More than fifteen million people pass St Andrew’s, Wood Walton every year.

The East Coast Main Line rattles past twenty times a day, just two hundred yards from the church tower.

Standing proud in the Cambridgeshire Fens, St Andrew's is a landmark for travellers.

#thread

Up close (and not passing by at 100mph!), St Andrew's is a limestone church built and rebuilt throughout the 13th, 16th and 19th centuries.

Inside, you’ll find carved stone coffin lids, Early English arcading to the south aisle and dazzling Victorian tiles.

(2/8)

But St Andrew’s has always been prey to thieves. A record from 1549 tells us, "Woddwaltton Stoln out of the Church...ii handbells."
There were more serious thefts in 1956 and 1964 when lead was stripped from the roofs, hastening the church’s deterioration and closure.

(3/8)

Its remoteness contributed to its abandonment in the 1970s. It was left vulnerable, suffering vandalism and decay.
We adopted St Andrew’s in 1979, but after countless repair campaigns, it remains one of our biggest conservation challenges, for one simple reason…

(4/8)

It may not seem like it to the passengers whizzing past, but this landmark is also on the move. The floor of the chancel is cracked and heaving; the window heads fractured, and the entire church is inherently much less stable than its thick stone walls would suggest.

(5/8)

The quality of Victorian restoration may be one cause, the landscape’s clay soil may be another.

Last year – after more theft – we re-roofed in steel and laid a more effective drainage system. We're now monitoring, hoping these repairs will help us to manage the movement.

(6/8)

Two beautiful stained-glass windows of c.1310 depicting St Catherine and St Lawrence were removed from the church as the structural movement was damaging them.
They're on loan to @stainedglassmus waiting for the day when the church will be stable enough to hold them again.

(7/8)

Now, if only we could convert some of those 15 million passengers into supporters!

Any thoughts, @LNER @SirPeterHendy @networkrail?!

#churchesfromtrains #woodwalton

(8/8)