The Friends of St Mary’s invite you to join them for mulled wine, mince pies and refreshments at the Old Church. Taking place between 12-2:30pm on Sunday 11th December the event is a social occasion to meet friends, chat and look at the decorated Christmas trees. You could also become a member (or renew your membership) of the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church. All are welcome, no admission charge but donations gratefully received. Any funds raised will go towards the urgently needed repairs discussed in a previous article on this site.
Christmas Cards
The friends are also selling packs of Christmas Cards featuring the Old Church in wintry scenes. Costing £3.50 you can buy the cards from Scissorhands, the Pharmacy or directly from Teresa (241878) or Jane (240167).
Our 1,000-year-old West Bergholt Old Church in Hall Road is now in need of serious care and attention to give it the chance to continue another 1,000 years. Its roof is leaking in 2 places requiring repair of the valley gutter and dormer window, and the belfry needs work on its weather cladding. The estimate of cost for this external work, by the Churches Conservation Trust which now cares for this redundant church, is an eye-watering £127,200. The CCT secured grant funding for most of this sum, but we have to raise the funding shortfall of £10,000 locally.
How you can help
We need your help! The plan is to erect scaffolding and do this specialist work next Spring, so we need to raise the funds quickly to make this happen. To confirm the grant the donors need to see that we can raise our share of the money.
We will ring-fence all donations to this appeal, you could help us in the following ways:
Firstly make a donation either:
by cheque to the ‘Friends of St Mary’s Old Church” sent to our Treasurer: Rhys Lloyd, 4 Coopers Crescent, West Bergholt, CO6 3SJ.
by electronic transfer online to a/c no. 65515734, Sort Code 09-92-99. Please indicate who the donation is coming from.
through justgiving.com: to the “ St. Mary’s Old Church West Bergholt” appeal.
Next, consider coming to the events we are planning this autumn:
Table Top Sale: Saturday 19th November at the Orpen Hall, 10am-2pm at the Orpen Hall. We will be serving Light lunches and refreshments. Call Gill Poole on 240512 to book a sale table. Entrance 50p.
Mulled Wine and Mince Pies in the Old Church – Sunday 11th December from 12.00 – 2.30pm. Come and admire the Christmas trees decorated by various village groups, and meet friends and neighbours. This is a free event but donations will be gratefully received, and memberships (just £5), renewed.
Buy our Christmas cards of the Old Church:
at our events,
the local shops, or
from Teresa on 241878 or Jane on 240167. 6 cards for £3.50.
Become a Friend of St Mary’s Old Church or renew your membership (just £5). Phone Rhys or Carrie or visit the church for details.
Make your friends aware of our Appeal; also that the Old Church is open to visitors from 10am – 4pm every day.
Hold a fundraising events or help us with one of ours. To offer help, please contact Jane or Carrie.
Internal works as well
While this external repair work is undertaken we will also carry out urgently needed plastering work and decoration inside the church. This will be funded by the very generous legacy of Mrs Yvonne Henderson which was left specifically for this purpose.
Thank you for reading this appeal. We hope you will be able to help us preserve our lovely ancient church for future generations and keep it available for the use of our village. Please be as generous as you can.
Celebrate Christmas with us
Start your Christmas celebrations this year by coming to the 2016 Candlelight Carol Service at the Old Church on 18th December at 2.30pm.
The Friends of St Mary’s have two upcoming events that might prove of interest, one a visit from an expert on church history and the other an afternoon concert:
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood, in conjunction with Woodland Trust, invite you to join Join Steve Hallam for their annual Bluebell Open Day and Spring Nature Walk.
The Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are presenting a Celebration of Words & Music in the historic building of St Mary’s Old Church. The Victorian hand pumped organ made by Bevington and Sons will be played by Tom Cogan (former Director of Music at Holmwood House School), and there will be readings by local actors. Tickets £7.50, under 16’s free. Refreshments will be available after the concert. All proceeds from this concert, which is on Saturday 9th May (6pm start), will go towards the upkeep of the Old Church and churchyard. We look forward to welcoming you to this community event.
For more information and to buy tickets please call Jane Lloyd 01206 240167, Teresa Morris 01206 241878, Gill and Mike Poole 01206 240512.
The Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are hosting their popular annual Carol Service this year on Sunday 21st December starting at 2:30pm. Ideal timing to get the whole family in the spirit for Christmas.
For those keen to look around the Old Church, or to take out or renew membership of the Friends, Rhys Lloyd, treasurer of the Friends of St. Mary’s Old Church will be at the old church on Thursday 4th, 11th and 18th December from 10 – 11 am. He will be serving coffee and wine and would be pleased to welcome you.
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood, in conjunction with Woodland Trust, invite you to join Join Steve Hallam for their annual Bluebell Open Day and Spring Nature Walk. As the Woodland Trust say:
Hillhouse Wood is a mosaic of different woodland types making it particularly interesting. It has two ponds and two streams running through, but volunteers have been busy creating footbridges and drying out the path edges. A carpet of bluebells in Spring.
Starting at the Old Church at 2pm on Saturday 19th April, you will see the bluebells (looking like being a great show this year), and other spring flowers, butterflies and spring bird life, possibly including early nightingales.
You can collect your map, family nature trail, and flora and fauna guide from the Friends’ Information Point, by St Mary’s Old Church. Refreshments are available at St Mary’s Old Church.
The latest Village Bulletin is now on-line and available for download/reading on-line on the Village Bulletin page. News updates not previously reported here include:
Deanna Walker BEM
A West Bergholt woman has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours awards for her services to Higher Education. Deanna Walker has been awarded the BEM (British Empire Medal) for her work at the University of Essex where she is administrator in the Registry Department. She joined the university staff 25 years ago in the Admissions Department working in several administrative roles before reaching her present position as Senior Academic Officer. Her work has included mentoring junior colleagues which, she believes, also contributed to colleagues recommending her for the award.
Deanna is modest about her achievements. She says:
The award came out of the blue. When the letter came notifying me, I couldn’t understand why I was chosen as I just do an ordinary working job.
The Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are holding a Heritage Day in the Old Church in conjunction with the Churches Conservation Trust between 10am – 4pm on Sunday 15th September.
Heritage walk around
A walk round leaflet costing 50p will tell you more about this old building so come and find out more about the Old Church:
view the Royal Coat of Arms, which was painted over the chancel arch by order of King James 1 (reigned 1603-25) and only discovered in 1986;
examine the massive oak chest which dates from about 1400; and
try the seats in the 18th C gallery.
Other attractions
There will also be:
an exhibition by professional and amateur artists;
Christmas cards of the Old Church for sale; and
Refreshments available
Find out more about the Old Church on our webpage, the location for those unsure is St. Mary’s (Old) Church, Hall Lane, West Bergholt, CO6 3DU.
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood’s popular Bluebell Oen day and Spring Walk is taking place on Saturday 4th May, a week later than originally intended, due to the wet winter and early spring.
The guided walk will be lead by Steve Hallam, starting outside St. Mary’s Old Church, Hall Road, at 2pm. The Friends’ Information Point, there from 2pm, will also have a supply of maps, nature trails and family quizzes.
Within the church, refreshments will be provided by the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church during the afternoon. In addition, there will also be an art exhibition there.
Bluebell walks at Hillhouse Wood were recently recognized by The Times as one of the top walks through woods in their Weekend Spring Special on 13th April.
Don’t forget to dress appropriately to the weather!
