NEWSWe were delighted to welcome the Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, to celebrate Eucharist with us on Sunday 16th July. A contingent from Barsham attended the Benefice Choral Evensong at Bungay onSunday 30th July.The Love Boxes team has started to wrap the boxes and the Love Box season will soon be upon us!Annual haymaking took place during a spell of dry weather on the 11th and 12th August and the churchyard now looks splendid. Wasp nests featured this year, and Colin surprised a large grass snake. Huge thanks to those who laboured mightily in extremely humid conditions on the Friday (team photo, front page), to those who joined on the Saturday, and especially to those who toiled so hard on both days. Grateful thanks as well to Chris Bardsley for providing two delicious lunches. In this centenary year of the Suffolk Guild of Ringers a group from its North-East District rang the church bells at Barsham on Saturday 12th August, ringing Plain Bob Doubles and Grandsire Doubles. As for the character of our bells, Kate Gill, Tower Captain at Beccles, described them as ‘a nice country ring’. In addition to ringing, the group held a routine meeting and enjoyed a picnic, before walking to the Locks Inn for further refreshment. This year’s Ride and Stride event takes place on Saturday 9th September. Do sponsor our participants, who are riding or striding in aid of Barsham Church and the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust, which makes grants towards the repair and restoration of churches and chapels. The sales table organised by Jenny for the second consecutive time raised the splendid sum of £100!Barsham PCC gratefully acknowledges a donation of £200 and also donations amounting to £220 from the Hempnall Sunday Walking Group event held on the 30th July. This was a most successful and enjoyable occasion with the Group exploring the byways of Barsham and Ilketshall St Andrew in fine weather; many thanks to Cheryl for her skilled organisation of the ramble and to all who provided the fine fare and beverages for the walkers at their journey’s end.228 items were gratefully received by the Foodbank in July, nearly 100 more items than the previous month. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Right Revd Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough will be joining us for Harvest Evensong and Harvest Supper on Sunday 8th October.SNIPPETS – A Medley of Hymn-writersMost would agree that congregational singing in church is an uplifting experience and small wonder, with so many inspiring tunes and beautifully crafted lyrics. Down the centuries hymnody has attracted eminent composers – in our hymnals at Barsham the likes of Gibbons, JS Bach, Handel, Haydn, Parry, Ireland, Vaughan Williams, Holst – and a high proportion of hymn writers were well-established poets. Many hymnodists, of course, were divines: clerics and theologians. The 17th century Anglican cleric George Herbert, 1593-1633 (‘Let all the world in every corner sing’) was one of the celebrated metaphysical poets. During his short adult life he was also Orator at Cambridge University (ie its official spokesman) and a Member of Parliament. The 18th century Welsh Methodist preacher William Williams, 1717-1791 (‘Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer’), was one of the great literary figures of Welsh language prose and poetry. In the following century, Frederick William Faber, 1814-1863 (‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’), was a friend of William Wordsworth and wrote both secular and sacred poetry. An Anglo-Catholic priest, he followed John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church and was one of the founders and the first Provost of the London Oratory.Some hymnodists were more than clerics. Cyril Argentine Alington, 1872-1955 (‘Ye that know The Lord is gracious’), was a prolific writer of poetry as well as biography, history, religion, and fiction, including detective stories. He was successively Headmaster of Shrewsbury School, Head Master at Eton, Chaplain to George V and Dean of Durham Cathedral. John Raphael Peacey, 1896-1971 (‘Tell out my soul’), was a missionary and headmaster in India and latterly a Canon of Bristol Cathedral. Earlier, as an army officer, he had won a Military Cross during the First World War and afterwards played first class cricket for Sussex. Several well-known hymnodists were involved in the campaign for the abolition of slavery. The American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892 (‘Dear Lord and Father of mankind’), was a passionate abolitionist campaigner. John Newton, 1725-1807 (‘Amazing Grace’; ‘Glorious things of Thee are spoken’), spent some years as a slave trader before his Christian conversion, ordination, and work as an abolitionist. He recruited to the cause his friend William Cowper, 1731-1800 (‘O for a closer walk with God’), hymnodist and one of the most popular English poets of the 18th century. The Anglican parish priest and poet Henry Francis Lyte, 1793-1847 (‘Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven’; ‘Abide with me’), was a friend of William Wilberforce and in 1833 petitioned Parliament to abolish slavery in the British Empire. There were, of course, lay hymnodists too, and women are prominent amongst them. In the 19th century Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871 (‘Just as I am’), wrote popular humorous verse and was a successful portrait artist before turning to hymn-writing and producing about 150 hymns. In more recent times, Eleanor Farjeon, 1881-1965 (‘Morning has broken’), was a poet, playwright, children’s author, biographer, historian, satirist, journalist and broadcaster. The agnostic Jan Struther, 1901-1953 (‘Lord of all hopefulness’; ‘When a knight won his spurs’) wrote for Punch magazine and was a Times columnist and radio quiz panellist. Amongst the men, William Whiting, 1825-1878 (‘Eternal Father strong to save’), was a secular poet and the Master of Quiristers (choristers) at Winchester College. James Edmeston, 1791-1867 (‘Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us’) is said to have written some 2,000 hymns. He was an architect and surveyor as well as a poet and one of his architecture pupils was George Gilbert Scott, the great Gothic Revival architect. In the 20th century Robert Bridges, 1844-1930 (‘All my hope on God is founded’) practised as a medical doctor and was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930.As this small sample demonstrates, the heritage within the pages of our hymn books is rich indeed and, for me at least, this enhances the glory of hymn singing.SEPTEMBER DIARYSunday 27th August – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 3rd September – Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 10th September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 17th September – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows with Archdeacon Sally Gaze, Archdeacon of Rural Mission in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.Sunday 24th September – Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey with Revd Canon Rich Henderson, Archdeacon of Suffolk.Sunday 1st October – Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Wednesdays at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham, but not 27th Sept and 4th Oct.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSMany congratulations to Hannah Spooner and Tim Futter on their marriage at Barsham Church on the 17th June in the presence of more than 100 guests. Congratulations to Josh on his licensing as Rural Dean by Archdeacon Rich Henderson on the 13th June. Barsham was well represented at the service. In Deanery news, the Revd Russell Gant has been appointed as Team Rector of the Sole Bay Team Ministry and will start in September. It is hoped to appoint a successor to Rich Henderson at Beccles in September.Thanks to the kind invitation and warm hospitality of Nick and Jenny Caddick, 70 people enjoyed the Summer Lunch at St Bartholomew’s, Shipmeadow on the 5th July. Huge thanks to those who helped in the planning, the provision and preparation of food and drink, in running the raffle, and setting up and clearing. We were delighted to welcome the Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, to celebrate Eucharist with us at Barsham on Sunday 16th July.Volunteers to help with the annual Haymaking in the churchyard on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th August are eagerly sought. Come for whatever time and energy you can spare! Bring a rake if you have one. A delicious ploughman’s lunch is kindly provided on both days by Chris Bardsley. The June sales table organised by Jenny yielded a very useful £100. Sarah Jane’s continued endeavours to find homes for the legacy bears resulted in an additional £243 of sales in June, bringing the cumulative total for bear sales to a remarkable £2,834. The summer lunch raised £1,052 towards church funds.133 items were contributed to the Foodbank in June. FORWARD PLANNINGCheryl is organising and leading a walk for the Hempnall Church walking group from Barsham church on Sunday 30th July, starting at 2pm and anyone is welcome to join. The walk will take about 2 hours at a leisurely pace, with tea at the church afterwards. Well-behaved dogs are welcome. There is no charge. A group from the Suffolk Guild of Ringers will be ringing the church bells at Barshamfrom 2pm until 6pm on Saturday 12th August.There will be an organ recital by Liz Vennard at Barsham Church at 3pm on Saturday 19th August. The recital will last for about an hour, followed by a fabulous Barsham tea. Tickets are not required and there is no entrance charge, butdonations towards the running of the church will 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. Archdeacon Sally Gaze, Archdeacon of Rural Mission in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich will be visiting preacher on Sunday 17th September.