Roof removed from Roebourne’s Holy Trinity Church

Roebourne’s historic Holy Trinity Church has received a fresh round of funding to continue restoration works in a bid to bring the building back to its former glory.

Works on restoring the church, the oldest in the North West, had stalled earlier this year after initial funds raised in 2017 ran dry.

Baessler Construction completed most of the internal restoration in early 2018, but the roof and external work was put on hold until further funding could be sourced.

Backers of the project failed to secure a State Government grant in January; however, a grant from the Heritage Council and an anonymous donation mean most of the remaining work, including the roof, can now be completed.

Wickham Community Chaplain Richard Goscombe said finishing the roof meant the church would be safe from cyclone damage for the first time in many years.

“Only 18 months ago both the eastern corners of the building were steadily walking away from the rest of the structure and were at risk of falling out,” he said.

“The roof is the biggest ticket item on the project and we couldn’t start it unless we had all the funds required to do the work, because you can’t risk the roof being off when the cyclone season starts.

“Once the roof is replaced we know the building is secured and we are not going to lose it.”

Mr Goscombe said once the roof was restored all that was left to do was a final render inside, re-glazing, and the completion of custom-made shutters to protect the windows.