Buckinghamshire Historic Churches Trust
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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST Annual Report and Newsletter 2014-15 President Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher Bt Vice President The Right Rev Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham Trustees Mrs Caroline Abel Smith OBE Appeal Committee (Chairman) & Inspection Committee Mrs Cherry Aston Inspection Committee The Hon Rupert Carington Canon C H J Cavell-Northam Appeal and Inspection Committees Mr Roger Evans Inspection Committee (Chairman) The Hon Mrs Jenefer Farncombe Appeal and Inspection Committees Mr Andrew Finn-Kelcey Inspection Committee Mrs Jennifer Moss Appeal and Inspection Committees Mrs Marilynne Morgan CB Chairman, Friends of Buckinghamshire’s Historic Churches Mr Tim Oliver Mrs Mary Saunders MBE Inspection Committee Mrs Mary Villiers OBE Appeal and Inspection Committees Other Appeal Committee members Miss Patricia Burstall Ride and Stride Organiser Mrs Kate Eckett The Hon Mrs Candida Godber Mrs Diana Home Mrs Vicky Peel Mrs Janet Shaw Hon Secretary Officers Hon Secretary Treasurer Mrs Penny Keens Mr Laurie Johnson 377 Japonica Lane c/o Community Impact Bucks Willen Park Place Farm Way Milton Keynes MK15 9EG Monks Risborough HP27 9JS Phone: 01908 242632 Phone: 0300 1111 250 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Registered Charity No: 206471 Front cover: St Peter’s, Chalvey Well done, but we can do better ELCOME to another Trust annual report and Wnewsletter. I think we can say that the past year was moderately successful: we were able to help nine churches with the cost of repairs totalling £47,000, which is, of course, what the Trust is here for; we held a very successful Summer Reception and the annual Ride and Stride day in September attracted hundreds of supporters. Our Friends were as active as ever and their substantial contribution towards our funds was, as always, welcome. For those reasons, I would like to thank all our friends and helpers for their loyalty and support. Careful readers may, though, have noted my choice of the word ‘moderately’ in describing the success of the past year. ‘Moderately’ is but a short step from ‘reasonably’ and both mean that we could do better. As a result, the Trustees have been looking at what happens in other counties – Oxfordshire is one example where the local Trust raises sums of money from Ride & Stride that would make your eyes water – and we have talked to our friends there. We note that they have the benefit of a (modestly) paid employee to help their equivalent of our own Patricia Burstall with the planning, administration and all important publicity for this, the most significant of our fundraising activities, and we have decided that we should take a leaf out of their book. The advertisement appearing overleaf is the first step towards implement- ing this decision. Finally, we have been impressed with the success of JustGiving, an on-line charitable fundraising platform which enables Ride & Stride partici- pants to attract sponsorship and donations very effectively and allows them to avoid the complicated and, for some, off-putting paperwork involved. I will await developments with interest, and hope you will, too. Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, President of the Trust 1 A special evening with good food and fine views HE HON Mrs Jenefer Farncombe, a Trustee and Inspection Committee Tmember, generously hosted the Annual Reception at her home, Hall Barn, Beaconsfield at the end of May. In spite of rather windy and inclement weather, guests were able to enjoy the wonderful view from the terrace and then take their plates of delicious home-made pates and cheeses from the Dining Room Table before moving to the Long Parlour to sit down. This was a special evening in a private house which is very much a home and everyone felt very privileged to be able to enjoy their supper in such interesting and lovely surroundings. Mrs Farncombe explained the history of the house and the structural changes that had been made creating the attractive home it is The Rt Rev Alan Wilson, Bishop today. of Buckingham, and Trust Presi- This was a very successful and enjoyable dent, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, evening which raised just short of £5,000 for the at the annual summer reception Trust. My sincere thanks to everyone who supported the event and to the Appeal Committee members who, once again, produced such a splendid array of food. Caroline Abel Smith, Chairman, Trust Appeals Committee Ride and Stride in some counties raises three times as much as we do in Bucks. YOUR skills could help us do better We are looking for someone to help manage the September Ride and Stride event in Bucks. Do you love our ancient churches - and do you have the IT and social media skills, website experience, the drive and enthusiasm to inspire our fund raising? If so, would working part-time from home and earning a (modest) salary appeal to you or to anyone you know? Please contact Caroline on 01296 681001, or email at [email protected] for further information. 