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 BellsFor centuries bells have rung from church towers to summon the faithful to church and to celebrate special occasions, including recently at Barsham a quarter peal for the King’s Coronation. All five of Barsham’s bells will be in action again in August, this time with the Suffolk Guild of Ringers (see above), so it may be of interest to know a little about our bells. The oldest was cast in Norwich in the early 16th century and is broadly contemporary with the building of the top section of the tower at Barsham. It is tempting to speculate that this bell may even have been commissioned for the new belfry. It was probably the single bell extant at Barsham when Alfred Suckling described the church in his History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk in 1846, though he noted that there had previously been three bells ‘at no very distant period’. Four more bells were added half a century later by the then patron, the Rev’d RAJ Suckling (1842-1917), all of them cast in 1893 and installed in 1894. Suckling dedicated two of them to the prominent Anglo-Catholic priests, Charles Lowder (1820-1880) and Alexander Mackonochie (1825-1887), both of them so-called ‘slum priests’: mission priests working in the poorest slum areas of the East End of London. They were brave men, pursuing their work in the face of violent opposition from the deeply entrenched vested interests of the East End vice trades, as well as persecution from members of the Low Church Establishment in both Church and State, who found their ritualist practices and teachings too close to Roman Catholicism. Violent mobs were hired to disrupt their services, bishops were unhelpful or obstructive, and Lowder and Mackonochie were persecuted through the courts. Ultimately however, they won admiration for their exemplary pastoral work in the slums, establishing schools, soup kitchens, working men’s clubs, mothers’ groups and clothing funds. In 1866 Lowder became the founding vicar of St Peter’s London Dock, and in the cholera outbreak of that year he and his associates distinguished themselves by their heroic and selfless care of the poor, who came to address Lowder as ‘Father’ – the first Anglican priest to be so called. Lowder was also renowned as one of the principal founders and the first Master of the Society of the Sacred Cross, founded in 1855. An Anglo-Catholic society of priests living under a common rule, the Society became a major driving force in the Anglo-Catholic Revival. Mackonochie was Lowder’s curate at St Peter’s London Dock, before going on to become perpetual curate of the Anglo-Catholic church of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn. The Anglo-Catholic RAJ Suckling would follow in the wake of Lowder and Mackonochie, exchanging the gentle Rectory at Barsham for the tough world of the mission priest, first at St Peter’s London Dock (1880) and then in succession to Mackonochie at St Alban the Martyr (1882), after the latter had been driven out by persecution. A memorial to Mackonochie, at one time behind the high altar at St Alban the Martyr, now graces the south wall of our Lady Chapel. A third bell is dedicated to the Rev’d John Yelloly, RAJ Suckling’s uncle and his predecessor as Rector of Barsham, who died in 1892 – the year before the bells were cast. Finally, the tenor bell commemorates Captain Maurice Suckling, RN (1726-1778), who was the son of the Rev’d Maurice Suckling, mid-18th century Rector of Barsham, and brother of Catherine Suckling, mother of Horatio Nelson. A celebrated fighting captain in the Seven Years War, Maurice Suckling gave the young Nelson his first taste of seafaring and later, as Comptroller of the Navy, assisted Nelson in his early promotion. His burial at Barsham is recorded on his father’s ledger stone in the sanctuary.AUGUST DIARYSunday 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.Sunday 13th August – Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 20th August – Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 27th August – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Wednesdays at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSWe 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 PLANNINGThe 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 DIARYSunday 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, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSBishop Martin has announced that the Revd Josh Bailey has agreed to become Interim Rural Dean for the Waveney and Blyth Deanery. Many congratulations to Josh on this appointment and best wishes to him as he embarks on these new and additional responsibilities. A Benefice Evensong was held at All Saints Mettingham on Sunday 30th April and was attended by a number from Holy Trinity, Barsham with Shipmeadow.The APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) was held in the church on the afternoon of Thursday 4th May, attended by members of the PCC as well as eight other members of the congregation. Bridget and Diana were re-elected as churchwardens, all existing members of the PCC were re-elected for another year, and Cheryl was elected back onto the PCC. The Rev Josh expressed his gratitude to all those who contribute to the running of the church throughout the year, in particular the churchwardens and members of the PCC who look after the finances, the fabric, the churchyard and the admin. Appreciation and thanks were also expressed to those who help week in week out, making refreshments after Sunday service and arranging flowers; and those who help in other capacities such as cleaning the church, and providing splendid teas and refreshments for visiting groups and special events. On Coronation weekend the National Anthem was sung at Sunday service and afterwards glasses of bubbly were raised in the Loyal Toast. Coronation celebrations continued on the Wednesday following when Tess Blower’s team of ringers rang a 45-minute quarter peal(worth ‘googling’ for an