The Friends of St Andrew's Chew Magna

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Why we should care

St Andrew's is a physical as well as spiritual centre of Chew Magna. It has stood firm for so many centuries and will, with our help and our care, continue to stand proud in our midst for future generations. We do not have to be regular church goers to care about it. We may only go to share the candle-lit Christmas carol service or one of the life cycle services of baptism, marriage and burial. Whatever our attitude, whatever our need , St Andrew's should be there for all of us

 


The fact that St Andrew's looks fine from a distance does not mean that the church is in excellent repair. Like any old building there is always work to be done. Neither does it have any significant reserves to pay for this work. Indeed it does not recxeive any regular funding from outside the Parish. The onus is on us who appreciate the beauty and heritage of this Grade 1 listed building to look after it.


The Friend's of St Andrew's, Chew Magna is a registered Charity with the purpose of "maintaining the fabric, fittings, ornaments, furniture nad monuments of and in the Church and it's precincts"
Without finance from the Friends, there would be insufficient money to support many very necessary church projects. In the past three years donations to the Friends have allowed us to pay for:

  • the repair and releading of the tower west window
  • the repointing of the masonry around the baptistry
  • the repair of the organ
  • with others, the repair and repointing of the preaching cross



Important recent projects have been:

  • installation of sound enhancement system
  • the repair of very old heating ducts in the church floor
  • the laying of a new stone floor in the vestry where the old floor was in a very poor(and dangerous) state

 

We need your help

We are pleased and proud that the Friends have financed these important projects, but old buildings demand almost continous maintenance work

We therefore hope that all who can contribute £100 will feel able to join us. Better still, if you can covenant this amount for 4 years, then we can reclaim tax. Equally you can leave us a legacy.

Application Forms (pages 1 & 2) can be downloaded by clicking here provided you have Adobe Reader software on your computer. (If not go to www.adobe.com for a free copy).


Friends of St Andrew's

The Bilbie Bells
An illustrated Talk

All are welcome to an illustrated talk on Friday 16th March at 8.00pm in the Old School Room, on the Bilbie family of Bell and clock makers. The Friends of St Andrews have invited Roy Rice who knows so much about a subject of local interest since Chew Magna, Dundry and Chew Stoke are just a few of the churches with bells made at the foundry that was in Chew Stoke. This remarkable family worked there for over 200 years from the late 1600s till the 1800s and produced more than 1,350 bells. The talk is open to everyone and will be followed by drinks, so please do join us.



Chair: Hugh Norton, tel 333457
Secretary: Richard Brown, tel:332348 brown@littlegables40.freeserve.co.uk
Executive: Revd. Charles Roberts, David Cook, Tom Lachelin, Jack Massey, Mary Spencer, David Stevenson, Susan Webb.