PARISH MAGAZINE

All Saints’ with St Cedd’s Shrub End , Colchester July 2020

Price 35p or £3.50 per annum

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CLERGY AND OFFICERS

Vicar Vacant

Churchwarden Robin Webb 10 Stuart House St Peter’s Street Colchester Tel: 860900

Sacristan Vacant

PCC Secretary Brenda Pettit

PCC Treasurer Brian Waller 16 Devon Road Colchester Tel: 540449

Gift Aid Officer Iain Hay 47 Gainsborough Road Colchester Tel: 545352

Electoral Roll Officer Frances Poulter 22 Halstead Road Colchester Tel: 532066

Parish Office Tel: 765145

SUNDAY WORSHIP

As you are aware by now, we were not able to hold any services in our two churches, but this hopefully will change on Sunday 5th July.

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Under the direction of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. With the buildings fully closed, the Prayerslips and Services will now be online only.

LECTIONARY

We are currently using Year A on Sundays and Year 2 on Weekdays.

SUNDAY READINGS FOR JULY 2020

EUCHARIST EVENSONG

5th July – Trinity 4 Genesis 24, 34-38, 42-49, 58-end Psalm 56 Psalm 45:10-end 2 Samuel 2:1-11, 3:1 Romans 7:15-25a Luke 18:31-19:10 Matthew 11:16-19, 25-end

12th July – Trinity 5 Genesis 25:19-end Psalm 60 Psalm 119:105-112 2 Samuel 7:18-end Romans 8:1-11 Luke 19:41-20:8 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

19th July – Trinity 6 Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 67 Psalm 139:1-11, 23-24 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:16-28 Romans 8:12-25 Acts 4:1-22 Matthew 12:24-30, 36-43

26th July – Trinity 7 Genesis 29:15-28 Psalm 75 Psalm 105:1-11, 45b 1 Kings 6:11-14, 23-end Romans 8:26-end Acts 12:1-17 Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

SICKNESS LIST AND THE REGISTERS

We continue to pray for all who are remembered on our Prayerslips – Rev Tony Rose, Ethel Munson, Angela Marsh, Gillian, Aidan Cooke, Angela, Dawn and her family, John Barker, Christopher Browne, Ron Harden, Margaret, Chris Parkes and his family, Amy, Pat Rickard, Louise, Rachel and Shareen Rouvray, John Swinburne, Tabitha, Geoffrey Webb, Edward Wiles, Emma, Shirley and John Hall. There is nothing to report from the register.

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HOME WORSHIP

Thanks to the good work of the Ray Sams, a weekly service sheet is being prepared for us and this is now being shown on the church website – www.shrubendparish.co.uk - This is under the Home Page heading “Home Worship”. A similar heading can also be found for the Prayerslips prepared by our Parish Administrator Also online are some special prayers, particularly for the current COVID19 virus.

FROM THE CHURCH WARDEN

Dear Parish Friends,

Now is our Spring of pestilence turned to Glorious Summer

With the beginning of July All Saints Church building has now been open intermittently for private prayer since the Government allowed this in mid June. I feel sure that everyone has acted sensibly and with care for others in visiting the church. As I write, the expectation is that all churches will be allowed to open for public worship from the 6th July and that the Covid 19 lockdown for the old and vulnerable will be lifted by the 1st August.

I am therefore contacting our volunteer priests to see who will be willing and able to undertake services during July and August. The usual arrangement to hold Evensong in churches from Wivenhoe to Lexden has, however, already been cancelled due to mutual consent between the parishes.

We have been approached by the Foodbank to open a distribution centre for Colchester South in St Cedd’s Church. The plan is to start volunteer training at St Cedd’s on the 6th July and open for distribution every Monday morning thereafter. If you know of anyone willing and able to volunteer to help in the distribution centre please encourage them to contact the Foodbank at [email protected] or Colchester Foodbank, 33 Moorside Business Park, East Gates, Colchester, Essex, CO1 2ZF or Tel: 01206 621 998. As I am in the group required to be in lockdown until 1st August, I do not expect to return to the parish until some time after that. Until I am back with you, do stay safe and continue to help your neighbours in need with love and understanding.

