Dear Friends,
When the history of the recent restoration work on St
Mary's comes to be written (and there's another project waiting to be
done!) I think it will record that the Autumn of 2001 was when
"things really started to happen". Since the last newsletter, so
many of the things which were at that time only plans and hopes have now
become a reality. In this newsletter I'll bring you up to date on
developments in the church, and take a look at what the current plans are
for further work to 'care for and maintain the church' as set out in our
constitution.
First of all though can I draw your attention to the enclosed
minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Friends held, by kind
permission of Seymour and Louise Aitken at Brook House in November. This
was the first formal occasion on which the members could hold to account
(and re-elect if so decided) the committee that has been organising and
recommending expenditure of money raised by the Friends. It was a welcome
opportunity to validate what the committee is doing, and get suggestions
and share discussion on projects that the Friends should be taking
forward.
St Mary's Flower festival
It seems such a long time ago now, but let me start
with the flower festival on 7th -9th September which was a resounding
success. Financially it contributed some £2,500 towards the Friends
funds, but perhaps even more important was the goodwill generated in the
community, and the number of people who came to visit our lovely church
from all around the area. The church looked beautiful.
Heating -our last winter in the cold
Ever since it was set up in 1998 the Friends has been
supporting efforts to improve the heating system in the church. One of the
earliest meetings received the news that heating engineers estimated we
had only about one quarter of the heat output required to adequately warm
the church for services. Its been a long time coming, but we finally have
a system in place. At the time of writing, the new gas-fired boiler has
been installed in the space below the bellframe in the church tower, and
hot air ducts that will distribute the warm air into the church nave have
been fitted. The gas supply for the boiler has been laid across the
churchyard and brought in through the base of the south wall of the tower.
To complete the system grilles will be fitted to the ducts, and a low
screen will be added to the existing screen at the base of the tower
chamber to hide most of the ducts from view. All that is needed is for the
gas supply to be checked and switched on by our gas contractors and we
should be ready to go -a little later than we had hoped, but in time for
what are usually the coldest months of the year.
Hole appears in churchyard -archaeologist is looking
into it
As part of the work to bring a new gas supply into the
church, it was necessary to run a narrow, shallow trench along the edge of
the existing patch that leads from the gate to the church porch- it then
swung round to reach the base of the church tower. At the same time a
second narrow trench, designed to allow installation of a safer more modem
electrical supply was needed around the base of the North chapel. Works
such as these in an archaeological important area such as the churchyard
are a vital way of allowing archaeologists to gauge what might lie below
the surface -not a detailed investigation, but a sort of lifting of the
edge of the carpet as it were. In the archaeological trade, these are
referred to as 'watching briefs'. As part of the arrangements for
installation of the heating supply, the Historic Churches Committee
required a watching brief on the two trenches. As a former field
archaeologist, I was happy to be able to undertake this work.
The results were not surprising -no need to call in the
Time Team yet! -but provide some useful pointers for future research work
in the area, should the opportunity arise. The trench alongside the North
chapel foundations uncovered a large rectangular limestone stone slab
built into the foundations of the buttress at the north west corner of the
chapel. This was last exposed during archaeological investigation of the
area in the 1960's. The dimensions (1.27m x 0.59m x 0.18m thick) and the
moulded edges of the stone led researchers at the time to suggest that
this stone was part of an earlier altar from the church, removed -possibly
as part of a 16th or 17th century re-ordering of the
interior -but kept as part of the church, buried in the foundations.
Clearly, the shape and size of the stone are more than would be needed to
support the foundations, and the stone has definitely been used elsewhere,
but during my examination I did not see anything that would confirm this
interpretation. I enclose a photo -what do you think?
The
trench to the South of the church uncovered a layer of gravelly sand, some
15cm (6") below the ground. My guess is that this is the remains of a
dump of building materials from a previous major restoration of the church
-perhaps the 1862 work. Not surprisingly, this trench also uncovered a
number of human bones. These had not come from burials - the line of the
trench had been planned to avoid all known burials, but they were loose in
the topsoil of the burial ground - not unusual in view of the number of
burials (several thousand) that have been made in the churchyard. I am
grateful for the assistance of a colleague from English Heritage, Martin
Newman, who came out to identify the bones. Unfortunately (or perhaps
not?) I can't report that we found the body of Bill Peare - the highwayman
who was apparently buried in the churchyard in an unmarked grave in 1783!
The bones, once examined, were all re-interred in the churchyard next to
the church porch following a short ceremony led by Fr Richard.
