All Saints' Parish Church, Melbourn

The first record of a church in Melbourn dates back to 1152, and the discovery of a Saxon cemetery shows that Christianity has been present in Melbourn since the 7th century. All Saints’ Parish Church is a grade II* listed church which is situated in the heart of the village and a major restoration was conducted by R.R. Rowe in 1882. The present church includes sections of the 13th century building, including the chancel arch and sections of the tower. The font located in the South Aisle is 11th century.

CLS Electrical Services Ltd were asked to provide a lighting design for the interior of the church, which was to allow scene options and provide a low maintenance solution whilst increasing lighting levels and provide additional illumination for architectural features. We installed a new DALI operated lighting system which allows the church to create an infinite number of lighting scenes for any event. All controllable via a simple push button plate or through WIFI anywhere within the church via a smart device or laptop. A PIR sensor located within the South Aisle, operates a visitors scene upon entry, meaning control is automated when the church is open to visitors. LED strip was installed within the Clerestory windows to illuminate the window surround as well as the timber roof. A new bespoke lantern was installed within the South porch, operated by a PIR sensor with a wire-free override switch for operating the lantern manually when required.

As well as installing a new lighting system throughout, we also installed new socket outlets, renewed distribution equipment and supply wiring, and completely re-wired all supplies up to the tower which included new emergency lighting up the entirety of the tower staircase. The faulty and unusable wall heaters were replaced within the Nave and Chancel, and additional heaters installed within the Vestry, Chancel, Ringing chamber and Under-Pew heaters for the choir stalls.

In addition to this, we were to provide a solution to the high running and maintenance costs of the 2 existing 400w sodium light fittings illuminating the external elevations of the tower. Operated by a mechanical timeclock that needed constant updating, a low maintenance automatic solution was required.

We started with the floodlights, replacing them with 2 high output 115w LED floodlights with warm white colour output, reducing the power consumption considerably whilst providing a more gentle and natural coloured light, bringing out the natural colour of the stone work and flint. These were fitted to the existing lighting columns and positioned to provide optimal illumination of the tower from these positions.

The old timeclock was removed and a new digital timeclock and enclosure installed which automatically changes for BST. It also automatically compensates for sunrise and sunset throughout the year meaning once set, no further programming or alteration is required.