Welcome to our final Newsletter of 2025.
For the Trust, the start of the festive season was celebrated in style in collaboration with Wolterton Hall recently with a wonderful evening of music, delicious canapes, with the bubbles flowing and time to mingle and catch up with old friends and to meet new ones. We hope that those who attended enjoyed the evening, which raised over £1,300. You can read more on the event by following the link here.
To help you further get into the Christmas spirit the last two Carol Services in the Churches in our Care will be taking place over the next week.
On Saturday 20th December at 5.30pm, you are very welcome to join us for the Annual Carol Service at Cockthorpe, All Saints, NR23 1QS (What3words ///ramp.coarser.worthy)
Our final Carol Service of the season will be taking place at Bagthorpe St Mary on Tuesday 23rd December at 4pm. The church can be found at PE316QY (What3words ///apply.duos.recitals)
The image of the Nativity is from the east window at Bagthorpe.
Our final Coffee Clean & Chat of 2025 took place at Dunton, St Peter’s on Tuesday 2nd December. A group of willing volunteers, (and a dog) swept, dusted, polished and washed floors, monuments, benches and ledger stones, to leave the interior spruced up and ready the Christmas season. When we left the smell of beeswax filled the air and the cobwebs were banished. See more images from the day by clicking here.
We will be continuing our Coffee Clean & Chat Sessions in the Churches in our Care in the New Year. Dates for your diary are:
Tuesday 3rd February – West Rudham, St Peter, PE31 8TE
Tuesday 3rd March – Cockthorpe, All Saints, NR23 1QS
Tuesday 14th April – Snetterton, All Saints, NR16 2LR
Everyone is warmly welcome to these sessions, whether you are curious about one of our churches or a long-time supporter of the Trust, no experience needed just bring yourself and we will provide everything else, including delicious cake!
As we go to press, the Bike Ride, Walk & Drive 2025 has reached the amazing sum of £116,000, thank you to all those who have once again made this event such a success. If you still have sponsorship money to send in, please can you do so by the 5th January at the very latest so that we can prepare to issue the share of the proceeds to the participating churches.
As the Trust looks forward to its 50th anniversary next year we are launching The Annual Lady Harrod Lecture in honour of Billa Harrod’s role in the founding of the Trust back in 1976. Lady Harrod is pictured here, in her garden during one of her Snowdrop Mornings.
Our speaker for the inaugural lecture, on 24th April, will be John Goodall, Architectural Editor of Country Life. His subject, Parish Churches the Fight for Survival, will look at England’s parish churches, their architecture and fittings which constitute a palimpsest of our social, political and religious history over the last millennium and more.
Our venue will be the beautiful Bylaugh Hall, NR20 4RL, arrival at 6pm. Places cost £35 per person, for more information and to book, follow this link.
The itinerary for the evening is as follows: –
Arrival at 6pm and the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets
6.30pm – Lecture and any questions
Drinks and canapes 8pm – 9pm
Tickets are selling fast for our Winter Lecture Series, with just a few tickets remaining for the following: – William Morris, ‘Kelmscott Manor and the Idea of the Beautiful House’ – Speaker: Dr John Maddison, Friday 30th January 6.30pm to 8.30pm – More information and Booking here.
A Second Golden Age: British Stained Glass from the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts Movement.’ – Speaker: Mr Peter Cormack, Friday 20th February 6.30pm to 8.30pm – More information and Booking here.
Income from the events that we host and the annual Bike Ride, Walk & Drive go directly to support our Grant Funding. To that end we are pleased to report that the first stage of works identified in Lammas St Andrew’s (pictured here) most recent Quinquennial Inspection Report have been completed. Work included repairing and repointing the chancel nave and porch gable coping stonework, installing a new tower roof hatch plus some additional work in the tower including two new ladders and supporting frame in the bell chamber to give safe access to the roof. The Trust awarded a grant in November of 2024 towards these works.
While you are relaxing over the festive period, why not take some time to peruse our blog, always an interesting read, see it here.
You can download a condensed version of this newsletter for your church noticeboard here.
And finally, all that remains is to wish all our members, supporters, donors, volunteers and Bike Ride, Walk & Drive participants and sponsors, a very Merry Christmas and all best wishes for 2026. Without your continued support we would not be able to help preserve the many wonderful churches in the county, thank you.
