repaired with plywood flitch plates, all reversible so future generations with deeper pockets will be able to re-build them in oak.The ceiling plaster's laths were all replaced without loosing any of the original ceiling panels. The work was grant aided by Cadw and the contract completed to budget.