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 ’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 Park Place Farm Way 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 , 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, £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. A Trust grant of £2,500 will help with the £5,000-plus cost of the work.

St Mary, Haversham

Like Moulsoe, this village is on the county border, this time with North- amptonshire. The church has a Norman tower, but dates mainly from the 14th century. It houses a remarkable alabaster monument to a Lady Clinton, four times married and four times wid- owed, which she herself is believed to have raised in 1390. Extensive repairs to the exterior stonework are needed, costing £30,000 plus VAT. The Trust will contribute £5,500 towards the cost.

St Peter’s, Chalvey, This Grade II* listed brick and flint church is by the great Victorian architect George Edmund Street. When the nearby M4 motorway was built, the marshy land on which the church stands was drained and this has caused some settlement, which has affected the west window. Repair work and replacing the damaged ironwork on the window with stainless steel will cost £11,500. The Trust recognises that some members of the active congregation are giving free labour to help with other repairs and improvements to the building and will make a grant of £7,500. 6 …and hope to do more in 2016 St Mary’s, Fawley Dating from the 12th century with later additions, this church has a magnifi- cently carved pulpit, believed to be by Grinling Gibbons. It received a Trust grant in 2011 to help with the cost of re-tiling the roof, but now has a problem with damp in the north wall. A £2,500 Trust grant will cover the cost of this work and of improvements to the drainpipes and guttering.

All Saints, Marsworth This Grade II* listed church, which dates mainly from the 14th century houses a most unusual modern wall- painting of a highly pregnant Virgin Mary. The chancel is being completely re-roofed, but failing stonework on the north side of the tower needs replacing or appropriate repair, as does the stonework on the adjacent window and buttresses. The overall cost of the work is some £170,000-plus VAT. English Heritage has given a grant of £10,000 towards the cost of Stage 1 investigations and promised £77,000 for Stage 2. The Churches Council has promised a further £5,000. The Trust will make a grant of £10,000.

St Faith’s, Newton Longville This Grade I listed church dates from the 12th century. It has a splendid font with an ancient bowl and a carved cover supported by a chubby wooden pigeon. Much of the church was built with very crumbly local stone, which has now eroded significantly. The two corner buttresses of the tower need considera- ble repairs.. Friends of the church and the local community have raised consid- erable sums to finance other restoration. This new work will cost nearly £36,000, towards which the Trust will make a grant of £5,000. 7 The £1-million Ride and Stride (if only)

REGRET to say that the sum of £1,396,154 shown on the cheque pictured here Iwas not raised by Bucks riders and striders alone! The marvellous total was the sum raised in 2014 by riders and striders throughout England. Our own contribution was a very creditable £40,544. The weather in 2015 was fairly good and, as usual, some impres- sive results were achieved. A group from , Newport Deanery, cycled 39 miles and visit- ed 21 churches. Stewart Featherstone-Clark, from my own beautiful church at Bisham, excelled himself by cycling to 51 churches. l Michael Tebbott, cycling for the The smiling faces belong to (l-r) the Rev Preb David Crowhurst, hon sec of the national first time (I hope he makes a habit Ride and Stride committee, Claire Walker, CEO of it) went to 37 churches, riding on of the National Churches Trust, David Knowles, behalf of Frieth church, where his national Ride and Stride chairman, and wife is Parish Organiser. Madeline Russell, national treasurer. I had hoped for a photograph, but Mrs Tebbott has banned pictures of her husband in lycra! I also had the pleasure of welcoming Lieut-Col Keith Gordon and a group of walkers from St Francis of Assisi, at Terriers in High Wycombe, who very sensibly visited only four churches so as to have a chance to look around them. The cheques are rolling in a very satisfactory way, with the total as I write standing at £25,141. It is lovely to think of all the volunteers who work together for Ride and Stride: the cyclists, walk- ers and church welcomers. Then there are those who spon- sor them, of course, and those who do the essential admin work in Deaneries and Parishes, each doing their bit, whether large or small. Thank you all.

Patricia Burstall, Pauline Avery (centre, red) led these riders from St Peter’s, Stoke Goldington, on a 39 mile Hon Organiser . 8 tour, visiting 21 churches. They raised £745. Making giving a bit easier

JustGiving - to use or not to use that is the question?

