The Churches Conservation Trust

Let’s take a closer look at roundels: those captivating circular adornments embedded in our churches. They are, as you might expect, round, and act as a testament to the skilled artisans who sought to express intricate designs on various materials, be it glass or stone. Within , they found a unique purpose by harnessing the play of light and colour within sacred spaces. Roundels contributed to visually stunning light displays, transforming churches into kaleidoscopic . Later they also served a didactic function as they evolved from geometric patterns to depictions of saints, biblical narratives and heraldic symbols. St. Mary’s the Virgin in has been in the care of CCT since 1987. Nestled throughout the church there are 49 roundels, dating from the 16th and 17th Century, which have just undergone extensive conservation work, in order to preserve them for future generations and restore them to their full glory.
Conserving stained-glass takes a specialist approach and is costly, which is why this year’s Annual Appeal has the theme Windows: Framing England’s History. Windows are a crucial piece of the elaborate puzzle that forms our historic churches, yet they are often in jeopardy. Please help us continue caring for these fundamental parts of our historic churches by donating today.
Donate towards our 2024 Annual Appeal on our website https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/get-involved/give/support-a-campaign/annual-appeal-windows-framing-england-s-history.html
Or by calling our team on 0800 260 1463.

See behind the scenes of a glass conservators studio in this magnificent tour of Jim Budd Stained Glass filmed by Derek Hunt Artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X_j1qtykMs

For Heritage Open Days 2024 we encourage you to take advantage of a unique opportunity to get a guided tour of St. Peter’s church in Offord D’Arcy!
This year’s Heritage Open Days are all about Routes, Networks and Connections intended to celebrate how people and ideas have moved around throughout history! With over 300 churches all over the country we have plenty of stories to share and much hidden history to explore.
There is much to discover at St. Peter’s, including a mystery stone effigy, memorial brasses, a family alabaster monument, carved corbel faces and a possibly unique William Glasby stained glass window with memorial plaques below, which together form the Offord D'Arcy war memorial. Heritage Open Days at Offord D’Arcy are fun for the whole family! Trace the descendants of our Mediaeval Knight. Locate the homes of the Offord men who fought in the First World War on a village map of the time or study the records of the men who fought in WWI. The Friends of St Peter's have carried out extensive research on the men from both Offord Cluny and Offord Darcy who fought and died in the Great War! Local residents will be encouraged to visit St Peter's and find their properties with copies of the relevant census to research who lived in their homes.
Find out more & see dates and opening times here: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/st-peter-s-church-offord-darcy-st-neots-cambs-2024.html

Is there no one strong enough to lift the curse and kill the monstrous Grendel who spreads woe through the land of the Danes? When call goes out for a hero, young Beowulf, is eager to answer.

This August Quill & Inkling bring their family friendly adaptation of Beowulf to four CCT Churches in & :
4th August – St Mary’s Stonham Parva
16th August – St Mary’s Chilton
23rd August – St Michaels Longstanton
24th August – St John’s Parson Drove

Enjoy a captivating re-telling of this enthralling tale with poetry, puppetry and action-packed fight sequences in this brand-new adaptation for audiences of all ages!

Tickets are £15 for adults and concessions are available for children and the over 60s.

For more information and to book tickets: quillandinkling.com/events

This week in 1978 St. Katherine’s in Chiselhampton near , came into the care of CCT. This delightful church, outstanding for the completeness and beauty of its furnishings and arrangement, was rebuilt by Charles Peers in 1762-63, as was Chiselhampton House nearby in 1768. It is a striking, stuccoed building with curious classical details and a clock turret resembling those on stable blocks of the period. Inside it is lit through clear glass in round-headed south windows and, apart from an earlier pulpit, the woodwork, including the altar-piece, box pews and gallery, is all contemporary. John honoured it in verse in 1952 and made a personal appeal for funds to support it and we could not possibly dream up a more lyrical description of this church than Verses turned in aid of A Public Subscription (1952) towards the restoration of the Church of St Katherine, Chiselhampton, Oxon:
Across the wet November night
The church is bright with candlelight
And waiting Evensong.
A single bell with plaintive strokes
Pleads louder than the stirring oaks
The leafless lanes along.

