Today, we thought we'd look back at some of our 'big saves'. 

First, St Peter’s, Wickham Bishops, Essex. We took it on in the ‘70s, repaired it, found four schemes of hugely important wall-paintings. Now a stained-glass artist works from the nave, and welcomes visitors.

#thread
To Caernarfon, to Hen Eglwys Baglan. An ancient church in the shadow of Snowdon and overlooking the Menai Straits. By the 1970s, it had been neglected for years, and was teetering on the edge when we took it on. Now, it is well-used and beloved by people all over the world.

2/
In Sussex, the little chapel at Milland fell into disuse and dereliction in the 1930s. By 1960, it looked like this. In 1974, working with a local group – who are still active today - haul this ancient place back from the brink. And just in the nick of time too. 

3/
St Oudoceus’s church at Llandawke, Carmarthenshire was built over a stream – you can see the water flowing under the church. It’s an ancient, sacred space. We took it into our care in 2006. It’s now open daily and cared for by locals from nearby Laugharne. 

4/
The church at Papworth St Agnes had been stripped for parts when we found it. Bells, stained glass, pews, roof tiles all sold for salvage in anticipation of demolition. Working with a local group, we repaired this church over many years. Now it’s a thriving community centre.

5/
On Anglesey, the roof at Old Llantrisant church had caved in when we came to its rescue. The first record of this church is in 1254, but in the 19th century it fell out of use when a new church was built a mile away. It’s deeply rural, open daily and well worth poking out.

6/
St Denis’s, East Hatley, Cambs was essentially a bush in 2015 … the council repaired the roof, and we took it on in 2017. It’s looking better now, and works are on-going, but there’s a bit of long road ahead.

Luckily, it’s got a great group of Friends helping it along.  

7/

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More from @friendschurches

28 Nov
So far this year, we’ve taken three closed churches into our care. They were no longer needed for worship. Two would have been demolished.

Our places of worship are the spiritual investment of generations, and they should survive.

The churches we’ve saved in 2020 are… 
#thread
St Helen's, Barmby-on-the-Marsh, Yorkshire closed in 2007. The earliest record of a chapel here dates to 1388. In 1489, the parishioners petitioned at Rome for a grander church. This was granted. Only the nave survives from this date.

2/
The medieval tower with timber spire was ruinous by 1773, and was dismantled, rebuilt in red brick and crowned with a copper cupola. The chancel seems to have been added only in the 19th century, when the church was restored in 1854 by Thomas Clarke.

3/
Read 9 tweets
26 Nov
#OTD in 1703 a hurricane ravaged England and Wales: trees damaged, property destroyed, livestock killed, ships lost at sea...
Lives were lost too, including the Bishop of Bath & Wells and his wife - killed in their bed when a chimney of the Palace at Wells fell on them.

#thread Image
The weather blew in from the north Atlantic and is one of the worst storms to have ever hit the UK.

Writer Daniel Defoe engaged in one of the first examples of what would today be called 'investigative journalism', obtaining country-wide accounts of people's experiences.

2/4
Defoe published his findings in The Storm (1704).

In Wales, most of the accounts came from seaboard towns - Chepstow, Cardiff, Swansea and Milford Haven - but one is of particular interest to the Friends; it was from "Llaneloe" (i.e. Llanelieu) in Breconshire.

3/4 Image
Read 4 tweets
18 Nov
The churches in our care are derived from the landscape they occupy. Forest, mountain, field and sea, in many cases, we know exactly where the raw materials came from. Locally sourced limestone formed the lime mortar that sticks masonry and brickwork together.

#thread
When it comes to buildings, mortar really does the heavy lifting. It sticks masonry together, keeps masonry apart, and impacts everything from load distribution to acoustic insulation.

2/6
Mortar is a binding agent composed primarily of binder and aggregate. Generally, it is defined by the binding agent, i.e. lime. Aggregate provides a vital framework and prevents shrinkage. The proportion, grading and packing of aggregate will affect quality, porosity and strength
Read 6 tweets
17 Nov
And at the dead end of the small secret valley
Folded neatly into its ancient habitat
Stands St Jerome’s, a long way from Rome
Hidden from view, tucked away safely
Unless you know that it’s there
Hidden from time and slow to transform

#thread
By the side of its small stream
Whose other small gods must once
Have played before a crucifix arrived
It hides the curlicues of its delicate screen

2/4
And silent green men, who stare down
At you, unchanging over the centuries
Knowing more about you, than you know of them
Because they have seen footprints and faces
For hundreds of years, approach the altar
In love, in despair, in sin, in reverence...

3/4
Read 4 tweets
6 Nov
In some churches you might spot Christ, mid ascension, carried within a colourful oval. The oval is known as the mandorla. It represents the intersection of the terrestrial and the celestial, of the human and the divine, which are linked by Christ’s resurrection.

#thread
The shape is also known as vesica piscis, and in mathematical terms is formed when two circles overlap equally. From the earliest times, it has been loaded with meaning. As its basic shape recalls the vagina, it has been a symbol of fertility and femininity, of growing life.

2/
When it came to iconography, Early Christians needed a way to visually symbolise the Glory of God. In the absence of divine inspiration, they borrowed ideas from the world around them. The ancient vesica piscis symbol created a visual device into a sacred space.

3/
Read 6 tweets
5 Nov
When you 'remember, remember' the 5th November, BELLS probably aren’t the first things that come to mind.

But in the years following the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the ringing of church bells became synonymous with this date ...

#Thread

📷 Gwernesney church bells @fotofacade
Just 10 weeks after Guy Fawkes and other English Catholics were discovered in the act of attempting to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords, a bill was introduced in England for a public, annual thanksgiving for the failure of the plot.
Although ostensibly a day of celebration, the wording of the ‘Thanksgiving Act’, which pointed a finger at 'malignant and devilish Papists', also sent a clear anti-Catholic message and served as a new focus for anti-Catholic sentiment and continued oppression.
Read 8 tweets

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