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St Mary's Restoration nears end
After months of renovation work, you will all be pleased to hear that St. Mary’s will once again be open every day from the beginning of May! A christening is taking place on Sat 2nd May, and a wedding on 6th June, but other days will be open to visitors as usual.
Click pic to see more
We are planning an open weekend on 4th and 5th July, so you can come along and talk to us about the restoration work, see all the stunning new stonework and repairs, and the new windows. The lych gate will also be fully completed by then. This will coincide with Forncett History Group’s WW1 timeline being moved to St. Mary’s from St. Peter’s church. The timetable for the weekend will be as follows: Saturday 4th July – 11am-3pm Refreshments, raffle, large 2nd hand bookstall, WW1 artefacts on show, including medals, binoculars, war diaries, etc. Sunday 5th July – 11am -3pm Refreshments, bookstall, and a special visitor – a WW1 soldier, in uniform, with his gun and other items, in the person of Nigel Amies who specialises in re-enactments and will be in the church to talk to visitors, and answer any questions. Donations for refreshments welcome.
More dates for your diary:
Sunday 13th September - Service at St. Mary’s, time to be confirmed. The Bishop of Norwich will be joining us for a service to celebrate the restoration work and installation of the bell in memory of Tony Baines and Harold Turner.
Saturday 26th September - popular jazz band DixieMix will be returning to perform in the church at 7.30pm. Sure to be a sell out, so book your tickets early !Friday 4th December – Carols by Candlelight. We will once again be joined by Dolce choir and their director Philip Aldred.
Any queries about the church opening times, or any of the events, please contact us on 01508 481856 or
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
Lychgate for St Mary's Church
photos by May Prior and Richard Ball
(click pic for slideshow)
Harry Barker and Rod Evans have built a lych gate as an entrance to the churchyard at St Mary's Church at Forncett. They started this project in October last year and it is now all but complete.
The Bishop of Norwich has agreed to lift the restriction on marriages at St. Mary's, so weddings can now take place without the need for a special licence.
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
Forncett C.E.V.A Primary School Children Raise Funds for Village Defibrillator
{module School defibrillator}
photos by Su Leavesley.
(click pic for slideshow)
Excited children at St. Peter's Primary in Forncett have brought envelopes of pocket money into school to help raise funds for the village defibrillator. A special assembly was held today during which the children listened to a talk given by Steve Hammond of the East Anglia Ambulance Service Trust about the heart. Steve brought along a defibrillator and showed the children how it is used on a training dummy. The children were very interested and asked many questions during the talk. Following the assembly, children representing the School Council arranged the collection of coins and notes onto a large heart shape. Finally the children sorted and counted the coins and a total of £150.00 was found to have been raised.
The defibrillator is being provided by the Community Heartbeat Trust and will be installed in the old telephone box opposite the school and church. The project has been led by a Forncett couple, Julia Hill and Keith Fromings, and has been quickly embraced by the local community and £2,000 has now been raised with help from the Parish Council. It is hoped that it will be up and running very shortly.
- Details
- Written by: Claire Jordan & Judith Jones
St Mary's Restoration - progress
{module St Mary Nov 2014 update}
photos by May Prior.
(click pic for slideshow)
Restoration work is continuing at St. Mary's church, and will, we hope, be completed by early Spring 2015. Stonemason Steve Miles and his workmen have replaced or repaired the stonework and tracery on the four Nave windows, and glass has been fitted to the two South windows by specialist fitters from DevlinPlummer Stained Glass. Patterns for new glass have been taken from the two North Nave windows, and glass should be fitted late December/early January. The Vestry windows have also had new glass fitted.
Extensive repairs are being carried out to the East wall, as metal rods fitted in Victorian times have now gone rusty and needed replacing. Repairs are also being carried out on parts of the roof and the wooden interior of the roof will be cleaned. Work should begin soon on the drains.
The annual 'Carols by Candlelight' service has had to be moved to Forncett St. Peter church for this year, on Friday 5th December at 7.30pm. Philip Aldred and Dolce choir will be leading the singing as usual, and mulled wine and mice pies will be served in the church at the end of the service
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
Halloween Night with Cider and Roasts
On 31st October the Village Hall committee staged a successfull Halloween Night. Here are some photos by Su Leavesley.
{module Halloween 2014}
Click on pic for slideshow
- Details
- Written by: Su Leavesley
Forncett Book of Remembrance
"The culmination of three to four years research and a year in the planning ..." These crucial words were spoken after the highpoint of Jackie Scully's [now Lanaway] successful completion of her work for the Forncett History Group's major Great War Project. What greater climax could there have been: a Service of Dedication of the Forncett Book of Remembrance by the Bishop of Norwich in the ancient parish church of St Peter on Remembrance Sunday.
{module The Book of Remembrance}
photos by Su Leavesley unless otherwise stated.
(click pic for slideshow)
In the last year work has been particularly intense for Jackie and myself, checking texts and planning the layout and overall design, and the assistance of two other members, Susie Rohde and Graham Prior. Our printer, Mike Dawson at Swallowtail Print, was also understanding and helpful. Various technical issues had to be resolved and numerous drafts before the final version was delivered. We feel the final product has done justice to the men we honour now one hundred years on.
- Details
- Written by: John Webster and Jackie Scully
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