It calls the choirboys from their tea
And villagers, the two or three,
Damp down the kitchen fire,
Let out the cat, and up the lane
Go paddling through the gentle rain
Of misty Oxfordshire.

Read the full poem here: http://www.westgallerychurches.com/Oxford/Chiselhampton/Chiselhampton.html
If you would like to visit St. Katherine’s, keys are available nearby at the Coach & Horses Inn: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-katherine-chiselhampton.html

in 1987 St Peter’s church, Claydon, , which stands proudly at the top of a ridge on the eastern side of the Gipping Valley, came into the care of CCT. The tower of St Peter’s is visible for a considerable distance. Within a mile (1.6 km) of this church as the crow flies are two other mediaeval churches – St Mary’s Barham and St Mary’s Akenham, which, like St Peter’s, is in the care of CCT. People have worshipped on this spot for 1000 years. The two western corners of the nave have large quoins (cornerstones) which are set in the fashion known as ‘long and short work’, and this dates the core of the nave to times. The inner arch of the south doorway may also be Saxon, but probably dates from the period – possibly about 1100. In the late 1300s or early 1400s, the nave received its present windows and doorways, the tower was built and a little later in the 1400s, the porch was added on the north side. It was at this time that the nave roof was made, and the font installed, along with much colour and carving, which was removed after the . The Puritan inspector of churches – William Dowsing – visited the church on 22 January 1644, and reported that ‘We broke down 3 superstitious pictures and gave order to take down 3 crosses on the steeple and one on the church’.
In May 1846, the Revd George Drury arrived as rector here. Father Drury became a staunch supporter of the in the Church of England, which not only attempted to bring dignity and beauty to Anglican worship, but also to restore churches so that they could become fitting places in which this worship could take place. In line with the Oxford Movement, which spearheaded the Catholic Revival, and the Ecclesiologists, who promoted church restorations on mediaeval lines, he set to work turning this church into a devotional venue for the elaborate worship which was to take place here. He was an amateur architect, stone- and woodcarver and maker of stained glass, and some of the work was actually done by him personally.
To see the fruits of his labour for yourself, find out how to visit here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-peter-claydon.html

in 1987 St Peter’s church, Claydon, , which stands proudly at the top of a ridge on the eastern side of the Gipping Valley, came into the care of CCT. The tower of St Peter’s is visible for a considerable distance. Within a mile (1.6 km) of this church as the crow flies are two other mediaeval churches – St Mary’s Barham and St Mary’s Akenham, which, like St Peter’s, is in the care of CCT. People have worshipped on this spot for 1000 years. The two western corners of the nave have large quoins (cornerstones) which are set in the fashion known as ‘long and short work’, and this dates the core of the nave to times. The inner arch of the south doorway may also be Saxon, but probably dates from the period – possibly about 1100. In the late 1300s or early 1400s, the nave received its present windows and doorways, the tower was built and a little later in the 1400s, the porch was added on the north side. It was at this time that the nave roof was made, and the font installed, along with much colour and carving, which was removed after the . The Puritan inspector of churches – William Dowsing – visited the church on 22 January 1644, and reported that ‘We broke down 3 superstitious pictures and gave order to take down 3 crosses on the steeple and one on the church’.
In May 1846, the Revd George Drury arrived as rector here. Father Drury became a staunch supporter of the in the Church of England, which not only attempted to bring dignity and beauty to Anglican worship, but also to restore churches so that they could become fitting places in which this worship could take place. In line with the Oxford Movement, which spearheaded the Catholic Revival, and the Ecclesiologists, who promoted church restorations on mediaeval lines, he set to work turning this church into a devotional venue for the elaborate worship which was to take place here. He was an amateur architect, stone- and woodcarver and maker of stained glass, and some of the work was actually done by him personally.
To see the fruits of his labour for yourself, find out how to visit here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-peter-claydon.html

We have made it into The Press in York! Read the full piece about the upcoming exhibition of Gentleman Jack costumes at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York here: https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/24451083.costumes-gentleman-jack-display-york-church/?ref=socialflow&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0OJZAuaM6Crk-cJ5ZufsaNd5Zk6cKls-tgDSfiFhQ_AVTneJUrn7eVXdw_aem_X6tt2o9bYXMc0W497HYqGw
Head to our website to book tickets for our Member Exclusive Unveiling Event this Sunday and enjoy a first view of the costumes with drinks reception and talk by Calderdale Museums Collection Manager Angela Clare: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-s-on/exclusive-unveiling-event-at-holy-trinity--goodramgate.html
Not a member yet? Join today for access to exclusive events and help us conserve historic churches for future generations: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/get-involved/join-today.html
The costumes will be on general display to the public from Wednesday 24th July to Sunday 4th August (inclusive).

