NEWS
We congratulate Josh most warmly on the latest notice from the office of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich which reads:
‘The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is pleased to announce that The Revd Josh Bailey has been appointed as the Rural Dean of Waveney and Blyth Deanery; this appointment takes immediate effect. Josh will be licensed to this post on 13th June 2023. This is in addition to Josh’s current role as Priest in Charge of the benefice of Bungay.’
We’re delighted to see the Revd Canon John Fellows back on the service rota: welcome back, John!
The baptism of Emily and Halle Forster took place in a lively service on Saturday 3rd June in the presence of more than 60 people.
A service of choral evensong celebrated our patronal festival on Trinity Sunday, 4th June.
Repairs to the parapet of the church tower have been undertaken by Theo Wells (photo, front cover). Theo stripped out the decaying and lost mortar that had caused some of the brickwork to become loose and repointed in traditional lime mortar.
Foodbank contributions in May amounted to 204 items.
The May sales table organised by Margaret yielded an impressive £115. Many thanks to all who contributed delicious cakes, marmalades and fine plants, and also to those who supported the sale by making purchases.
Sarah Jane continues to find new homes for her destitute legacy bears and in the process has raised a further £155 in May, bringing the cumulative total to a very notable £2,591. The recent U3A Church Crawlers’ church tour-and-talk grossed £75.
Barsham with Shipmeadow PCC gratefully acknowledges donations of £200 and £50, the latter being a contribution towards the churchyard flora.
There will be no Matins services on Wednesday 28th June and Wednesday 26th July.
FORWARD PLANNING
The annual Summer Lunch will take place on Wednesday 5th July at the kind invitation of Nick and Jenny Caddick at St Bartholomew’s Church, Shipmeadow. Tickets are available from Bridget and there is a sign-up sheet at the back of the church for people to indicate what food they can contribute.
The Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, will be celebrating Eucharist with us at Barsham on Sunday 16th July.
A group from the Suffolk Guild of Ringers will be ringing at Holy Trinity, Barsham with Shipmeadow from 2pm until 6pm on Saturday 12th August.
Liz Vennard will give an organ recital at Barsham at 3pm on Saturday 19th August. A church organist in Norwich, Liz was previously organist at Horsham St Faith Crematorium and before that at Holy Trinity Bungay, playing also from time to time at Ditchingham, Broome and Barsham, as well as being accompanist for the Bungay Choral Society. The recital will last for about an hour and a fabulous Barsham tea will be served afterwards. Tickets are not required and there will be no entrance charge, but donations would be very much appreciated.
Tour, tea and Evensong at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Sunday 10th September, 1.45–5pm. Places can still be booked through Bridget.
The Revd Canon Rich Henderson, Archdeacon of Suffolk, will be officiating at our Sunday service on 24th September.
The Right Revd Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough will join us for Harvest Evensong and Harvest Supper on Sunday 8th October.
SNIPPETS – The Church Tower
The repair work undertaken by Theo Wells at the top of the church tower calls to mind the fascinating – and insoluble – question of the tower’s date. The antiquity of the tower has not always been appreciated. Alfred Suckling (History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk, 1846-48) wrote that the church had ‘no claims to Norman antiquity’; and the present Round Tower Churches Society website gives a build date of late 13th/early 14th century. In fact, the tower has three distinct building phases, and a cautious 1995 County Archaeological Survey suggested a Saxo-Norman, 11th-12th century, date for the lowest stage, to the height of the nave roof. Jack Sterry (Round Tower Churches on the Norfolk and Suffolk Border, 2005) offered a similar date, though he added that it ‘may be slightly earlier’, and Munro Cautley (Suffolk Churches,1937)described it as ‘probably pre-Conquest’. In 2002 Historic England put the lowest
section as ‘not later than 11th century’, and Roy Tricker (Suffolk Churches Ancient and Modern, 1983) reckoned the lower section to be Saxon.
The second stage, the original belfry, is generally regarded as 14th century; while the courses of brick suggest a late 15th century or 16th century date for the top stage. For this top stage most descriptions settle for ‘Tudor’ and a reasonable guess is that it may have been added by one of the Etchingham lords of the manor, perhaps Sir Edward Etchingham (died 1527), whose fine tomb sits in the sanctuary and who quite likely remodeled the unique east end of the church in the lattice pattern that was his family coat of arms.
The bottom stage of the tower is probably 500 years older than any other building in Barsham. It’s fabric changing little, it has been a venerable constant through the highs and horrors of human history and a thousand years of extraordinary change, all the while presiding over the innermost emotions, thoughts and resolutions, pious and otherwise, of congregations below.
JULY DIARY
Sunday 25th June – Third Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 2nd July – Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.
Sunday 9th July – Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 16th July – Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP) with the Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich. Rev Josh Bailey.
Sunday 23rd July – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 30th July – Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.
Sunday 30th July – Benefice Evensong, Holy Trinity Bungay. 6.30pm Choral Evensong. Rev Josh Bailey.
Sunday 6th August – Ninth Sunday after Trinity. Transfiguration of our Lord. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.
Wednesdays at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham.
Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, [email protected]