May God be with us all

Robin Webb

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NEWS FROM THE REVEREND RAY SAMS HEDGEHOGS AND HASSLES

Wildlife has benefitted very greatly from the Corona virus lockdown. Hedgehogs have done particularly well. Hedgehog mortality rates are well down on pre-lockdown levels, because there have been far fewer cars around to run them over. No one bets on the hedgehog in a car v. hedgehog contest. Apart for being so much smaller and slower, they have poor eyesight and, being largely nocturnal, they (like rabbits) find oncoming headlights dazzling. So they tend to freeze, when running away would definitely be a better plan. You’d think that, somewhere in the wiser counsels of the hedgehog community, someone would be telling the youngsters, “Roads don’t end well for us. Stay off them.” But no. As well as being half-blind and quite cute, they are a bit thick. Not as dim as pheasants, though. Later in the year, they will be all over our country roads, lurking in hedgerows, then suddenly rushing out and stopping in the middle of the road. Last Autumn, I was almost rammed by a kamikaze pheasant, flying directly at me at windscreen height. It’s a wonder they are not already extinct, given their heroic determination to remove themselves from the gene pool. If only pheasants could learn that big metal things on wheels are not nice to bump into, they would find the world an altogether more benign place.

But no; every year, they say to themselves, “Hey, it’s October – let’s go out and trip up some cars.” Like hedgehogs and pheasants, people can find it hard to stop doing things which hurt us. We know about tobacco, but we keep smoking. We know about debt, but we keep borrowing. And we know about stress, but we keep looking for more ways of filling our time, more things to worry about. Some people swear by time management systems. They use diaries, priority planners, daily to-do lists and long-term goal planning tools. Their phones sound alarms about upcoming tasks or appointments. These things can help in the busiest jobs, but the danger is that they result in making yet more time available which we immediately fill with even more stuff to do. (Or, in my case, spending more time fussing over my time management system than actually doing things.) When I had a proper job, a common management slogan was “The more you do of what you’re doing, the more you’ll get of what you’ve got. If you want something different to happen, you need to do something different”. If we long for peace and stillness, if we are stuck on a treadmill with no end of things to do, what is the different thing which will break us free? The answer is simple: do less. Simple, but not easy, because it means breaking out of the habit of filling time rather using it. Each hour that passes has gone and won’t come back.

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It is up to us to use time in ways which fulfil us, and this should include allowing time to do nothing at all, because doing nothing can be very therapeutic. The poet W.H Davies had a point when he wrote “A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.” Here’s a starter for ten. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Can’t say fairer than that.

Ray Sams

CHURCH WEBSITE

This can be found on: www.shrubendparish.co.uk

PARISH FINANCE

More news from our treasurer Brian on the state of the finances of our parish in the third month of no real income from our two churches – firstly I wish to express the thanks from Betty the eldest daughter of Elsie Potter for all who donated in memory of her mother. The total sum given was £260 and with other money in the church memorial fund, we hope in the future to purchase a new seat for the churchyard.

Fortunately in the last month, a few people have offered their stewardship givings and we have still received our rent for St Cedd’s House. We still have regular monthly bills to pay and we did recently have a bill to repair the toilet at All Saints and of course we have had to incur costs to equip our churches with sanitisers etc and a register which must sign in and out of.

In this time away from church, people may wish to either send their giving to me by cheque made payable to All Saints PCC to my address – 16 Devon Road, Colchester, CO2 9BB or transfer the money direct into our bank account sort code 20-22-67 account number 00111112, with a reference to your name please.

EDITOR’S NOTE

If you want anything included in the August magazine, if things are not back to normal, please email Brian on – [email protected]

Items included in this magazine are with thanks to information found in various church websites and from the book written by the late Richard Cooper and Geoff Pettit, who both served this parish well over many years.

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Email – [email protected]

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Here for you every hour of every day

98 The Commons, Prettygate

Telephone: (01206) 803643

www.eastofengland.coop/funerals

Bless those who mourn the death of a relative or a friend and feel that with this loss their lives are incomplete. Bless those who mourn, and fill these empty hearts with pleasant memories, the sound of laughter, sunshine and happier days. Bless those who mourn, and heal their brokenness with the soothing balm of your gentle touch, that they might know calmness, wholeness, peace

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FRIENDS OF ALL SAINTS

Do you have links with the Parish of Shrub End ?