Calderdale Museums and Arts

Photographs by Toni Wainwright

Don't miss your chance to hear the Canzona String Quartett play in the enchanting setting of Christ the Consoler Church. Led by Nicholas Ward with colleagues from NCO soloists, the chamber ensemble of the Northern Chamber Orchestra which he directed for over 30 years, Canzona String Quartett will delight with works by Mozart, Shostakovich and Dvorak.
This promises to be an exquisite evening of classical music in the unrivalled setting of this beautiful 19th Century Church in the parkland of the Newby Estate.

It will also be a good opportunity to visit this outstanding example of William Burges work, before the church closes for works from the 2nd until the 7th of August. Hosted by the Friends of Christ the Consoler, all proceeds of this concert go back into the conservation of this stunning church, and if their recent successful concert featuring Albert Lau & Steinway is anything to go by, you will not regret attending this blissful evening!

Tickets via Newby Hall & Gardens : https://www.newbyhall.com/event/canzona-string-quartet/

Photographs of font and angel with cymbals by Graham White

In many CCT churches you can find memorial reliefs, carvings, which can be described as ‘escaping from their stone into the room’. Reliefs project from the stone wall to which they belong. From the 14th to the 16th Century, English sculpture for church buildings was often created from Gypsum alabaster. This was sourced primarily through the mines around , which was ideally located to serve both the north and the south. One implication of reliefs is the gesturing towards the transient state of the memorialised subject, being both entombed in the church and yet living in memory. An exquisite example of such a memorial can be found in the Lumley Chapel in . This site witnessed the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, before passing to the 12th Earl of Arundel, John, Lord Lumley, who built a beautiful tomb with alabaster relief in memory of his wife Jane. Jane, Lady Lumley was also the first person to translate Euripides into English. Her translation of Iphigenia is the first known dramatic work to be written by a woman in English, and the first known translation of a classical play into English by anyone.

Find out how to visit Lumley Chapel here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/lumley-st-dunstan.html

Photographs (c) Joseph Casey and Graham White

We are delighted to offer picture-book Champing stay in rural . St. Botolphs Church in Limpenhoe dates back to the 12th Century. Initially it was a simple thatched structure with a low tower but was extended during its redevelopment in circa 1880. The lower part of the 15th Century tower survives, and there is a remaining beautiful south doorway.
Limpenhoe is in a lovely rural setting being slightly elevated with stunning views over the local marshes. Despite its rural nature it has good transport links and easy access to the larger towns of , Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft on the coast, Beccles and Bungay. Norfolk is renowned for its rivers and broads and is a haven for wildlife. are able to see many migratory and resident birds on the extensive marshes surrounding the broads. Being relatively flat Norfolk provides an excellent opportunity for cyclists and there are plenty of cycle routes on small lanes avoiding major roads. Whether you are visiting in the car or for cycling or walking Limpenhoe and the surrounding areas have plenty to offer.
This church can fit up to 6 Champers!
Please contact [email protected] for information regarding accessibility and amenities.
Book your next Champing adventure today: https://champing.co.uk/church/limpenhoe-norfolk-st-botolphs/

Broads National Park

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes when the CCT Conservation team works on site? Now, is your chance to find out. On the 21st of July our community archaeology dig at St. Peter’s Northampton concludes with a public viewing event allowing you to discover the secrets of St. Peter’s!
This FREE event will run from 14:00 – 16:00 and will include a guided tour of St. Peter’s church kindly hosted by the Friends of St. Peter’s at 15:00. At 14:00 you are invited to go on a guided walk with renowned archaeologist Andy Chapman to discover the original Saxon structures on this site.
Join us in this celebration of the ‘National Festival of Archaeology’, speak to archaeologists at work and learn about the fascinating history of Northampton!