explanation) as part of the Ringing for the King programme in which quarter peals were rung in every ringable tower in the district. At Barsham there was a good turn-out of listeners and given that 16mm of rain fell on Barsham the day before and 14mm the day after, it was a blessing to enjoy the peal sitting in the churchyard on a pleasant afternoon.A U3A East Suffolk Church Crawlers group of 16 delightful enthusiasts from the Ipswich area visited for a guided tour of the church and refreshments on Friday 19th May. Thank you for continuing to support the Foodbank. In April our contributions amounted to 204 items. The fourth Sunday sales table organised by Cherry raised £85. FORWARD PLANNINGStuart Bowell, Chairman of the Round Tower Churches Society will be giving a talk ‘Round Towered Churches: a Norfolk and Suffolk Speciality’ at St John’s Church, Ilketshall St John at 7pm on Thursday 8th June.The Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, will be celebrating Eucharist with us at Barsham on Sunday 16th July.The HT Barsham with Shipmeadow 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 will be available from Bridget in early June and there will be a sign-up sheet at the back of the church for people to indicate what food they can offer to bring. The Suffolk Guild of Ringers will be ringing at Holy Trinity, Barsham with Shipmeadow at 2pm on Saturday 12th August.Tour, tea and Evensong at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Sunday 10th September, 1.45–5pm. Places can still be booked through Bridget. Bishop Norman will join us for Harvest Evensong and Harvest Supper in the Village Hall on Sunday 8th October.SNIPPETS – Churchyard Flora Malcolm and Colin work hard to look after the churchyard, carefully balancing the need to prevent it from becoming overgrown with the maintenance of its picturesque appearance and the goal of encouraging biodiversity. Whilst access paths are mown, including to graves known to be tended, mowing is kept to a minimum to encourage the growth of wildflowers and to protect wildlife habitat. Haymaking is managed in the traditional way, taking place in August. An interesting initiative has been the planting of Yellow Rattle plugs, since Rattle is a parasitic plant that feeds off the roots of grass and thus controls growth.Churchyards are now recognised to be a vital refuge for flora and fauna struggling to survive in landscapes otherwise largely polluted with chemicals and stripped of habitats. ‘God’s Acre’ is often the last sanctuary for some of our most threatened grassland plants, mosses, lichens and flowers, and the butterflies and insects they support. Flowery grasslands supporting a luxuriant array of flora and fauna used to be commonplace, but an estimated 98% has been lost since the 1930s. During the Second World War six million acres of grassland were lost to the plough in favour of cereals and were lost forever. Since then, industrial farming and development have continued the damage. Many churchyards have escaped this dramatic loss, however, and may have remained undisturbed, reseeding naturally for hundreds of years – perhaps even a thousand years in our case. So, churchyards are often the best places to see wild meadow grasses and flowers. As the Somerset Wildlife Trust puts it, ‘A churchyard is a little snapshot of how the countryside used to be’.Colin kindly took me around the churchyard ten days into May and pointed out over 20 varieties of wildflower then in flower, amongst them blue, white and mauve Bluebells, Ransoms, Oxslips (a cross-pollination of cowslip and primrose), Cowslips, Fumitory, Meadow Saxifrage, Vetch, Oxeye Daisy, and some with charming names like Crane’s Bill, Mouse-eared Chickweed, Nodding Star of Bethlehem and Lady’s Bedstraw. Nodding Star of Bethlehem is special and very rare, and Lady’s Bedstraw was first spotted in the churchyard here in 2011 and has spread successfully since mowing has been reduced. It is one of a number of wildflowers with ‘Lady’ in their name, referring to the Virgin Mary. According to the website Caring for God’s Acre – Caring for Meadows and Wildflowers in Burial Grounds: ‘Lady’s Bedstraw, when dried, smells sweet and was stuffed in straw mattresses and strewn on floors. It is also supposed to deter fleas. According to one medieval legend the Virgin Mary herself gave birth whilst lying on a bed of Lady’s Bedstraw and bracken. Lady’s Bedstraw has sweet, frothy, honey-smelling flowers and historically it was used to curdle milk during cheese-making’. Research carried out by Maurice Elliott and others between 1989 and 2010 and collected together in his pamphlet The Natural History of Barsham identified 114 different plants in Barsham churchyard and surroundings, including eight different varieties of grass and 19 mosses.JUNE DIARYSunday 28th May – Pentecost. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 4th June –Trinity Sunday. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 4th June – Trinity Sunday. 6.30pm Patronal Festival Choral Evensong at Barsham. Rev Josh Bailey. Sunday 11th June – First Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 18th June – Second Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 25th June – Third Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham. Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