Were you or a loved one, baptised, confirmed or married there ?

Is a loved one buried in the churchyard ?

If so, you would probably wish All Saints to stand there in perpetuity as a keeper of your own memories and to provide the same service to others.

Have you considered joining the Friends of All Saints ?

By expressing your support with a modest annual subscription you can help to ensure this church’s survival against the ravages of time.

Please contact Stephanie D’Silva on (01206) 576370 for some further information.

We pray for all whose lives have been touched by tragedy, whether by accident or a deliberate act. For those who mourn, immerse them in your love and lead them through this darkness into your arms, and light. For those who comfort, be in both the words they use and all that's left unspoken; fill each heart with love. We ask this through Jesus Christ, whose own suffering brought us life

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Across Down

1 Cattleman (7) 1 Soft Italian cheese (7) 5 Famous English diarist (5) 2 Cold (5) 8 Managed (5) 3 Very ugly (7) 9 Breed of cat (7) 4 Dwell (6) 10 Gland in the neck (7) 5 Tartan cloth (5) 11 Condescend (5) 6 Foretell (7) 12 Appraise (6) 7 Gloss (5) 14 Part of the foot (6) 13 The entertainment business (7) 18 Angry (5) 15 Around-the-clock (7) 20 Ruffian (anag) (7) 16 Flawless (7) 22 Canadian province (7) 17 Scared (6) 23 Commerce (5) 18 Abyss (5) 24 Labyrinths (5) 19 Feudal subjects (5) 25 Initial payment for a purchase (7) 21 Accumulate (5)

Answers are on Page 35

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MAIN JULY SAINTS DAYS

JULY 1st - Henry, John, and Henry Venn the younger, Priests, Evangelical Divines, 1797, 1813 and 1873 – Henry Venn (10th February 1796 – 13th January 1873) was an Anglican clergyman who is recognised as one of the foremost Protestant missions strategists of the nineteenth century. He was an outstanding administrator who served as honorary secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1841 to 1873.

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He was also a campaigner, in the tradition of the Clapham Sect, who frequently lobbied the British Parliament on social issues of his day, notably on ensuring the total eradication of the Atlantic slave trade by retaining the West African Squadron of the Royal Navy.[1] He expounded the basic principles of indigenous Christian missions: these were much later made widespread by the Lausanne Congress of 1974. JULY 3rd - – (Biblical Hebrew: Ancient Greek: also called Didymus ("twin"), was one of the Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "Doubting Thomas" because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told of it (as related in the Gospel of John alone); later, he confessed his faith, "My Lord and my God," on seeing Jesus' crucifixion wounds. According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of modern-day Kerala in India, Thomas is believed to have travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, travelling as far as the Malabar Coast which is in modern-day Kerala. According to their tradition, Thomas reached Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in the state of Kerala, India) in AD 52. In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Ortona, in Abruzzo, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle. He is often regarded as the patron saint of India, and the name Thomas remains quite popular among Saint Thomas Christians of India. JULY 6th - Thomas More, Scholar, and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Reformation Martyrs, 1535 - (7th February 1478 – 6th July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was also a Chancellor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, about the political system of an imaginary island state. JULY 7th - Florence of Worcester Monk and helped to write the 'Chronicon ex chronicis' dies 7th July 1140 – Florence of Worcester (died 1118), known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the Chronicon ex chronicis, a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140. JULY 11st - Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western Monasticism, c.550 (Latin: Benedictus Nursiae; Italian: Benedetto da Norci; c. 2 March 480 – c. 21 March 543 AD) is a Christian saint venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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Also the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the and Old Catholic Churches. He is a patron saint of Europe. JULY 14th - John Keble, Priest, Tractarian, Poet, 1866 (25th April 1792 – 29th March 1866) was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, was named after him. Born in Fairford, Gloucestershire, where his father, also named John Keble, was vicar of Coln St. Aldwyns. He and his brother Thomas were educated at home by their father until each went to Oxford. In 1806, Keble won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He excelled in his studies and in 1810 achieved a double first class in both Latin and mathematics. In 1811, he won the university prizes for both the English and Latin essays and became a fellow of Oriel College. He was for some years a tutor and examiner at the University of Oxford.