Other work in progress
The churchyard boundary wall: work to patch and repair
the 19th century wall is nearing completion. At the time of
writing only the cap-stones on the wall need replacement. We hope later to
be able to fund replacement of the railings.
The lead lining of the font, for which funds were voted
at the AGM, has now been finished. A tap to allow the draining of holy
water from the font bowl has been added and it has already seen use -
Jessica Hulme was the first child to be baptised in the restored font.
Also to be funded by the Friends is work to install
grilles to protect the 20th century stained glass windows - the East
window dating to 1906 and the two on the South side dating from the
1940's.
The wrought iron gateway and the arch above it are now
being refurbished. As part of this, the step up from the pavement to the
churchyard has been removed, and the churchyard path sloped to provide
better access for wheelchairs and prams.
The bell that will be used by the restored 19th
century chiming mechanism was decorated and blessed during Mass on 2nd
December 2001. The bell itself is 19th century, cast by one of
the most famous bell foundries of the period, J. Taylor & Sons of
Loughborough in 1876. It has a diameter of 15" and weighs some 80 Ibs.
All being well it will be installed by the time you read this.
At the time of writing the clock face has been taken
down to be re-gilded, to complete work on the clock.
What next?
One future project currently being talked through is
the use of the North chapel which at the moment houses the late 19th
century (c.1890) pipe organ, the confessional and storage cupboards. If we
are to make better use of the chapel space, we will have to remove the
organ. The necessary permission for this from the St Sampsons PCC has been
obtained, but we are still looking for a smaller replacement organ, which
could perhaps be accommodated somewhere in the nave of the church.
Faculties to take forward what would be a substantial
change to the church interior will be needed, and we are still at an early
stage. This is an area where the Friends can perhaps act as a forum to
ensure our architects produce a scheme which everyone can support. The
Annual General Meeting started discussion on this, but if you have
opinions and ideas that you would like to contribute, please do get in
touch either through Gerry, Bernadette or Fr Richard.
Future events
Planning has also begun for fundraising and social
events for 2002. At present the Friends committee is planning a 'mini
fete' for June (dates to be finalised) and we are also looking to take
part in the 2002 'Heritage Open Days' scheme over the week-end 13th
-16th September. It's never too early to start finding
volunteers to help during the Summer on this or any other events, so if
you can spare some time to help get things organised I'm sure Sean
O'Connell and Peter Baister our events organisers will be happy to hear
from you.
Subscriptions due!
And while we're thinking about fund-raising please
remember to send in your annual subscriptions. For those whose
subscriptions are due, a pink slip is enclosed with the details.
And finally: I'm sure all Friends will be pleased to
note the recognition of the contribution of this fine old church in a
recent change to the official name for the local Catholic parish - from 3rd
October 2001 the parish has been renamed the 'Parish of St Thomas of
Canterbury Fairford, with St Mary Cricklade'.
History notes: The Smythe dedications
This group of dedication plaques in the church
commemorate the charitable works of Major Henry and Elizabeth Smythe in
the 1850's and 1860's. Two are on wooden panels, painted to resemble slate
plaques on marble surrounds, while that commemorating the donation of the
church clock is on a metal sheet in a wooden frame -a slightly unusual
choice of material, which perhaps suggests that it was made by the same
craftsman who made the clock dial. During the current works to install
heating in the church tower they have been taken down, but they will be
reinstated when the works are completed.
THE
CHURCH CLOCK
was
presented to the PARISH
of
St Mary, CRICKLADE by
MAJOR
HENRY SMYTH and
ELIZABETH
SMYTHE his WIFE
ANNO
DOMINI
1863 |
TO
COMMEMORATE
THE
donation OF £1000
MADE
BY
MAJOR
HENRY SMYTH in aid of
the
National Schools for the two Parishes
of
Saint Sampsons and Saint Mary Cricklade
MAY
24th -----------------------------------1853
Read
Child of Poverty and know that the hand
of
providence can guide thy honest energies,
and
enable thee in thy later days to enjoy the
heartfelt
pleasure I now have in giving this
my
humble aid to thy Education |
MAJOR
HENRY SMYTH'S CHARITY
for
BLANKETS and WARM CLOTHING for the POOR
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The
two Sums of £400 and £500 have been laid
out by
the Charity Commissioners in the -
Purchase
of £850.10.11 Stock in the New
L3 per
Cent Government Annuities. The
Interest
is paid by the Charity Commissioners
to the
Rector and Churchwardens of St Mary's
Cricklade
for the time being, to be laid out
as
directed in the Deed of Gift
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