Church Re-ordering

For the latest on St Mary's re-ordering and the Church Hall click here...

St Mary's is about to undergo a dramatic change which we will endeavour to keep you up to date with via this website. Here our vicar, Mike explains the reasoning behind it all and the story so far...

St Mary's and those plans for the future

As we slowly reach the last stages of finalising the plans for the Church, I thought it would be useful to revisit the process we have followed. When I arrived at St Mary's nine years ago the first serious concern that was made apparent to me was the lack of a toilet in Church. It would seem that for years this concern was there but little was done to solve the problem. So we asked the Architect to draw up possibilities but the only possible site was behind the organ, cutting down the kitchen area and frankly, finishing with a "portaloo" construction that was neither discreet, nor  pleasing to the eye.

So we asked the Diocesan Advisory Committee to come and help us but after several weeks they had to admit defeat, not liking the proposal the architect had offered and having no new ideas of their own. If we did decide to put the loo by the organ, ramps would have been needed for wheel chair access which would have taken most of the north aisle area, and we couldn't afford to lose this space.

By now we had changed architects and decided to look at building onto the church to get the loo, perhaps more space and hopefully an area that could be used for meetings and community use to get the Church more into village life. So plans were drawn up and an exciting development on the North of the tower looked as if it gave us all we needed. Then we asked English Heritage (who oversee all work on ancient Churches) and they said they would not support any new building work around the 12^th Century tower and suggested that we look at using the present space more imaginatively. Any new building would also give concern to the Archaeologists who said they could stop a project if ancient remains were found, a frightening thought if we were half way through an expensive development!

We were back to square one after 5 years and so started to look at the possibility of using the space we had. The architect first suggested that the removal of the pipe organ and its replacement with a modern electronic organ would be the cheapest way of increasing the space within the church and would give more room in the kitchen area to allow a more substantial toilet to be built. However, because the church is on two levels this would still require ramps for wheel chair access. Disabled access was soon going to be a legal requirement so this became the next problem we tackled.

By reducing the level of the chancel and kitchen by 8" and increasing by 8" the floor levels in the nave, we were able to provide one level within the Church, and a huge amount of flexibility. It solved many problems.

But now we were looking at a new floor and discussions ranged from carpet to slabs and also had to take into account the heating system. The present heating system is very old and would no doubt require attention in the next few years. We were advised that the best and most economical heating system for such a big space was modern underfloor heating, so this was added to the plans together with a decision to opt for a slab floor that would compliment the ancient structure of the Church.

New plans were drawn up, approved in principle by the Diocese and sent out to all the worthy Societies that have a claim on our Church. Their objections and comments had to be incorporated into our thinking and yet more plans produced. The final version is on its way. It will need the approval of the Diocese and the societies will be consulted again before getting approval from the Church itself

Those Pews!

Once the provision of a loo had forced us into looking at a much bigger project, we all felt that we needed to equip the Church for the next 100 years. St Mary's was re-ordered in 1867 to meet the challenges of that new period in history, we needed to do the same. Churches throughout the land are developing flexible space to encourage community use, to allow new forms of worship, to bring more intimacy into worship. Pews are uncomfortable to sit on and are very inflexible. Recently we have had the joy of putting on various little presentations for the village but have had to work round the pews, they are no longer an asset to the Church. We will be replacing them with chairs which could actually form pew-like structures if needed but the aim of the new seating will be comfort and flexibility. It's interesting to note that for centuries, St Mary's had no seating, only a few benches against the walls. It was the rich villagers that asked and paid for seats- the old "boxpews". At the last re-ordering, the comment was made that there was no room for the poor to sit, only the rich had places, so pews are far from traditional and have a dubious past! I truly believe that the changes we hope to make will result in a breathtaking space, maintaining its simplicity and warmth and doing honour to its ancient roots.

Mike Cameron (Vicar)