Autumn Newsletter ’23

Re-painting Church

The contract has now been placed, and sample panels for the different shades of blue for the Chancel ceiling have been ordered. The Chancel Arch, over the Rood Screen, will be painted in the same colour scheme as the Chancel ceiling. It was painted when it was first installed, with the Chancel Screen, in 1926 It seems odd now that the bright colours were painted over (possibly in the 1970’s) The Church Building Council has queried the darkness of the Nave Ceiling—we await advice on this, as re-painting the Nave ceiling was not originally within the scope of works.

New Guide-Book

Fr Andrew written a new Guide-Book for the Church - putting together notes from others, together with much of his own work. As I write this, the proofs are about to go back to the printers—so the first copies might be available before Christmas. It is hoped that there will be an “Official Launch” during the Residents First Weekend, at the end of January. The Book is to be printed on glossy paper, with a laminated cover, and is full of pictures—just right for the discerning coffee table. It will however include QR code links to pages on our website where more in-depth details of each subject will be available to those who are interested. These webpages will be updated as and when new information becomes available.

Information Cards

One of the “spin-offs from the national Lottery project has been “Information Cards” on stands around Church. There was a great deal of discussion about how best to facilitate the dissemination of information to visitors, without detracting from the character of the building, whose primary purpose is as a place of worship. The Lottery Fund however, is completely disinterested in worship. So the task set was how to describe the many features of Church, and especially the windows—the point of the project—without too much reference to the worship of the Church, or its raison d'être . The compromise was to have “discrete” stands around the building to hold colour-coded information cards. However, the cards were not to be too ridged so that a child could throw them like a Frisbee into the stained glass - the preservation of which is whole point of the project. However, when all this was being decided, and the subject matter for each card chosen, the Lady Chapel was full of scaffolding, and associated building materials for the restoration works. Thus, the firm tasked with their production were unaware of the Tile Pavement hidden beneath the protective tarpaulins. Hence there is no information on the tiles.

Traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

Traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, by Candlelight will be held at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday 20th December. Christmas Day, from The Lady Chapel Window - Lower Central Panel.