St Peter's
The Church must remain locked for security reasons but we have good news too:
The manager at the Boathouse Pub, on the canal by the A45 at Braunston, has kindly offered to hold a Church key for visitors to the Church to borrow.
We would welcome any feedback through the Facebook site or by email to wolfhampcotechurch@gmail.com.
The Churches Conservation Trust, who look after the church financially, have created a survey in order to make sure your views are included when developing plans for the church. Please see information below – we would be very grateful if you could complete the survey by 31st August 2020.
Dear All, (CCT Supporters Wolfhamcote),
Thank you so much for opening this survey. Our church plan surveys are a collaboration between our neighbours, volunteers, our contractors, all our colleagues and anyone with an interest in each of our unique places. By sharing your views on this beautiful, historic asset you can ensure your perspective is included in the development of each church plan. It’s really important that we capture as many different points of view as possible – even if you never use the church at present we still hope to collect your survey response. As the Local Community Officer for Churches Conservation Trust sites in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire I very much appreciate your contribution – thank you. Please do complete your survey by August 31st.
If you’re not familiar with our church planning programme already, here’s the background!
The Churches Conservation Trust is the national charity saving historic churches at risk. We have saved over 350 buildings which attract almost two million visitors a year. With our help and with your support they are kept open and in use – living once again at the heart of their communities. We operate the third largest heritage estate in charitable ownership in the UK. All of the churches in our collection are listed, mostly Grade I and II*, and some are Scheduled Ancient Monuments. These buildings might have disappeared, instead they are kept open and in use at the heart of the community. Our churches remain consecrated and can be used for occasional worship.
A lot more information about the church, including its historical significance, current use, visitor numbers, income expenditure, and some brief suggestions from me for the future of the church, can be found in this report:
Do please open up and read our report before completing your survey! In particular the report includes information about our current annual maintenance costs, as well as the totals for income at your church in recent years. If you find that annual maintenance costs exceed income, please consider reflecting on this problem in your answers. Thank you!
The questions in our survey ask a bit about you and about your interest in and knowledge of the church. We’d also like to invite you to join us in a group discussion about the building later in the year, either in person or via conference call – please indicate your availability and interest in joining this discussion in the survey. Please rest assured that I shall personally convert all answers to anonymous text whenever quoting your replies in our later report. Thank you.
Lastly, to note we plan to send this survey to local residents, community groups, to local businesses, charities and public employers over time, but if you know of anyone who would like to take part now, please do forward this page.
With very best wishes,
Leigh-Anne
The Churches Conservation Trust
On Tuesday evening the church donation box was broken into and the money taken. Damage was also caused to equipment left in the church. The poem below was written in response.
The night was eery, ghosts in the stillness
No owls, just stars scattering their brilliance….
A world alone, alive only in memory.
No congregation in more than a century
the Location to blame, the building is guiltless,
No money, no need, no shouting peremptory
Demands, just strength and a quiet resilience,
Open to All, time’s stillness not in jeopardy
A day-time serenity, a retreat for everybody.
But last night, in the quiet a man and his buddy
Slipped through the door and crept into its dullness.
They broke open the safe and stole all the money
Stuffed in by strangers from summer to Christmas.
They stole the webcam, set to catch their treachery,
No devotion, maybe greed, the pain of their penury
But loud in the air now a shrillness
A centuries old smell of catastrophic illness
Neglect, no love, a futile hope of fulfilment
A church and its people share sorrow and darkness
Written by Christine Sanderson 24.07.20
For July 2020 we are sending out an appeal for your photos of the church, past or present, so we can add them to this website. If you have any you’d like to share please email to wolfhampcotechurch@gmail.com.
Visit the church Facebook page to view a daily Haiku poem that will be posted each day in June 2020. Contributions are most welcome.