JULY 15th - Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, c.862 (died 863 AD) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithun's bridge (Winchester) on his feast day (15th July) it will continue for forty days. The name was originally spelt Swithhun (Old English: "strong bear-cub").

JULY 15th - Bonaventure, Friar, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith, 1274 was an Italian medieval Franciscan, scholastic and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonised on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in the year 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. He is known as the "Seraphic Doctor" (Latin: Doctor Seraphicus). Many writings believed in the Middle Ages to be his are now collected under the name Pseudo-Bonaventure. JULY16th - Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, 1099 – (died 3 December 1099), Count of Sées, was a Norman noble and clergyman. Following the Norman conquest of England, he served as Lord Chancellor (c. 1070– 1078) and as the second bishop of Salisbury, or Old Sarum. Osmund, a native of Normandy, accompanied William the Conqueror to England, and was made Chancellor of the realm about 1070. He was employed in many civil transactions and was engaged as one of the Chief Commissioners for drawing up the Domesday Book. Some late sources state he was created Earl of Dorset at the same time, but he did not refer to himself with that title. JULY 18th - Elizabeth Ferard, first of the , Founder of the Community of St Andrew, 1883 –

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(22nd February 1825 – 18th April 1883) was a Deaconess credited with revitalising the deaconess order in the Anglican Communion.[1] She is now remembered in the in some parts of the Anglican Communion on either 3 or 18 July. Ferard was a gentlewoman from a prominent Huguenot family. Her father, Daniel Ferard (1788–1839), was a solicitor. JULY 19th - Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, and his sister Macrina, Deaconess, Teachers of the Faith, c.394 and c.379 – also known as Gregory Nyssen (Greek: Γρηγόριος Νύσσης; c. 335 – c. 395), was bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death. He is venerated as a saint in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism. Gregory, his elder brother Basil of Caesarea, and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus are collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers. JULY 20th - Margaret of Antioch, Martyr, 4th century – Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr (Greek: Ἁγία Μαρίνα) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20th in the Western Rite Orthodox, Toman Catholic and Anglican Churches on 17th July by the Eastern-Rite Orthodox Church JULY 20th - Bartolomé de las Casas, Apostle to the Indies, - c. 1484 – 18th July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish colonist, landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as an historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar and priest. He was appointed as the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians". His extensive writings, the most famous being A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies and Historia de Las Indias, chronicle the first decades of colonization of the West Indies. He described the atrocities committed by the colonizers against the indigenous peoples. JULY 22nd - Mary Magdalene sometimes called simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine, was a Jewish woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.[2] She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other non-family woman in the Gospels. Mary's epithet Magdalene may mean that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. JULY 23rd - Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373 - Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23rd July 1373); born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta (Swedish: heliga Birgitta), was

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a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years. Outside of Sweden, she was also known as the Princess of Nericia and was the mother of Catherine of Vadstena. (Though normally named as Bridget of Sweden, she was not a member of Swedish royalty.)

JULY 25th - James the Apostle - James the Great also known as James, son of Zebedee or as Saint James the Greater (died 44 AD) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels say that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and, according to tradition, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. JULY 26th - Anne and Joachim, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary - According to apocryphal Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Gospel of James (written perhaps around 150) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the apocryphal Gospel of James. Joachim and Anne are not mentioned in the Bible.[1] His feast day is 26th July. JULY 27th - Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher of the Faith, 1901 - (12th January 1825 – 27th July 1901) was a British bishop, biblical scholar and theologian, serving as Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death. He is perhaps most known for co-editing The New Testament in the Original Greek in 1881.

JULY 29th - Mary, Martha and Lazarus, Companions of Our Lord - the Christian New Testament. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, she is described by John as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem; in Luke only the two sisters, living in an unnamed village, are mentioned. Most Christian commentators have been ready to assume that the two sets of sisters named as Mary and Martha are the same, though this is not conclusively stated in the Gospels, and the proliferation of New Testament "Marys" is notorious JULY 30th - William Wilberforce, Social Reformer, Olaudah Equiano and Thomas Clarkson, Anti-Slavery Campaigners, 1833, 1797 and 1846 - (24th August 1759 – 29th July 1833)[1] was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.