Free parking on Sundays in Freeschool Street (unfortunately Chalk Lane Car Park is currently closed).

More info here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-s-on/festival-of-archaeology-northampton.html

Or learn more about Conservation at CCT: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-we-do/conservation.html

Photos of church interior (c) Barry Cawston

In Bristol this weekend and looking for last-minute plans? Why not enjoy a FREE afternoon concert at beautiful Bristol St. Thomas?

Streatham Choral will be performing a free concert in this beautiful 18th century church in the Redcliffe Quarter of Bristol as part of their weekend tour which also includes Clifton Cathedral and St Mary's Redcliffe.

The programme will include WA Mozart's Coronation Mass, John Rutter's Magnificat, the King's College Service by Joanna Forbes L'Estrange and Franz Josef Haydn's Insanae et Vanae Curae.

More info here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-s-on/free-informal-concert-in-st-thomas.html

Visit Bristol

It’s a at CCT and we are eagerly awaiting the ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ tour of critically acclaimed theatre company This Is My Theatre. “I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream,
past the wit of man to say what dream it was.”
The woods outside Athens are busy this night. Four young Athenian lovers are lost. Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairy-folk, are quarrelling whilst a group of craftsmen (who also happen to be some not-so-very-talented actors) are meeting in secret to rehearse their play.
With its many parts, Shakespeare's story of love, mistaken identity and magic has remained popular with audiences across the world.
Catch this ‘must-see’ adaptation at a CCT church near you this summer!
Get your tickets:
St. Nicholas Freefolk, 25th July: https://www.thisismytheatre.com/freefolk
St. Peter’s Northampton, 11th August: https://www.thisismytheatre.com/northampton
St. Mary’s Hartley Wintney, 13th August: https://www.thisismytheatre.com/hartley-wintney
All Saints Little Somborne, 25th August: https://www.thisismytheatre.com/little-somborne-midsummer

St Mary's Church is a Grade I listed church in the village of Shipton Sollars, . The first record of a church on the site is that of a chapel in 1236. By the 17th century the fabric of the building had decayed, and the church was closed. In 1883 Rev Charles Pugh was appointed rector. The church was at that time being used as a cow shed, its windows were blocked, and trees were growing through its roof. With the help of his wife, the rector repaired the church and reopened it the following year. Services were held during the summer months, but the condition of the church deteriorated again, and the services were discontinued. In 1929 Ernest Francis Fieldhouse, the patron of the benefice, commissioned the architect W. E. Ellery Anderson to repair and restore the church again. This work included reconstructing the roof, unblocking the north doorway of the nave, and removing whitewash from the internal walls. The church continued in occasional use during the 20th century, but was declared redundant in 2005, came into the care of CCT in the same year and subsequently underwent a programme of repairs, in particular to make the building wind and weatherproof. Today, St. Mary’s receives loving support from a small team of volunteers and is particularly popular with walkers.
We are looking for volunteers to help with cleaning, historical research, talks and stewarding, events and fundraising at several sites in Gloucestershire. If interested, please get in touch via [email protected].

Find out how to visit St. Mary’s here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-mary-shipton-sollars.html

Join us on Sunday the 21st of July at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York for an exclusive talk and drinks reception to celebrate the launch of the exhibition of two costumes from the BBC series ‘Gentleman Jack’.
During this exclusive event for CCT members, we will enjoy a sparkling wine drinks reception to cheer the occasion, and we will welcome Angela Clare to talk about the remarkable legacy of Anne Lister's diaries and home, the impact of Gentleman Jack, the costumes from the series, and the famous wedding at Holy Trinity in 1834.
This event will also allow our members to view two of the iconic costumes (by renowned fashion/costume designer Tom Pye), Anne Walker's wedding outfit and bonnet and one of Anne Lister's outfits, and top hat as worn by the actors, Sophie Rundle and Suranne Jones.
These costumes, generously loaned to CCT by Calderdale Museums, will then be on general display to the public following this event, from Wednesday, 24 July to Sunday, 4 August 2024 (inclusive).
Reserve your FREE Member tickets here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-s-on/exclusive-unveiling-event-at-holy-trinity--goodramgate.html
Not a CCT Member yet? Join today and help us care for historic churches: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/get-involved/join-today.html

