St George’s Church

In 2002, the church that served Bracknell’s Britwell Estate for more than forty years was declared unsafe and scheduled for demolition. For the sitting vicar, the Reverend John Charlton, this was hugely upsetting – and he embarked on a heroic six-year fundraising drive that generated the £1.7m he needed to build a replacement. In October 2009, the finished building was officially opened by Anne, the Princess Royal.

Reverend Charlton wanted a place of worship that was welcoming and homely, made using traditional materials, but that was also fit for the twenty-first century. The resulting design combined a sleek and contemporary glass-fronted entryway and solar panels with handmade brick and a stunning Del Carmen natural slate roof.

Around 12,000 blue-black Del Carmen roofing slates were fitted to the building by Attleys Roofing of Banbury in Oxfordshire. Today, its stunning roof supports enough solar panels to generate 8,300 kilowatts of energy per year. Thanks to the strength and longevity of SSQ’s Del Carmen natural slate, the church and its parishioners can rest assured that St George’s will continue to serve the community for decades to come.