Lighting Project 2021 John's Church, West Wickham
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Lighting Project 2021 John’s Church, West Wickham Gas light replaced candles in 1912 and electric light replaced that in 1956. Since then the installation has been added in a piecemeal fashion. The six wall-mounted uplighters (see right) in the nave and chancel are probably converted gas lamps. They have brass and wrought iron brackets. In the nave there are also gas discharge lights at high level. There are three high-level modern lamps each side of the Lennard Chapel. Two more light the window at the east end. In the north transept a brass bracketed downlight with a tungsten lamp illuminates the door from kitchen. There is further incandescent lighting in the kitchen and the rooms on the first floor, beneath the gallery on the wall and in the porch.
Four pendant, cross-shaped timber candelabra in the chancel and the chapel have previously
been used for candlelit services. External lights on brackets illuminate the south porch and
east porch doors. These have a vaguely historic form but are poor modern simulacra in
pressed metal and white plastic.
Some of the existing lighting is shown below.
Internal Lights External Light
The existing lighting of the church therefore has not been designed as an integrated scheme.
General illumination is therefore unintentionally uneven, not for reasons of creating drama
or modulating space. Task lighting is haphazard and light levels are low.
Further some light fittings cannot be adapted to low energy lamps and are consequently
inefficient. Controls of the lighting are neither intuitively easy to use nor offer the flexibility to
create the varied settings required for different events.
There are numerous problems with the current lighting:
• Obsolescence - For some time the replacement bulbs for the existing halogen flood
lighting have been difficult to source, and very soon will no longer be available either in
the shops or online. LED replacement bulbs are available however the output at 15w
does not provide the same level of illumination. Some of the fittings no longer work the
fittings are approximately 50 years old and are breaking down. Consequently, without
new lighting, it will soon prove very difficult to effectively light the Church.
• Maintenance / Health and Safety Issues - Currently, whenever the bulbs need
replacing, they can only be changed from the top of a long ladder. Although great care
is taken, this cannot be left to a general maintenance day, as they are failing with
monotonous regularity, one or more of the lights in the main church is failing each
month to 6 weeks.
• Lack of Flexibility - The existing lights are either on or off, and they ‘flood’ light, leaving
shadows in parts of the Church. They do nothing to pick out any particular features of
interest in the Church. Furthermore, it is not really possible to create different
‘atmospheres’ for different services.
For example, to create the softer lighting for a candlelit service, we need to switch most
of the main lighting off from three separate points, and provide softer lighting in
addition to the candles, to enable members of the congregation to read printed words
- and even then, many have to use the lights on their mobile phones.
• Energy Inefficiency - The main church is currently lit by 17 ‘flood’ flights. Even though
they would normally be fitted with 250 watts bulbs, the only available replacements we
now have are rated at 400 watts. Consequently, with all 17 lights working, as required
for Sunday morning services, that amounts to almost 7 kilowatts – totalling more than
20 kilowatt hours for the three hour period when the Church is open on a Sunday
morning. Taking into account the other lights in the Church and outside, total usage
must be at least 25 kilowatts hours on a Sunday morning alone.
• Lack of Control - Almost all of the lighting switches for the main church are in the porch
area by the front door. Since first access to the church is via the kitchen door, this often
entails walking perhaps 40 metres through a darkened church through two sets of
doors and up several steps to find the lighting controls. The reverse is true when
switching the main lights off after a service.
Some of the lighting near the altar and in the side chapel is controlled by a number of
additional metal switches near the organ. To fully light the main church there are
around 20 switches in total in a least three different locations.
Light Switches in the Porch Light Switches near the Altar
• Lack of Emergency Lighting - There is currently no emergency lighting in the event of
a lighting failure.
• Lack of Outside Lighting - The outside lighting is only on during the winter months
when the Church is in use. It has to be switched on manually from inside. Consequently,
it is dark on approaching the Church. Also, some areas outside are poorly lit, for
example, when seating on the balcony is used, supplementary lighting has to be
installed to enable people to safely access via the external stairs.
• Poor Access to Electrics Via Loft - There is a health and safety risk when accessing the
electrics via the loft, as there is no boarding. So, great care needs to be taken when
undertaking any work in the loft.
• Failing and Untidy Electrics - Some of the electrics in the upper rooms (the Safe room
and crèche) are failing – both sockets and lighting. Furthermore, the electrics powering
the organ are intermittently faulty. There are also a number of areas of the Church
where successive additions of cables and wirings have led to unsightly bundles of wires,
which do little to enhance the decor inside the Church.
Organ Switch Unsightly Cables Features of the New Lighting Scheme The new scheme seeks to address all of these inadequacies. Light levels internally will also be augmented by the redecoration of the interior, which will happen after the new lighting has been installed. The general illumination of the nave, chancel and north transept will be effected by modern surface-mounted LED spotlights. All these LEDs will increase the level of illumination but with some modulation so that the lighting does not appear flat. They will also provide liturgically-driven accent lighting to highlight the sanctuary, altars in the chancel and chapel and pulpit and lectern positions. The fittings will be located on the ceiling panels between the 19th century timbers, so that no fixings are made into unpainted woodwork. The panels themselves are painted timber. The fittings will be secured from above with battens and all wiring will be laid loose in the roof space, which is readily accessible from the tower. Subsequent maintenance or replacement of the fittings will be achievable without ladders as the panels can be lifted out from above. Additional slow grown pine boards will be laid in the roof space to facilitate access. These will be laid with small gaps between and fixed to the un- planed upper surfaces of the ceiling joists with ordinary brads.
New Internal Lights New External Light The fittings will be white in the nave and north transept to reduce the contrast with the panels. They will be visible from the church interior but only the lamps will show. The drivers (transformers) will be located above in the roof space. The visual impact of these fittings should be less striking than the current floodlighting, which will be removed. In the chancel the fittings will be similar but black, as the infill panels of the ceiling are of dark varnished timber. Similar fittings on the ceiling in the baptistery will provide general illumination and highlight the font. The drivers for those will be in the void below the floorboards in the gallery above. These drivers do not get as hot as transformers for personal devices, so there should be no fire risk. The adaptation of the wall-mounted brackets retains fittings from the original gas lighting of the church, which not only have historical value but also have served well as wall ‘washing’ illumination in the interior. Fittings and wiring in the meeting rooms vestry, tower, and roof space will largely update the existing lighting for serviceability, safety and energy efficiency purposes. They will have no material impact on the significance of the church. The modern controls will be simple to use and be pre-programmed with settings designed for specific events and uses. They will enable the church to be lit to best advantage at any time. The existing external lighting around the church does not adequately light paths or points of entry and is neither timer, nor movement sensor operated. Therefore, someone has to enter the church and turn the lights on before others can enter safely. The new lighting will be controlled by photocell. The upgrades will also include emergency lighting in key areas, as well as a new supply to the organ and a control in the boiler room. The overall impact on the historic significance of the building of this new lighting scheme will be a positive one. It will have no affect on the character of the listed building. Also, being LED throughout, there will be a significant reduction in our energy bills and carbon footprint.
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