Visiting churches continues in our second January Newsletter. Our Chairman, Axel Palmer, journeys to North East Somerset to visit Langridge, Woolley and Upper Swainswick.
For this and other news follow in his footsteps here
January Newsletter Part 2
Author: Marion Jeffrey
January Newsletter from our Chairman
This month SCT Chairman, Axel Palmer, visits Exmoor and a remote church in Nettlecombe. Information aplenty too about how to research and study our rich heritage vested in ecclesiastical buildings, and more resources listed as now available online for us all. Simply click here
The Somerset Churches Trust supports St Cuthbert’s Church Event Saturday 19th March 2022
St Cuthbert’s Church in Wells is holding a special celebration of their extraordinary painted statues on Saturday 19th March from 10.00am to 4.00pm. These statues are 550 years old and survived a determined attempt to destroy them during the reformation. Trustees of the Somerset Churches Trust visited St Cuthbert’s recently to learn more about this stunning collection of statuary.
In 2020 the extraordinary painted statues of St Cuthbert’s Church should have celebrated their 550th birthday but we all know what happened that year! We tried to hold the celebration a year late in 2021 but yet again we were defeated by covid. So here we go with a third attempt – on Saturday 19th March 2022 from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.
Back in 1470, of course, it would have been quite usual to have plans messed up by an outbreak of plague, so the medieval fragments of prophets and princes will probably be very forgiving about the delay to their party caused by our modern pandemic! These unique painted statue fragments have already had an amazing history. They were destroyed in the Reformation and hidden behind plaster until 1848 when they were re-discovered. Miraculously they were kept and now form probably the largest collection of 15th century painted sculptures in the country.
The celebration event takes the form of a study day looking at the story of these rare survivors from quarried stone to a digital future. Church archaeologist, Jerry Sampson, is one of the speakers; together with Lynne Humphries and Emma Norris who are experts in medieval paint. There will be a demonstration of stone carving and local chamber choir, the Swan Singers, will perform a short concert of appropriate music. The day will end with a son et lumière when a light display will give a glimpse into the stones’ colourful past and future.
The cost of the day (including coffee and a soup lunch) is £15.
St John’s Church, Bridgwater. A Success Story!
A major part of the satisfaction derived from being so closely involved with the work of the Trust is the opportunity to visit so many wonderful churches, not just at the time grant applications are being made but also on completion of the relevant works for which a grant may have been awarded. It is gratifying to witness the positive results of the efforts applied by everybody involved in bringing a project through to a successful conclusion, whether they be the architect, the contractor and of course most importantly the incumbent and their team and their congregation.
Repair work continues to represent the main recipient of our grants and whilst leaking roofs or tower repairs may not be readily visible to the casual observer, their importance to the maintenance of the fabric and the continuing use of the building as a vibrant and uplifting place of worship cannot be ignored. I would particularly like to highlight from recent awards the successful outcome at St John’s, Bridgwater. The church is within a challenging urban environment where until the present incumbent, Lis Sparrow, arrived some six years ago, the congregation had been dwindling and the condition of the church itself was deteriorating. Both lighting and heating were improved through local resources but last year it became apparent that a major failure of the tower roof could no longer be ignored by the judicious distribution of buckets beneath. Lis embarked upon the herculean task of raising in excess of £100k, which she achieved in a matter of a few months and, against the further challenges of the pandemic, the work has recently been completed. Her determination and commitment are an inspiration to us all and it’s pleasing to note that not only is the church now light, warm and dry but is also witnessing a significant increase in its congregation and in the outreach work being undertaken in the local community. The Trust is delighted to have made a contribution to support this project and the work of this church in the local community.
Anthony Sutcliffe – Grants Secretary
Annual Meeting November 2021
On a chilly autumn evening at the Wells Museum, the Somerset Churches Trust held its Annual Meeting followed by a lecture on the subject of Romanesque Churches in Somerset. This was a particularly special opportunity for members and trustees to meet as no such meeting had been possible in 2020 owing to covid restrictions. This was well attended and members were brought up to date on the activities of the Trust over the last year. Thank you to everyone who attended and for the positive and helpful comments which were made.
The Annual Meeting was very well attended and the Newsletter compiled by Chair Axel Palmer is available to read here.
Treasurer Tony Davies reported on the trust’s finances. Click here to read the Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ending 30 June 2021.
October Newsletter 2021
We are back Crawling!
Church Crawl in Locking Deanery
9th October
Find out more in the latest Newsletter available by clicking here.
Mediaeval Monastic Houses in Somerset
With Ride+Stride a constant opportunity to showcase the wide variety of churches and chapels in Somerset which are accessible all year round, Philip Skelhorn, Trustee, has made available an abridged version of an article to be made available in full in due course. You can read here about the mediaeval monastic houses in Somerset, with Woodspring Priory an important first visit for the Trust in September.
Ride+Stride September 2021
News of fund-raising plans made for this year’s Ride+Stride.
Cycle rides, pilgrimages, abseiling (not!) and parachuting – what else happened?
Across Somerset, many friends of the Trust planned their weekend R+S activities.
The weather was ‘set fair’! So, what did we get up to?
To read all about it, click here.
The Chairman’s A – Z of Somerset Churches
Trust Chairman, Axel Palmer, has set himself an objective of visiting a range of churches and chapels across Somerset to compile his own A – Z!
This time:
The Bishop. The King. St Michael and … er .. Highland Cattle!
And a Dragon!
To read the whole story, click here to download
Summer Newsletter 2021
The latest newsletter is available by clicking here. Some headlines are below:
- Good News from Boris – Open Churches and visitors permitted!
- Summer is here, at last: more relaxation in prospect!
- Baby steps, maybe, but let’s start to CRAWL!