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Middleton’s magnificent Edgar Wood designed Long Street Methodist Church - again attacked by vandals
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Vandals target town's gem
Emma Mountford8/ 5/2008
VANDALS have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a much-loved Middleton church.
Yobs scaled scaffolding, put up outside Long Street Methodist Church to repair roof damage, and kicked through the historic leaded windows.
As well as destroying the original leaded lights, the intruders also severely damaged the iron gates at the front of the building by trying to force them open, causing several rails to fracture and distort.
The Edgar Wood designed building has often been hailed as the gem in Middleton's rich architectural heritage and residents and church-goers have been left stunned by this latest act of wanton destruction.
The incident comes just days after pint-sized vandals wrecked Boarshaw Cemetery, destroying memorial plaques, uprooting flowers and flooding the toilets.
Christine Grime, one of the Friends of Long Street Methodist Church, said: "Long Street Church is an outstanding architectural treasure. It was designed by Edgar Wood, the famous Middleton architect, and is one of only a handful churches built in the Arts and Crafts Movement style in the whole of the country. We should be proud that our town has such a building. Only last week it was visited by a group of people from the London Decorative Arts Society, who were visiting the north west.
"As you can imagine, we will need to have the damage repaired by specialist firms who deal solely in conservation work, and it will be very expensive."
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