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A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he became an evangelical Christian, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform. JULY 31st - Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556 - Ignatius of Loyola (Basque: Ignazio Loiolakoa; Spanish: Ignacio de Loyola; Latin: Ignatius de Loyola; c. 23th October 1491 – 31st July 1556) was a Spanish Basque Catholic priest and theologian, who co-founded the religious order called the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and became its first Superior General at Paris in 1541. The Jesuit order served the Pope as missionaries, and they were bound by a vow of special obedience to the sovereign pontiff in regard to the missions. They therefore emerged as an important force during the time of the Counter-Reformation. MY LOCK IN DAYS CONTINUE

As mentioned last time, I have been summarising my daily dairies that I have kept since 1/1/13 which have brought back some happy and also sad memories. I have also written, printed and delivered the June 2020 magazine and have been planning the one for July 2020 also. My time has been spent reading a lot.

A LOOK BACK AT ANOTHER TRIP OUT

On 31st July 2019 on a break from the Little Tinkers Group I was able to get a lift from Susan and we made a trip to several churches out of the area and these are now documented.

Strict Baptist, Chappel Road, Mount Bures

Mount Bures Strict Baptist church originated when Charles Cock from Uptree (presumably Tiptree), a farmer's son, preached three times on Sundays in a cottage in Mount Bures in the 1830s.

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He attracted farm workers and tradesmen from a wide area, and in 1839 a small rectangular brick chapel was erected in Chappel Road by voluntary subscription. After about 12 years Cock was succeeded by John Hazelton from London. On census Sunday 1851 there were attendances of 80 in the morning and 110 in the afternoon. The annual anniversary celebration in 1881 with five visiting preachers attracted 140 people from many parts of Essex and Suffolk, and in 1897 'for life and spirituality Mount Bures [was] considered one of the best Baptist causes in Essex'. Further pastors served until Joseph Quinney who resigned in 1911; thereafter services were held by visiting preachers. Numbers declined in the 20th century to an average attendance of about 11 in 1996.

There was a closed communion, and articles of faith included belief in predestination. The church apparently joined the Essex Association of Strict Baptist Churches in 1880 and was admitted to the Gospel Standard Society of Strict Baptist Churches in 1937. There was an attached burial ground by 1890, which was used until 1983. Sadly no recent news was recorded, so uncertain whether it was still being used for worship, and now had the look of a domestic household.

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St John the Baptist, Mount Bures

The Church of St. John the Baptist, probably dedicated to St. John because of its proximity to the river Stour, has stood in its imposing location for 800 years. It was been much altered, but retains many of its mediaeval features, and is in good structural condition.

They are pleased to say that the Church is a welcoming building, as are the people - and they now have a fully accessible toilet and a servery in the Church, so they are able to offer hospitality to visitors.

The following is taken from the booklet: 'Mount Bures Church and Village' which is available in Church. However, there is much more to know, and they invite you to come and see for yourself.

According to Newcourt's Repertorium (1710) the Diocese of London included the parish of Mount Bures, which at that time lay in the Archdeaconry of Colchester, and in the Deanery and Hundred of Lexden. Other changes followed but the church is now within the Diocese of Chelmsford, in the Deanery of Colchester.

For many centuries the patronage of the living of Mount Bures belonged to the lords of the manor, but that custom has now been altered.

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Early descriptions of the architecture and fabric are few, and the following in Morant's History of Essex 1768 is quaint:-

"This church (nave) is one pace with the chancel both tyled. In the middle between the chancel and the church stands a square tower of stone with a Spire shingled containing four bells."

Within two years the Rector recorded a major alteration:-

"l770. By virtue of a faculty this summer a cracked bell which had been useless above twenty years with another bell was sold, the spire taken down, the tower heightened, the two remaining bells new hung and every other necessary repairs to the church and tower done. The faculty cost eight guineas. Over and above the amount of the bells the expenses cost the parish a rate of about 2d in the Pound."

