One highlight of his career came in 1999 when he requested a dendrochronology test on the oak roof of St Mary's Church in the village of Kempley, Gloucestershire, believed to have been built by Hugh de Lacy, a Norman baron.
Reinstating the pinnacle in 2013, even with the aid of complex scaffolding and modern lifting gear, proved no mean feat, all the more so as a result [of] having to take into account the distortions caused by time and the effects of the lightning strike.
Kelly has been active in this area, for example working on a project with the historian Jeremy Lake entitled 'The Big Update: Finding Uses for Cornwall’s Historic Chapels', for which they surveyed and photographed a large number of heritage buildings at risk.
They produced a slide presentation showing exterior and interior views of the buildings, some of which are nationally listed,[13] and wrote an article for the March 2014 issue of The Victorian magazine.
[1] Francis Kelly has moved to the south-west of France where he is Vice-President of the Association pour la Sauvegarde des Maisons et Paysages du Quercy (ASMPQ).