Holwell: St Laurence

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

Holwell is the most extensive parish in the eastern White Hart Vale area of the Benefice, with a population of 400. It is a dispersed village and St. Laurence church, where two services are held each month, is on the edge of the main settlement. The church is in generally good repair, with bells rung at festivals by a local team. Church members are very active in the community and are involved in a wide variety of village organisations.

A Summer Fete has been held for many years and more recently the church has been used for classical guitar concerts. At Harvest we join in with the Village Harvest Supper. A home group meets monthly throughout the year and weekly during Advent and Lent. Based on the Village Hall, Holwell hosts a monthly ‘Fresh Expression’ known as Fourth Sunday – one of two in the Benefice. This is a time of informal worship and fellowship, together with cakes and coffee! Folk come from across the Benefice and beyond

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Leigh: St Andrew

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

St. Andrew’s church is situated in the centre of the village. It seats 120 people and is in good order both structurally and spiritually, with four Sunday services per month. There are regular morning prayer meetings and the lay-led Community Spirit services, with a band of local musicians, are popular. There are two LWLs and an active PCC.

The installation of a toilet has enabled the holding of concerts, talks, training and meetings, and the recent completion of a servery will facilitate further opportunities. A monthly coffee morning and regular breakfasts are both well attended. A children’s sewing club, storytime, adult Pilates, and the community choir all utilise the facilities. An internet connection is shared with the village hall.

A recent Apple Day and Harvest weekend made local apple juice to raise money for the church, hall, and RABI. A small team of volunteers manages the churchyard for wildlife and to provide a tranquil space. The completion of a 12-month Living Churchyard survey is awaited.

The village benefits from film shows, live and streamed performances, and a wide variety of fitness and creative activities for all ages. There are many clubs and an annual flower show. The village also has a thriving shop and café and a care home, where the clergy and the wider community participate in regular events. Leigh is a progressive, welcoming village, and the church is valued by the community, whether they attend services or not.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Pulham: St Thomas a Beckett

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

Despite being situated well outside the centre of the village, St. Thomas à Becket church plays an important part in community life, and the village residents join in church-run events such as the carol service, harvest supper, open gardens, fête, and festival. The PCC ensures that these fundraising events also have a strong social side, and church members work hard to form bonds with the community.

The church is happily ecumenical, welcoming members of other denominations, and prides itself on its inclusivity. Employment within the village is largely agriculture-based, with farms and other related businesses, and there is also a small industrial estate. There is a thriving pub which holds social events and a well-used village hall which also hosts regular events.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Ryme Intrinseca: St Hypolytus

As they say in Ryme: we have no village hall, no pub, no shop, but we have a church. A church we might add at the centre of a community that loves to celebrate.

Ryme Intrinseca is a small ancient parish with a good sense of community. The 12th-century church’s dedication to St. Hippolytus, is one of only two in England. The village has no parish council and, instead, the church hosts twice-yearly residents’ meetings.

Regular church services are held in alternate months and there are special services at Christmas. There is a small but active PCC, and events include a harvest supper and a summer garden party held every other year.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Thornford: St Mary Magdalene

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.
The church of St. Mary Magdalene has an active and committed congregation.

Each month there is a lay-led Morning Service, a BCP Communion, and a “full” Communion. A regular home study group is led by the Team Rector, and parish prayer is held in the church every Wednesday morning. The church choir sings at the Easter, Harvest, and Christmas services and often at funeral or thanksgiving services.

The church building is structurally sound and has a Benjamin Flight chamber organ. There is a strong link between the church and the village’s Voluntary Aided Primary School, with clergy leading some assemblies and school services being held in church on special occasions. The village also has a shop with Post Office, a pub, and a garage.

The Community Hub meets weekly in the village hall and celebrates special occasions for regular members. Additionally, Sustainable Thornford is an active community group, currently investigating an eclectic mix of bus services, hedgehogs, flooding, and wildflowers. There is also a Twinning Association – the village is twinned with Hudimesnil, Normandy, and exchange visits take place. Thornford benefits from a halt on the Heart of Wessex railway line.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Glanvilles Wootton: St Mary the Virgin

This beautiful Grade II* listed Church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, sits in the Benefice of the Three Valleys Team and the Diocese of Salisbury. It is thought that there has been a building for worship at this tranquil spot since the 12th Century.

The doors are open from 10am to 4pm every day. Along with church services we run various events including a fete, harvest supper, talks, teas, and pop-up pub to help build a stronger, happier, local community. Everyone is welcome to come along and participate. Every year we give each household a Christmas gift which gives us a chance to catch up with all residents in the village.

Yetminster: St Andrew

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us. Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

St. Andrew’s is a strong community who worship in a wide variety of ways, from the informality of Second Sunday (in the school and on the 2nd Sunday of the month), through First Sunday Family Holy Communion (you guessed it but in church this time), to Choral Holy Communion, Taizé, and a weekly online Compline. There is a monthly homegroup and a service each month for the nursery school. A small Open the Book team visits the Primary School regularly.

The church’s choir, St. Andrew’s Singers, accompanies services on the monthly Choir Sunday and on special occasions. There are good organists and other musicians too. The tower has six bells and its own bellringing group – also a historic faceless clock dating from 1682, one of the oldest in England. The church and extensive living churchyard are kept tidy by many volunteers.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Holnest: Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We are a friendly church. We are open daily for friends old and new. Here since the 15th century. Our church community is in the main drawn from our own small parish together with regular worshippers from neighbouring parishes. The church volunteers organise many social events in the local community both for fund raising purposes and more importantly to eliminate social isolation and find out what people really want from their church.

We are always looking to grow our congregations at our monthly evening services of evening prayer or holy communion or our regular themed songs of praise services with a variety of readings and to welcome people into our church social community. The Church is grade 1 listed with many unique features including boxed pews, Jacobean pulpit, 13th century font and rare candle sconces.