Opening
The church is open
Getting here
St Edmund dates back to Norman times, and features an unusual Tudor brick tower and Victorian north aisle. It is situated a little way away from the modern centre of the village, at the end of a pretty track, which gives the church a special feeling of peace and tranquillity, and given the comments in our visitor’s book, many visitors appreciate this.
We now have REGULAR MONTHLY SERVICES on the 1st Sunday of the month, normally 10:45. We are joined by a growing and varied congregation - please feel welcome to join us, especially if you are planning a visit. Sometimes the time changes, please refer to services tab to check.
We hold MESSY CHURCH every other month in the Village Hall - with a bible story, crafts, fun and food. Please come and join in (see events tab for dates), its pretty popular so you won't be alone. We ask parents to stay with us and join in, so it's a GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO MEET other mum's and dad's with children of a similar age
We host a YOUTH GROUP monthly on Friday's at the Village Hall. We started this to provide a 'safe space', supervised by PCC members, for those aged 10-17(ish) to meet a join in activities planned at the previous meet by the young themselves. The idea is to combat the risk of young people feeling isolated in a small village during the holiday's when your parents may be working, by providing a meeting point to get to know other people of the same age in Hargrave
The church remains open at all times (we have evidence this is appreciated occasionally by some less fortunate than ourselves)
The money raised through regular collections at our church services is shared between supporting our own church and vicar and charities, such as (in 2009) 'Crisis at Christmas, Centrepoint, Villa Maninga in Mozambique, The Royal British Legion.
The amount we are likely to raise from village events, which we all enjoy, is more difficult to predict, and more regular donations give us greater scope to plan work ahead. We have regular expenses (insurance, electricity and of course the Rector's salary and pension) amounting to £4,500 a year.
If you are able to pledge a regular amount monthly or annually, however small (like £5 a month), this has the benefit of attracting an additional 20% from the government (if you are a basic rate taxpayer). So for every £5 you give, we get £6…what a deal!
If you want to know more about GIVING to Hargrave Church with GiftAid, please call or email Justin (see Contact Info).
Since our last Quinquennial in 2009 we have raised funds, from a very low level, and completed three tranches of urgent repairs. We were granted an English Heritage grant funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund for replacing the north aisle and north side of the nave roof completely. We have had to raise £11,500 to complete this work, which is a major challange for such a small village and without loads of support we'd not have made it!
Our 2014 Quinquennial is summarised thus:
"This has been a quinquennium mirabilis with the PCC achieving significant amounts of urgent repair work in three contracts, much of it having been outstanding for many years. The result is that the fabric is now in a watertight condition and elements of the building at risk of loss have been secured.
There remain areas of concern, particularly the cracking at the east end of the chancel and this will need careful monitoring by volunteers initially, possibly followed by structural engineers later. There may be a need for substantial repairs here but it is too early to say whether and what.
There remain some challenges ahead but the PCC has achieved a very significant improvement in the state of the fabric and is to be congratulated on this."
A BIG THANK YOU because none of this would have been possible without your continuous and generous support!
A plan of the grave yard is posted on here for those researching their family. We'd love to hear from you if you are searching...
Church Lane
Hargrave
Bury St Edmunds
IP29 5HH
If you'd prefer to navigate using Google Maps please use the button below