Lightning Strike
The famous Shepton Strike occurred mid afternoon on Friday 16th July 2010. It appears there was only one strike which hit the parish church with such ferocity it caused much damage to electrical equipment within the church, neighbouring properties and the nearby telephone exchange building. One very near neighbour, our verger Jeff, said he saw a plasma flash emanating from his modem in his living room!
The first indication that something was awry was the security alarm sounding. Revd Liz Smith investigated to discover all the electrical circuits had tripped. Upon closer investigation by the churchwardens, it was apparent that the lightning strike had frazzled all the delicate circuits of the roof and vestry security system and all the electronic controllers that run the winding mechanisms in the clock tower.
Within 48 hours, the alarm system was back in action, the contractors having replaced every piece of electronics and wiring. The clock winding gear took a little longer to replace but eventually, everything was back to normal.
It was only discovered in November that the time switches that control the church's central heating were also damaged.
Witnesses say they saw the lightning bolt hit the church and it seemed to envelop the whole building. Experts think the damaging electrical current probably came down through the lightning conductors, as well as entering through the electrical earthing wires, through the metal roof and even along the telephone cables.
No structural damage to the building occurred.
Our insurance company EIG was amazingly helpful during the whole period of repair and despite it being an 'act of God' paid the full repair bill of nearly £8,000, minus our excess.
In recent months we have had contractors in to check the lightning conductor, and to evaluate the risks should a further strike occur in the future. We have now added electrical bonding between the various lifting beams and the bell frame in the belfry. In due course, appropriate circuit breakers will be added to our main incoming electrical supply to further protect the various circuits within the church.
They say lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, but we know that not to be true! There is much video evidence of buildings and towers being struck multiple times during the same storm. God's revenge? We don't think so - just Mother Nature getting a little excited!
Nick Bennett - November 2010
Churchwarden