Tunbridge Steeple Will Get a Makeover

By Martha Slater

In the mid-1880s, a violent windstorm blew the steeple off the Tunbridge Church. On Wednesday, April 25, the steeple was removed from the church again, but this time, it had a much softer landing.

Although the steeple removed this week is the "new" one put up after that storm, it's 130 years old.

The church is running the risk of losing the steeple, which is urgently in need of major repairs. There is already significant water damage from the rot in the roof under the bell.

The church building is in use weekly for regular Sunday services and is the centerpiece of the Tunbridge village landscape. In the introduction to her book, "Hands on the Land," Jan Albers said, "Tunbridge is the perfect Vermont village. All the elements of a classic village are there to see--a line of pretty houses, a close-cropped green, a white church steeple sheltered by the rising green hills."

The church's Parish Council reviewed three bids and awarded the steeple repair job to local builder George White. The estimated cost of the project is $50,000 and a campaign was launched to raise that amount.

Tunbridge Historical Society president Euclid Farnham told The Herald that he expected that the builder would be able to put the steeple back in place by the end of May, weather permitting. Repairs to be done include fixing structural problems.

"It would be unsafe for us to leave it up there without doing the repairs," Farnham said. "The rot is serious and the skeleton of it is in seriously bad shape, so they have to totally dismantle it and put it back together with new materials. A crew of four will work on it for the next month."

Farnham said all of Vermont's aging church steeples, which were constructed within a relatively short time frame historically, are in need of repairs.

"It's almost an epidemic," he said. "The North Tunbridge Church also needs repairs, as does one in Royalton."

Farnham noted that the historical society "is not playing much of a role in this, but when we do the one in North Tunbridge, that's our building. We own it and meet there, so that will be our project. The role we're playing in this first one is that we're making sure that this traditional white church steeple remains in the village. It will be expensive but beautiful."

Although Farnham is excited about the steeple restoration, he's glad to stay on the ground.

"You couldn't hire me to go up there!" he said.