Fortunately there is a photograph of the result of these alterations which included an embattled parapet around the brickwork of the encased belfry. Happy was the Victorian reversal of the project some hundred years later, although they in their turn inevitably destroyed vital material of historic interest. The old tower was totally demolished in 1875 when the present transepts and vestry were added. (Previously only ninety seatings were possible). The tower is now 15 feet by 15 feet. 9 inches.

The following is based on the report of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (1922).

THE WALLS of the church are of coursed flint-rubble with Roman brick quoins, the dressings are of limestone and clunch; the roofs are tiled.

THE CHANCEL has E. quoins of Roman brick and a 14th century window of three cinquefoiled lights with modern tracery in a triangular head. In the N. wall is a modern doorway with a two-centred head. In the S. wall are two windows, the eastern is modern except for the splays and rear-arch, which are of the 14th century, the 14th century western window is partly restored and of three trefoiled ogee lights in a square head.

THE NAVE has three round-headed 12th century windows (one, on the South wall, now blocked). In the N. wall is a modern window, and an early 12th century north doorway, also blocked, which has plain jambs of Roman brick and a round head.

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In the South wall is a 15th century window much restored, of two cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with a moulded label and jambs, further West is the late 14th century S. doorway with moulded lambs, two-centred arch and a moulded label with head stops.

In the West wall is a late 14th century window of three trefoiled lights with net tracery in a two-centred head.

THE SOUTH PORCH is of mixed brick and flint-rubble and has a late 15th century outer archway with moulded and shafted jambs and two-centred arch in a square head with a moulded label, head stops and spandrels carved with vine foliage and shields, above it is a small pointed light.

The sidewalls have each a partly restored late 15th century window of three cinquefoiled lights in a square head. The roof of the porch is of the 15th century and has moulded wall-plates and tie-beams with king-posts.

THE BELLS. Of the two remaining bells (15th century) the larger by Robert Burford, weighing about 13 cwt., bears the inscription "Sit nomen Domini benedictum." The other by Henry Jones has "Sancte Nicoli ora pro nobis." In 1552 additional to the four original bells were two handbells, and a little one in the Chancel.

THE NORTH AND SOUTH DOORS are both 15th century; as is the NICHE on the north side of the E. window, and also the STOUP in the South Porch which has a cinquefoiled head, no bowl.

THE FONT is a plain octagonal bowl, with moulded under-edge and plain stem, probably 15th century.

THE COMMUNION PLATE. The present Cup and Paten were made in Dunkeld in 1998 to replace an earlier cup and paten which had been stolen. The stolen cup had the maker's mark RS, was dated 1641 and inscribed "Buers at the Mount Essex".

There is also another chalice of recent date. Two other chalices (1552) and a pewter flagon and plate are recorded, but these disappeared several centuries ago.

THE COMMUNION TABLE which stands in the S. Transept, and the chest with three locks in the vestry are both 17th century.

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Holy Trinity, Long Melford

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Holy Trinity Church is one of the great Suffolk wool churches which stands on a hill at the north end of the village of Long Melford. It is widely acknowledged to be one of the most magnificent parish churches in the country. Indeed a quick scan of our visitors' book reveals that even hardened tourists are taken aback by the building's beauty and the peace they experience when visiting a site where Christians have worshipped and prayed for over 1,000 years. Whereas documents reveal that there has been a church on this site for at least 1,000 years, the church was almost entirely re-built in the 15th century at a time of growing prosperity among the local cloth merchants.

The main body of the church was completed in 1484, with the Lady Chapel being completed in 1496. The only parts of the structure dating from before this time are the five bays of arcading at the west end of the nave, which are considered on architectural grounds to be about a century earlier, and possibly the porch.

The original tower of Holy Trinity was destroyed by lightning around 1710. A Georgian brick and plaster replacement was built around 1772 however this was considered rather unappealing and not in keeping with the rest of the building. The present tower, dating from 1903, was therefore built around this older tower. It was built as part of Long Melford's commemoration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and stands 118 feet in height. It is constructed of flint and flush work, consisting of dressed stone and flints from Brandon and nearby Acton. The four pinnacles commemorate Queen Victoria, Edward VII, Alexandra and the Revd. C J Martyn - a Victorian minister who oversaw a substantial renovation of the church.