Y SON, Austin, and I were sponsored this Myear to man St Peter and St Paul, Great Missenden to welcome walkers and cyclists in this years Ride and Stride event. Austin was 18 months old at the time and therefore it was no mean feat for him. We decided to use the 'JustGiving' site to raise our sponsorship money. I found that it was easy to set up and at each stage I was prompted to take the next step. I was able to ensure that the 50% of my sponsorship money went directly to my nominated Church by Vicky Preece simply naming it in my profile. I believe that I was able to raise much more money by using the JustGiving site, this is because I was able to email a link to my personal JustGiving site to all my friends and contacts, even those who live further afield and I had not seen face to face. Of course there is always the difficulty of actually collecting the money you have raised from those who have pledged to support you; the JustGiving site does it all for you and even transfers the sponsorship money directly to your charity with any gift aid money due. I have spoken to people who have concerns about the administration fee that is taken, which is 5% of the money raised, including gift aid where applicable. It is clear that JustGiving is offering a service that cannot be offered for free. In my case I would not have raised a fraction of the sponsorship money that I did without JustGiving, and accept that the administration fee was necessary to help me raise the money that I did.

Vicky Preece

For more information visit JustGiving.com. Note that other web sites offer a similar service to JustGiving; for instance easyfundraising.org.uk and goldengiving.com, which is a local organ- isation that includes comparisons of the costs of using these sites. JustGiving is probably the best-known of the sites 9 The Friends go to the College of Arms FTER LAST YEAR’S theme of stained glass, this year’s equally Asuccessful Friends’ activities were more varied. We began with a fascinating tour of the College of Arms in London, in March, followed by an excellent supper there. We were given a history of the college, and were taken round, by Patric Dickinson, Clarenceau King of Arms, who has a particular interest in Richard III, who had been re-buried that very day. Patric showed us various documents which the College holds on Richard. Patric had also taken the trouble to select and show us documents held by the College relating to Buckinghamshire. In particular, he produced the coat of arms created by the College for the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, which he reckoned is unique; as it happened one of our party, Richard Godber, was High Sheriff 2003-4 and he was delighted to get the full explanation of the arms and to see its patent. The Hon Richard Godber, Marilynne Morgan, Patric Dickinson, Nick Morgan This event was, perhaps not surpris- (secretary) and Candy Godber with the ingly, well over subscribed, and a second patent of the coat of arms of the High visit was arranged in June; the second Sheriff of Buckinghamshire group may have missed Richard III but they did see the completed refurbishment of the building. Instead of our usual church crawl this year, we arranged a trip to Chenies Manor in May, to see the Bedford Chapel, which His Grace the Duke of Bedford kindly granted us permission to visit. Roger Evans, one of our trustees and a regular leader of our church crawls, accompanied us, but we were shown the chapel in groups of 10 by the Curator of Woburn Abbey, Chris Gravett. We also took the opportunity to look at St Michael’s church, to which the Chapel is attached, and to visit the nearby Baptist Chapel - a complete contrast to the opulence of the Bedford Chapel. We were kindly shown round by one of the Elders and, afterwards, were generously invited by one of the Friends to have tea with her at her home nearby – it was a lovely end to a delightful day. The Friends’ Annual Lecture this year, in October at St Mary’s, Haddenham, on the subject of monumental brasses, was given by Dr Christian Steer, a mediaeval historian and Hon Secretary of the Monumental Brass Society (whose excellent website may be found on http://www.mbs-brasses.co.uk). The, most apt, title of his talk was A Veritable Carpet of Memory: Memorial Brasses in Late Mediaeval England. 10 Look out for 2016’s programme of activities

It was a subject about which most of his audience knew very little and his excellent talk was fascinating. Bucks is sadly not rich in brasses, but Haddenham was chosen because it does have a couple of interesting ones (now on the wall of the chancel) so we were able to view those as well as enjoy Christian’s excellent presentation. My thanks to St Mary’s for the use of their excellent facilities. Next year’s programme is taking shape. It will start on 19th May with a visit to the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Numbers are limited so look out for the invitation which is being sent to Friends with this Annual Report and Newsletter. Next year’s crawl later in the summer will again be led by Roger Evans, and will feature churches associated with George Gilbert Scott, who had strong family connections with Buckinghamshire. I hope we will see you at one or more of our events next year, and as ever thank our members for their continuing support. Through this support we are able to help the Trust give grants to even more deserving churches - you will see in the accounts that this year the Friends contributed well over £4,000 to the Trust. We now have a steady and loyal membership of over 200 but we are always willing to welcome more members – and do let us know if you have any ideas for future events, we are always open to suggestions – indeed the visit to Chenies was at the suggestion of one of our Friends. This year we printed a new and even more attractive leaflet – copies of which we are always happy to send out. Marilynne Morgan, CB Chairman of the Friends

