This service will begin outside in the churchyard of Saint George's Church, Fovant, so please dress for outside conditions that may be cold and wet.
<b>Details for online giving:<br></b>https://www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/swallowcliffe-st-peter-swallowcliffe/<b><br></b>
Rex, the Parochial Church Council's Fabric Officer, writes,"In 1632 Charles the First was king, Anthony Van Dyke was knighted and appointed court painter, Sir Christopher Wren was born, the colony of Maryland was founded in North America, the English Civil War started and a treble bell weighing 4 1/2 cwt was cast in the Salisbury foundry by John Dawson. This bell is the oldest of our three bells in Saint Peter's Church Swallowcliffe. Our tenor bell was cast at the famous White Chapel foundry in London in 1846 and the third bell (the number two bell) was cast in John Warner's foundry in London in 1881. This small peal of bells has rung out over Swallowcliffe for all these years marking great occasions, the passing of many of our former villagers and celebrating weddings, Royal anniversaries and many other happy occasions."In September 2019 specialist bell hangers from Whites of Appleton inspected the bells and the bell frame and instructed us to take the tenor bell out of action because it was dangerous and recommended full restoration of all bells and their fittings. So we tendered this work out to contract and decided to employ Nicholson Engineering. a local bell hanger from Bridport, Dorset. We then had to seek planning permission - in church terms called a Faculty - from the Diocese of Salisbury and to start a fundraising appeal to raise over £19,000 - a daunting task for a small village of some 170 residents and especially during the Covid pandemic. Without the magnificent support of the Friends of Saint Peter's Church, who guaranteed to underwrite the project, we would not have been able to start the project at all. The Fundraising Appeal began in late September 2020 and applications for grants were made to bell charities and to Historic England. By the end of the year, your amazing generosity had raised £17,675 for Operation Bell, for which the Swallowcliffe PCC is extremely grateful."On 7 January 2021, Ian and Tim, bell hangers from Nicholson Engineering, arrived to remove the bells, the fittings and wheels and to lower them gently through 2 trapdoors to the ground. Two days later they were all in the foundry at Bridport. Here they will be restored and given new clappers, new crown staples, new Iroko headstocks, new oak wheels and new bellropes with red, white and blue 'sallies'. They will also be tuned and the bell frame in the bell tower will also be restored."Hopefully by the 9th of April our restored bells will be safely re-hung in their new fittings and through your generosity will be ringing in a more brighter and more healthy future for many years to come. I hope that you can celebrate their return with us and thank you for your support and generosity."
In 2015, Judy and Caroline came up with the idea for a village project, making church kneelers. The Parochial Church Council agreed that £150 be given from church funds towards the project.The original theme, the wildlife of Swallowcliffe, proved too difficult to carry through, so we decided to use the geometric shapes in the church’s stain glass windows. Copying these shapes onto the canvases was very challenging and took some time. However, once done we were able to assemble willing stitchers and provide them with a patterned canvas, colour chart and wools. It was a little like painting by numbers.Many of us met on Monday afternoons in the Village Hall with the usual sewing group to stitch and gossip. It became quite noisy at times! Those unable to attend these sessions did their sewing in their own time.Once a canvas was finished, it had to be stretched and blocked. We used the foam inserts from some of the current red church kneelers and covered it in calico. The canvas was then fitted over the cushion and secured underneath. A strip of linen sewn on the bottom finished it off.This last lockdown was an ideal time to complete fourteen kneelers now in the church, which is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the moment. The last four, still out with stitchers, will be added as and when they are finished.Caroline would like to thank all those involved in the project for all their help and hard work. The Parochial Church Council adds its congratulations to everyone and passes on its thanks.
