Exploring the Future of St Peter's Church Trentishoe
The following is a letter which has been distributed to residents of Trentishoe explaining the current situation at St Peter's Church.
The church of St Peter's has stood at the centre of village life since the 15th century. It has marked our celebrations, held our sorrows, and quietly witnessed the everyday story of this place we call home. It remains open for worship, reflections, or simply a moment of peace, and provides a place of tranquillity and rest for tourists, walkers and pilgrims.
However, St Peter's Church no longer has a regular congregation or a trustee body (a Parochial Church Council: PCC), putting both its future as a place of worship and the condition of its beautiful, 15th century and Grade II* listed building at risk. All Church of England churches are, and always have been, cared for and funded by their congregations and communities. If St Peter's is to remain open and available to the Trentishoe community and to visitors as a place of worship and a community and heritage asset, we need to find a solution to enable the ongoing provision of governance and ongoing care and maintenance of the building.
In the first instance, we are keen to ascertain the level of local care and support for the building: would it matter to those who live in and visit the community if St Peter's were no longer available to them? In order to begin to explore this question, we will be holding an Open Meeting at St Peter's at 6pm on Wednesday 16th September. If there is an appetite to keep the building open, perhaps as a place of prayer/ reflection, baptisms/weddings/ funerals, occasional services and additional community uses, the PCC of a neighbouring parish has expressed a willingness to support the governance of the building going forward.
However, with a listed building of their own to care for, they would not be in a position to take on the practical and financial burden of an additional building and so, it would be necessary to seek active support from within the local community and/or those with a particular interest in the building. This could take the form of a Friends Group, tasked with caring for the building and with covering the costs of maintaining and running it (which is estimated to be in the region of £2,000 per year). Funds might be raised through some combination of regular giving and fundraising activities.
If there is no appetite locally to retain St Peter's as a place of worship and community space; or if we cannot form a friends group with this commitment to fundraising the annual costs, then regrettably, the mission community will have no option bu to begin exploring closure proceedings. If St Peter's was closed as a place of worship it would be handed back to the Diocese of Exeter (the regional body of the Church of England in Devon) and they would seek an alternative use of the building. While the Diocese and the Church Commissioners would endeavour, as far as possible to seek a use that is of benefit to the community, it is possible that the church building could remain in long term redundancy or pass into private ownership.
If you would like to find out more about the situation facing St Peter's and to have your say on the future of the building, please join us on 16th September. The session will be about 'taking the temperature' rather than seeking firm commitment from individuals; at the end of the meeting, we will invite expressions of interest in helping to care for the building into the future, and will follow up subsequently on what that could look like, depending on the level of response. If you are unable to attend but would like to find out more, share your views or offer help, I would love to hear from you directly; please get in touch at [email protected].
We are keen that St Peter's continues to serve Exmoor and it's visitors, but this can only happen with your help.
Rev'd Miles Welborn on behalf of the Lyn Valley Mission Community