l Friends relax in the sunshine during their visit to Chenies Manor and the adjoining St Michael’s church 11 Why not become a Friend...... and support Buckinghamshire’s Historic Churches Trust? The aims of the Friends of Buckinghamshire’s Historic Churches are - - to raise awareness of the Trust; - to involve more people in its activities; and - to raise funds for the Trust. By becoming a Friend - - you will help to support the work of the Trust and make a real contribution to raising awareness of the Trust’s work; - you will receive a priority booking application form for the annual reception, usually held in an historic house in Buckinghamshire; - you will be invited to church crawls, lectures about some of the wonderful places of worship in Buckinghamshire or about specific topics such as stained glass, and visits to interesting buildings not always readily accessible to the public. Application form below or at http://www.bucks-historic-churches.org/friends.html or you can contact John Griffiths, Honorary Treasurer, at The Granary, Burton Lane, Monks Risborough, Bucks. HP27 9JF 01844 347038 or email him at [email protected]

The suggested minimum annual cost of becoming a Friend is only £20.00 for one person or £30.00 for two people at the same address. Details of Life Membership & Gift Aided donations are available from the Treasurer.

Friends of Buckinghamshire's Standing Order instruction Historic Churches (BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE) Application Form Name and address of your bank Registered charity number 206471 …......

(BLOCK CAPITALS FOR NAMES AND ADDRESS PLEASE) …...... …...... Postcode…………………… Title(s) …… Name(s) …………………………..... Account number………………………….. Home Address …………………………….....…… Sort Code.………………………………… ………………………………………………….…… Please pay annually the sum of £…… ………………………………………………….…… on….……./……/20…….(DD/MM/20YY) Postcode …………………………………….....… until further notice to the account of Friends of Telephone ………………………………...... …… Buckinghamshire’s Churches Account number 00016355 Sort Code 40.52.40, CAF Cash Ltd, Email …………………………………………....… Kings Hill,West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ I am content to receive communications by email from the Friends which will save postage costs Yes / No Signature…….………………..Date………………. The Trust’s income and expenditure 2014-15 Incoming resources 2014/15 2013/14 Expenditure 2014/15 2013/14

From Donors Gift aided subscriptions 383 682 Grants 52,500 96,500 Annual subs/donations 437 597 Friends of Bucks Churches 5,822 30,935 Annual report 1,402 1,266 From PCCs 2,984 2,561 9,626 34,775 Printing, stationery Ride and Stride and postage 2 18 Receipts 23,391 18,204 Less expenses -648 -812 Travel expenses 51 51 22,743 17,392 Summer reception/events 6,660 10,647 Insurance 292 270 Less expenses -420 -1046 6,240 9,601 Bank service charges 351 337 Golden Jubilee book 30 81 Investment income Administration fees 2,737 2,740 Dividends 30,166 30,283 Web site expenses 155 155 Interest on investments 551 469 Bank interest 5 29 Other expenses 00090 000086 Legacy income 10,920 11110 Total incoming resources 80,281 92,630 Total expenditure 57,580 101,423

2014-15 2013-14

Surplus/deficiency for the year 22,701 -8,793

Unrealised surplus/loss on investments 38,414 9,238

Net movement in funds 61,115 1 11 445

Fund balances brought forward 827,288 826,843

Fund balances carried forward 888,403 827,082

Unrestricted funds 888,403 827,288

Restricted funds (WREN) 0 206

Total Funds 888,403 827,288

Note: A copy of the full financial statement can be obtained from the Treasurer, if required The Clinton memorial at St Mary, Haversham (photo: Thornton) (photo: Haversham Mary, St at memorial Clinton The

Churches are expensive to repair and many of the most precious are in very small communities which cannot carry the whole burden of conservation and maintenance. The Buckinghamshire Historic Churches Trust exists to help.

You can help, too, by an annual donation or by remembering the Trust in your will.

For more information, see our website at www.bucks-historic-churches.org or contact our Hon Secretary, whose address is on the inside of the front cover

This report edited by Bob Bird and printed by MP Printers, Thame