38 Ulrich Schaaf, Maciej Prarat
inspector, namely Dulitz and the roof structure was made
as a king post structure covered with sheet metal and
a wooden “vault” over the interior of the church. Owing
to the lack of funds, initially only the northern side of the
roof was covered with sheet metal, and the remaining ar-
eas were temporarily covered with tiles [7, p. 53]. Since
doors and window frames were made in 1802, stairs in
1803, and plaster in the interior of the church in 1804 [7,
p. 53], it should be concluded that the works related to
the roof structure and its covering ended in 1802. This
supposition is conrmed by an inscription on one of the
jack rafters (1802).
Roof structure repairs
since the 2
nd
half of the 20
th
century
The sources and literature on the subject contain both
a great deal of information about the poor condition of the
church roong, as well as about the repair or replacement
of this roong in the period from the construction of the
roof structure at the turn of the 18
th
and 19
th
centuries to
the 1970s [7, pp. 58–60], [15, pp. 238, 288, 293, 299]. The
performance of these works is also conrmed by the in-
scriptions on some structural elements. The literature [7]
and later sources show that they did not cover the repair
of the roof structure itself. There are also no traces of ma-
terial repairs since the mid-20
th
century.
On the other hand, the poor condition of the roof or
the whole church and the need for its renovation is men-
tioned in various writings from the 1960s and 1970s [15,
pp. 241–245, 250, 251, 256–262, 264, 269, 271, 272, 276,
277, 280]. However, the repair of the roof structure prob-
ably took place at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, after
the church was taken over by the Roman Catholic parish
[16]. At that time, the single, damaged ends of the bind-
ing beams and sections of the trusses were replaced with
steel channel sections and some of them were replaced in
their entirety. Perhaps at that time, some elements of the
inclined standing queen-post frames were also removed.
The replacement of the elements secured with one-sided
logs or tongs seems to be more recent, as is suggested by,
among other things, a dierent repair method, dierent
metal fasteners, and dierent impregnation [13]. The pe-
riod of securing most carpentry joints with dogs remains
an unresolved issue.
The analysis of the existing wooden roof structure has
shown that despite these repairs, it has largely retained its
original character, discussed in detail later.
The carpentry craft of the roof structure
System and structural layout
To solve the dicult task – the construction of a roof
structure over a large rectangular body with an elongated
octagon inscribed in it, which is to be vaulted – a compli-
cated, mixed construction system was used (Fig. 1).
Above the inner octagon there is a false vault in the
form of a curved plank roof. This structure is independent,
but owing to the large span – about 14 m – and the small
Building the roof structure in the years 1798–1802
After the re in 1790, building inspector Haeber car-
ried out a building inspection in 1794. Owing to the long
distances between the pillars and the poor load-bearing
capacity of the lateral walls, he recommended replacing
the planned brick vault with a false vault made of boards
and reeds. He also added that with such a solution the roof
did not have to be so steep and that it would be cheaper
[7, pp. 49, 50].
Masonry work was carried out until 1796. In the same
year, however, the reconstruction was interrupted due to
the lack of funds, and the cornices and pillars were tem-
porarily secured. In 1797, the parish decided to continue
the reconstruction and decided that the new roof was to be
covered with tiles because sheet metal was too expensive.
Moreover, it was decided that the interior of the church
was to be closed with a false vault covered with plaster.
The works were entrusted to building inspector Dulitz
from Wschowa, who estimated the costs at 8,000 thalers
[7, p. 50].
In 1798, a tender for carpentry works was announced,
but owing to the lack of funds, it was not completed. In
that situation, the parish asked the king to make possible
a national collection. However, it was refused. In return,
the parish was promised the necessary building material
as a donation, which was estimated at 593 pieces of wood,
but it was abandoned after a short time. It was subsequent-
ly agreed that the parish would receive wood from the
Włoszakowice forests for less by 1/8 than the charge, but
that plan turned out to be impossible to implement, as that
royal forest did not have the appropriate building material
for the building of the roof structure. Finally, the parish re-
ceived compensation of 250 thalers and an additional 400
thalers in place of the rejected collection [7, p. 50]. At the
same time, the parish rejected inspector Dulitz’s design of
a plane-tile roof in the crown, estimated at 11,417 thalers,
and approved a curved plank roof with boards for 8,954
thalers [7, p. 51].
Over the subsequent years, the parish was preoccupied
with the purchase of the necessary building material.
Among other things, 400 pine trunks were purchased from
Countess Turno from the Radomice forests. Under the su-
pervision of building inspector Dulitz, the wood was se-
lected and marked in the forest, and under the supervision
of carpenter Wagner, it was felled and hewn on site. After
the parish’s supplication, landowners and farmers from
nearby transported the wood to the construction site free
of charge [7, p. 51].
After paying for the timber, the parish lacked funds to
continue the work, and therefore, in 1801, the church was
in the same condition as it was in 1796. 4,000 thalers were
lacking to complete the work. The supplication of the
city magistrate, addressed to the king in this matter, was
refused. At the end of March 1801, the members of the
parish decided to take a loan and declared that they would
share the obligation to pay it back in order to complete the
construction of the church [7, p. 52].
After receiving the loan, the last three pillars were
erected in accordance with the proposals of the building