2 Clunch time HE WORD ‘CLUNCH’ often appears in Tdiscussions about local churches, but what is it exactly? Clunch is chalk stone - the purest, whitest limestone, which is used as a building stone where it can be quarried in sufficiently hard blocks. Crushed chalk is also used for lime in its characteristic soft form. The word clunch seems to have orig- inated in Cambridgeshire, where the stone is widely found in old buildings, as it is throughout the chalk country of southern and eastern England, including the Chil- terns. One of the hardest forms in our area th is Totternhoe stone, quarried in Bedford- clunch at Ivinghoe – a 13 shire. Great houses such as Woburn century capital carved in chalk stone Abbey and Ashridge are built of it. It can be found in Buckinghamshire churches, especially internally, as at Ivinghoe where its easily carved qualities can be seen in the elaborate leaf ornament of the capitals. Clunch was also used externally on churches, but with the easy erosion and wear of the material, much of it has been replaced over the years with limestone, which is more weather resistant. Dressings of clunch, where not replaced, can sometimes be found in less exposed areas, such as Wendover, Penn, and Denham. Walling with clunch combined with flint, sometimes in chequer pattern squares, can be seen in a number of churches in the south of the Chilterns, including Burnham, Wexham, and at Med- menham, where the disused chalk quarries that were the source of the stone can also be seen. One of the best local examples of clunch can be seen beside the Thames at Bisham, in Berkshire but within the bene- fice of Marlow, where the fine Norman tower is built of chalk blocks. For a fuller account of chalk stone see Alec Clifton-Taylor: “The Pattern of 3 English Building” Faber 1972. l Bisham, Berks - tower Roger Evans The Trust approved grants worth £47,000 in 2015 St Michael and All Saints, stonework repairs and Aston Clinton £1,500 repointing St Francis of Assisi, stonework repairs and Terriers £8,000 damage caused by damp St Paul, repairs to stonework and Wooburn Green £4,500 damp and death watch beetle damage Assumption of BVM, Moulsoe £2,500 roof re-tiling St Mary, Haversham £5,500 stonework repairs St Peter, stonework and window Chalvey £7,500 repairs St Mary, stonework repairs and Fawley £2,500 guttering All Saints, Marsworth £10,000 stonework repairs St Faith, Newton Longville £5,000 stonework repairs 4 Marsworth Saints, All at progress in Work We helped nine churches in 2015… St Michael & All Angels, Aston Clinton A Grade II* listed church, dating from the 13th century. The main building is in good order, but the north porch has some serious structural problems, made worse by the bad winter of 2012-13. There is serious cracking, and some flints and stone dressings have fallen. Replacing missing flints and repoint- ing will cost around £8,000, towards which the Trust is contributing £1,500. St Francis of Assisi, Terriers, High Wycombe Grade II* listed, this church was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and completed in 1930. Its open situation high on a hillside means it is affected by damp caused by wind-borne rain, which has caused major damage to the interior and threatened the structural integrity of the tower. The Trust gave £6,000 in 2012 to help prevent further rainwater penetration. More work is now planned, to remedy damage to the interior of the building and to upgrade the heating and lighting to enable greater use for community events, including concerts. English Heritage is making a substantial contribution towards the £230,000 cost of the work. The Trust is giving a further £8,000. St Paul’s, Wooburn Green Another Grade II* church dating from the 11th century, but extensively restored in Victorian times. Two angels from its rood screen were in the V&A for many years and were reinstated here to mark the Millennium. Dealing with a series of problems, ranging from water penetration to a death watch beetle infestation, will cost more than £300,000 and involve re-roofing.. The Heritage Lottery Fund is meeting half the cost. The Trust has given £4,500 and promised to do more when funds allow. 5 We help churches throughout the county Assumption of the BVM, Moulsoe Listed Grade I, this small medieval church in a village bordering Bed- fordshire has an interesting east window by William Burges, from 1861. The Carington family mausole- um is in the churchyard. The slate roof of the nave and the brown, clay tiled chancel roof need re-tiling, where possible reusing sound tiles and making up the differ- ence with matching reclaimed tiles.