Net Zero Carbon stories: No Damp squib

St Mary’s, Bedfont: a small church floored by “brilliant” electric heating

St Mary’s Bedfont is not a large church. With a Sunday congregation of 50 or so, they work hard to maintain their Grade II* building. You’d be forgiven for not expecting too much on the environmental front, yet this small church is defying expectations and punching well above its weight in the Net Zero Carbon stakes.

It all started in the late 1950s, when the discovery of Death-watch Beetle forced the floor to be taken up. The enterprising church team of the time chose the latest underfloor heating system, and concrete was laid into which copper wires were placed. Flick the switch on the electric, and it heated the building for nearly fifty years.

There’s barely anyone left from that time, of course, but reports have it that it was lovely and warm for decades. However, all systems have a shelf life, and this one eventually started to fail in stages, leaving parts of the church cold.

The current Vicar, Philip Smith, and the wardens put small electrical heaters around to boost the heat. But something they hadn’t bargained on was the different ways in which heating systems convey warmth. The space-heating of the standalones was leaving the walls cold, unlike the underfloor system, which had always radiated heat into the fabric of the stone. The church sits on London Clay over a chalk bedrock, and the variable water table meant it wasn’t long before the damp started to rise. So much so, in fact, that there remains a visible tide mark on the walls, above head-height when you are sitting in the pews. Something had to be done.

So in 2018 St Mary’s went back to underfloor heating, this time a hot-water system, but still run electrically, without the need for a gas boiler. The result? “Brilliant,” says Philip – they haven’t looked back since. The damp is a thing of the past, and the church is heated efficiently through a series of programmable zones, resulting in a warm and toasty congregation, without an enormous bill.

But this is not a church to rest on its laurels, and much else has been done besides. They commissioned an energy audit in 2020, and all the ‘low-hanging fruit’ has been tackled already. They have added insulation in the vestry and the transept. Was that difficult? “No, it was easy. We just paid someone and they did it.” No faculty required, just a conversation with the Archdeacon.

Not content to leave it there, the Eco Team and wardens have been busy adding curtains to external doors, which has made a huge difference to warmth and bills. The Chancel door has a nifty tension pole to hold up the curtain – which is temporary so needed no Faculty.

The pews are all beautifully lined with offcuts from carpet, keeping Jack Frost from menacing the congregation whilst seated, and even the lead-glazed window of the balcony has a removable Perspex cover, secured in the winter magnetically, to keep draughts at bay. Enterprising indeed.

With a new, efficient ceramic heater in the vestry, and a 100% renewable electricity tariff, St Mary’s Bedfont is the very model of a church seeking every way it can to reduce carbon and cost, whilst boosting its congregation.

Do they feel they have done everything possible? Of course not. They’ve got their sights on the South-facing roof, and the possibility of solar panels.

With a great team of vicar, wardens and Eco Group all singing from the same Green Hymnbook, St Mary’s Bedfont is a testament that any church, no matter how small, can make a very substantial difference.

The Diocese of London now has a team in place to support churches on their journey towards Net Zero Carbon.

Find out the top 10 things your church can do on that journey.  

Photos by Brendan Foster Photography

Article author Alison Moulden