View our latest newsletter – SCT Newsletter February 2023
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Category: Latest News
Programme of Events 2023
1 April 2023
Crawl based on Wiveliscombe. Bob Croft organising – details on “Events” page.
17 June 2023
Visits to three fine churches in North Somerset led by Andrew Foyle: St Peter’s, Camerton; St Luke & St Andrew, Priston; and St Julian, Wellow.
15 July 2023
‘How to read a church’ – “Gastro” Crawl arranged by Philip Skelhorn around Queen Camel.
16 September 2023
Heritage Open Day
7 October 2023
Crawl arranged by Tony Davies to Cameley, Paulton & Timsbury.
November 2023
Annual Meeting and talk by William Newsom
Other events are in course of organisation.
The Annual Meeting of the Somerset Churches Trust
Details of the forthcoming Annual Meeting are shown here.
We look forward to meeting you.
The Trust would love to have the email contact details for all their members so if it is possible, please do let us have your email details for ease of communication.
Your name, address and email address should be sent to somersetchurchestrust@gmail.com
Thank you!
Sedgemoor Church Crawl
Last month Somerset Churches Trust Treasurer, Tony Davies, led a Church Crawl which was very much enjoyed by a group of church enthusiasts on a day where the weather held up admirably. We show here some images taken on the day by fellow Trustee Emma Brown. Our thanks go to Tony for arranging such a successful day.
Presentation by William Newsom on “Somerset Churches: Forgotten Little Gems”
The Somerset Churches Trust is absolutely delighted that William Newsom has kindly agreed to give the keynote lecture, after the Annual Meeting of the Trust on Wednesday 23rd November, at 7.30pm at the Wells and Mendip Museum in Wells. Doors open at 6.30pm with refreshments available and the Annual Meeting will commence at 6.45pm. Further information will be posted shortly.
William Newsom has the distinction of having visited over the last five years every parish church (bar two) in the Diocese of Bath and Wells, taking numerous photographs along the way. Having taken 30,000 photographs covering 556 churches, he has an unrivalled database to draw upon for the benefit of this presentation. Somerset is well known for its larger churches with magnificent towers, but William leaves those to others to cover elsewhere and instead will be providing a celebration of small churches from all across Somerset covering both ancient and modern.
We look forward to welcoming you there!
STOP PRESS – Sedgemoor Church Crawl this Saturday 1st October
Book today for the Sedgemoor Church Crawl this coming weekend organised by Trust Treasurer Tony Davies. Full details available here
Porlock gets ready to Ride+Stride!
This is the first year that Porlock churches have participated in Ride+Stride and we wish them all the very best of luck!
Porlock St Dubricius is in the High Street, Porlock and is a Grade I Listed C12 church with a notable truncated wooden spire. There are facilities in the village for visitors. Post code TA24 8QJ
Stoke Pero Church is on Exmoor and is a Grade 2 Listed C13 church, south of Porlock but isolated and high up on in the national park. There are no facilities for visitors here. Map grid reference SS 87835 4395.
St Nicholas Church is on Worthy Toll Road in Porlock Weir and is a late C19 Tin Tabernacle in a conservation area. Facilities are in Porlock Weir, 100 yards away. Post code TA24 8PA.
All three churches are well worth visiting and we wish you happy walking between them!
Stoke Pero Church and St Nicholas Church, Porlock Weir
Somerset Churches Trust AGM – Wednesday 23rd November
The Somerset Churches Trust Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 23rd November at the Lecture Room at Wells Museum from 7pm.
William Newsom has kindly agreed to give a lecture on ‘Somerset Churches: Forgotten Little Gems’ which will draw on his extensive knowledge of parish churches in Somerset.
William has the distinction of having visited over the last five years every parish church (bar two) in the Diocese of Bath and Wells, taking numerous photographs along the way. Having taken 30,000 photographs covering 556 churches, he has an unrivalled database to draw upon for the benefit of this presentation. Somerset is well known for its larger churches with magnificent towers, but William leaves those to others to cover elsewhere and instead will be providing a celebration of small churches from all across Somerset covering both ancient and modern.
The AGM will follow after the lecture and the evening will conclude by 9pm.
More details will follow but all members are warmly invited to attend.
Left: St Mary, Charlcombe Right: All Saints, Aisholt
Left: St Mary, Chesterblade Right: Church at Locking Castle, multi-denominational, no dedication
St Nicholas, Bratton Seymour
A Thank You to our long-serving Vice Chairman
Chris Hawkings retired from the position of Trustee and Vice Chairman in April 2022 after many years of service to the Somerset Churches Trust. But, as Chris’ interest in churches and chapels is undiminished,
we wanted to give Chris encouragement to further explore (even further afield) with a token of our appreciation, this took the form of a copy of Simon Jenkins’ Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals signed by fellow Trustees. As Chris said ‘This book is a wonderful momento of my time not just at SCT but during my career and on my travels! As for the cathedrals, whilst I have seen a few of them, a European Grand Tour could be in the offing!’
The Trust is very grateful that Chris will continue to volunteer by helping our Grants Secretary with Church Assessment visits from time to time.
This is a timely reminder of the immense value of volunteers to our charity. Please consider if you could assist us in a capacity which matches enthusiam and support for the maintenance and resilience of our churches and chapels in this historic county of Somerset. Make yourself known to us via the Contact Us page and we will be in touch very soon!
Somerset Churches Trust – could you make a difference?
Like all voluntary organisations, this charity relies on the expertise and enthusiasm of people who are willing to give their time and commitment to ensure the continued future and careful development of historic church buildings in the county of Somerset. Trustees and Officers of the SCT are all volunteers and we are now looking for new volunteers to join in our work. We are interested in filling a number of key positions and welcome your expression of interest if you feel you might be willing and able to help.
Important areas concern overall Trust direction and strategy (Chair), Membership Secretary, Trust Secretary and a Trustee with Ride+Stride responsibilities. Ride+Stride is a key fundraising mechanism for the Trust and the ability to co-ordinate county wide is essential.
In general, enthusiasm and a passion for the continued existence and access to our historic churches and chapels is as important as any technical or professional skills which you may also possess.
If you are interested please do let us know via the Contact Us page and we will be in touch promptly. The next meeting of the Trustees is on October 18th and expressions of interest will then be considered. We appreciate that volunteering can be burdensome but with a committed group who have the aims of the Trust at their heart, these roles can also be very rewarding. If you know someone you think may be interested and suitable, please do let them know about this opportunity. Thank you.
We are grateful to Bath and Wells for helping advertise our volunteer roles through their online Connect magazine and we hope this will help extend our reach to potential Trustees.
We look forward to hearing from you!