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The Church of the Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It is one of 310 medieval English churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

The church was constructed between 1467 and 1497 in the late Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a noted example of a Suffolk medieval wool church, founded and financed by wealthy wool merchants in the medieval period as impressive visual statements of their prosperity.

The church structure is highly regarded by many observers. Its cathedral- like proportions and distinctive style, along with its many original features that survived the religious upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, have attracted critical acclaim. Journalist and author Sir Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust, included the church in his 1999 book “England’s Thousand Best Churches”.

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He awarded it a maximum of 5 stars, one of only 18 to be so rated. The Holy Trinity Church features in many episodes of Michael Wood's BBC television history series Great British Story, filmed during 2011.

A church is recorded as having been on the site since the reign of King Edward the Confessor (1042–1066). It was originally endowed by the Saxon Earl Alric, who bequeathed the patronage of the church, along with his manor at Melford Hall and about 261 acres of land, to the successive Abbots of the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St Edmund’s.

There are no surviving descriptions of the original Saxon structure, although the roll of the clergy (see below) and the history of the site extend back to the 12th century. The church was substantially rebuilt between 1467 and 1497.

Of the earlier structures, only the former Lady Chapel (now the Clopton Chantry Chapel) and the nave arcades survive. The principal benefactor who financed the reconstruction was wealthy local wool merchant John Clopton, who resided at neighbouring Kentwell Hall. John Clopton was a supporter of the Lancastrian cause during the Wars of the Roses and in 1462 was imprisoned in the Tower of London with John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford and a number of others, charged with corresponding treasonably with Margaret of Anjou.

All of those imprisoned were eventually executed except John Clopton, who somehow made his peace with his accusers and lived to see the Lancastrians eventually triumphant at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The dates of the reconstruction of the church are derived from contemporary wills, which provided endowments to finance the work. Scale model of the church, showing the successive changes of appearance of the main tower.

In 1710 the main tower was damaged by a lightning strike. It was replaced with a brick-built structure in the 18th century and subsequently remodelled between 1898 and 1903 to its present-day appearance, designed by George Frederick Bodley (Founder of Watts & Co.) in the Victorian Gothic Revival style. The new tower was closer to its original form with stone and flint facing and the addition of four new pinnacles.

THE VICARS OF SHRUB END – PART 2

Continuing my look back of our previous vicars.

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The 150th anniversary of All Saints did bring together a lot of the following vicars and a few of the curates.

Lawrence Reading (shown as 1960 but again 1962 with the parish name change in 1964)

Bruce Cobb (1964-1972)

He was the vicar of the parish around about the time I was schooling at the Colchester Royal Grammar School, as his son David taught me maths. I can recall in one end of term exam, when amazingly I scored 100% in arithmetic. He said that he rechecked my paper and could not find any mistakes. However I let myself down as in the other exams I only got 50% for algebra and 17% for trigonometry so my overall average was not good about 56% and I scraped into the top set.

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Charles Goulding (1972-1984)

It was Charles who this parish owes so much to and we have to be very thankful to him. His 12 year stay was very memorable. His legacy bequest helped to transform the look inside St Cedd’s Church. If Charles wanted a job done, and you were asked, it was very difficult to say no to him, that is why I got the job of printing the church magazine, which I am still doing 40 years later. We often had rivalry talks about our football teams, me with Colchester United and he with Gillingham from Kent. He had a wife called Doris, who was a popular member of our church and who was a great asset to Charles until her untimely death.

Derek Cowie (1984-1996)

Derek and his wife Doreen were here a good number of years, before he went in the mid 1990’s off to Gosfield, then retired up to Kessingland. I was full of praise for them both as in my long spell of illness, both were regular visitors to my hospital bed, and they even visited me, I think it was on Boxing Day 1986 and in the New Year too in early January.

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A funny story was when they first came and Doreen having seen me, then spoke to my mum, and said I have not met Brian’s dad, but is he from Pakistan or India. She said no, his skin colour was dark because he had been sitting out in the sun at the cricket. I thought that was very funny.