Photos by Toni Wainwright

This year’s Heritage Open Days are all about Routes, Networks and Connections intended to celebrate how people and ideas have moved around throughout history! With over 300 churches all over the country we have plenty of stories to share and much hidden history to explore.
Join us for a tour of St. Peter’s Marefair and explore it’s Saxon origins! St Peter's stands in a pretty grass churchyard in Northampton town centre, beside the buried remains of a Saxon palace. This 900-year-old church is filled with glorious carved treasures. Inside, great Norman arches of plain and banded stone rise and flow with zig-zag waves.

They are supported by beautiful carved capitals, each overflowing with foliage, scrollwork, birds and beasts -- look for the man being swallowed by (or emerging from) a monster. These carvings were plastered over in the seventeenth century and were carefully unpicked with a bone knife in the early nineteenth century by local antiquarian Anne Elizabeth Baker, a labour of love lasting 11 years. Other highlights include a handsome brass lectern and carved wooden pews and monuments - including the bust of William Smith, the father of British geology.
Find out more about dates & times: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/st-peters-church-marefair.html

Photographs by Barry Cawston

For Champers who enjoy peace, quiet and nature All Saints in Claverly is a perfect fit. Claverly is a charming picturesque village in . The church is a wonderful example of a village church which dates back to 675AD and inside are some notable mediaeval wall paintings to discover.
Claverley is a small rural village surrounded by farmland and stunning countryside walks. In the village itself are two pubs, The Crown and The Plough.
It’s worth popping into Bridgnorth set on the picturesque River Severn. This old English market town has a wealth of history and wonderful architecture, and is also home to the Severn Valley Railway. This heritage steam-railway joins High Town to Low Town, boasting a platform complete with a refreshment room serving breakfast and light lunches, and even an on-platform pub! To make a day of it, take a ride to the fascinating town of Bewdley, or the stunning Arley station, featured on many film and TV productions and a short walk to Arley Arboretum with the longest laburnum arch in Britain!
Please, be aware that this is still an active church with Sunday morning services.
All Saints should be accessible for wheelchair users, but for detailed information please contact [email protected] before you book to make sure this is the right site for you.
Book your next Champing adventure today: https://champing.co.uk/church/claverley-shropshire-all-saints/

Visit Shropshire

Photographs (c) Joseph Casey

It is truly a at CCT this year! We are not letting the weather deter us from filling our sites with the sounds of . This Saturday for example, anyone based in Rutland or thereabout can catch the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the St. Peter’s Singers, who will be touring not one, not two, but 7(!!) churches in one day. You can hear them bright and early at 10:00 in St. Peter’s Tickencote (PE9 4AE) or see the rest of their busy itinerary below:
10.00 -10.25 St Peter’s Church Tickencote, Morning Prayer
10.45-11.10 St Peter & St Paul Church Exton
11.45-12.15 Holy Trinity Church Teigh
12.35-13.00 St Edmund’s Church Egleton
14.20-14.45 St Andrew’s Church Stoke Dry
15.15-15.45 St Luke’s Church Tixover
16.00-16.30 St Mary’s Church Duddington, Evening Prayer
Don’t worry, if you’re not based near Rutland, you don’t have to miss out on live music this weekend!
Catch world-renowned pianist Albert Lau playing a Steinway piano at Christ the Consoler, Newby Hall & Gardens , near Ripon on the 13th at 19:30. Get your tickets here: https://www.newbyhall.com/event/albert-lau-international-steinway-artist/
If you are based more southerly, you can come along to hear the Ashen Keys play at St. Mary’s, Higham in Kent, also on Saturday from 18:00. More info here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-s-on/the-ashen-keys-in-higham.html
And anyone in Somerset is invited to a lovely afternoon at Holcombe Old Church with musical accompaniment by the The Called/Saints West Gallery Choir, 14:00 – 14:30: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-s-on/west-gallery-choir-holcombe.html

Friends of Christ the Consoler

Photos by Graham White and Andy Marshall