Chris Newlands (1997-2004)

After spells in Durham and Romania, Chris came to Shrub End in the 1990’s and was well known for his strongly addressed sermons, his singing, his acting, his charity work mainly for Romania and leadership in our church. Whilst here, he even managed several TV appearances and took on the challenge of Anne Robinson as he was in and won the BBC programme “The Weakest Link”.

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After leaving us, he was then appointed as the Bishop’s chaplain at the Chelmsford Cathedral before heading north to his last known location as the vicar of Lancaster in the diocese of Blackburn.

Chris with Bishop Nicholas

Fr Nicholas Davis (2004 to date)

Fr Nicholas came to Shrub End at the end of November 2004. He was born in Marston Green in South Birmingham and was ordained in 1984 and was then priested in Southwark Cathedral in 1985 then went to join a team ministry in North Lambeth, after his spells at Catford (Southend) and Downham team ministry and then as vicar at St Philip’s, Camberwell, he came to Colchester and he retired in June 2019.

CHURCHES OF COLCHESTER

As many of you know I have done a lot of walks looking for churches and religious building and I bet you cannot guess how many I found in the area around Colchester. Forty, fifty, no at my last count, I have seen over 90 now. I did start to list them, but felt that would take up over a page which could be better used by comments about a few of them.

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Working my way down my alphabetical list I will detail a few of the more important ones and I begin with the “A” section.

All Saints Church opposite Castle Park, now Museum, High Street, Colchester

Declared a redundant church in 1953, this church in High Street is now a Natural History Museum. Nikolaus Pevsner states that there is little of interest beyond the flint-built Decorated Gothic west tower, the rest having undergone much Victorian rebuilding.

Colchester New Church, Maldon Road, Colchester

Colchester New Church at 175 Maldon Road was built in 1924. In 1967 the church building was expanded. The sanctuary was extended two metres in length, a new school room, and a new entrance porch were also added. The designer of the new additions was architect Geoff P. Dawson.

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Christchurch Parish and URC, Ireton Road, Colchester

Christchurch URC, Ireton Road, Colchester

A church is usually considered to be a group of Christians meeting together and drawn from a local community. In the early church, these meetings often took place in houses. The Christian group at Christchurch has a beautiful modern church building in which we can gather for larger meetings and a number of local homes that can be used for house groups and prayer meetings. In 1978 the Anglican parish church of St Mary-at- the-Walls got together with the URC congregation in the Colchester area. This saw built the new Christ Church building in Ireton Road. They now share the management and the use of this building with their URC friends, who meet for worship after their service each week.

Congregational, Chapel Street, Colchester (now Headgate Theatre)

This is now known as The Headgate Theatre was originally built in 1844 as the Head Gate Congregational Chapel. It drew its membership from the west and south of the town and was extremely well supported – at its zenith it had over 200 members. A balcony was added supported by slender metal pillars in 1868. You can still see these pillars in the foyer and auditorium, although they are no longer weight bearing! The premises further expanded in 1903 to create a Sunday School, and a first floor was added as a church hall in 1929.

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O Blessed Lord, accept this burning candle as a sign of my faith and love for you. Like this candle, I am ready to be used in your service, without asking why and to what purpose. Even as this candle, I wish to stand in your presence to be consumed in the light and warmth of your love. Please hear my prayer and, if it be your will, grant my petition. Above all, make me loyal and faithful to you in all circumstances of my life.

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Groups and Contacts

Bellringers Pauline Millatt – Tel 330327 (Wednesday Nights)

Children’s Society Brenda Pettit – Tel 522957

Church Cleaning Denise Turner – Tel 738733

Church Flowers All Saints – Jennifer Millin – Tel 330609

St Cedds – Sandra Hill – Tel 503032

Susan Rich 767356

Friends of All Saints Stephanie D’Silva -Tel 576370

Thursday Open Afternoon Stephanie D’Silva -Tel 576370 between (230-430pm)

Magazine Distribution Pauline Millatt -Tel 330327

Mothers’ Union Brenda Pettit – Tel 522957

St Cedd’s Bookings Community Halls in Partnership with an email of [email protected] and Tel 870266

Websites All Saints – www.shrubendparish.co.uk, Deanery of www.colchesterdeanery.org.uk and the Deanery News of [email protected]

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