Charlwood Group Secures Award For Research Projects

Charlwood Group Secures Award For Research Projects

Members of St Nicholas’ Church in Charlwood’s Church Research Group – subcommittee of The Charlwood Society – are in good spirits following the award of a grant of £9,200 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The special community grant will help the group to achieve its outlined goals of producing a replica funeral helmet, install CCTV at the church, fund more church talks and edit talks which have already been given.

St Nicholas Parish Church, part of the diocese of Southwark, is Grade I listed building and dates from around 1080, the interior of the church is well known for its wall paintings, fixtures and architecture.

The church’s rich history makes it a fascinating location for historians – and those keen on history in Charlwood and part of the village’s church research group are celebrating new funding for its work.

Charlwood’s Church Research Group is a small collection of villagers who came together to celebrate the heritage of the Church with the aim to learn, and in turn share the history of the church in the community, and continue to restore and bring to light certain aspects of its heritage. Members hope that by focusing on specific areas they hope to start an interest in the church’s heritage and present it fresh to the community.

In 2017 Brendon Sewill, assisted by others, presented a series of church history talks which told attendees the story of the church’s creation and alteration, beginning with the Normans. The talks also considered the influences of spiritual and musical trends on the use of the building, and from these talks, Brendon pulled together a group of keen village history enthusiasts to delve much deeper into St Nicholas’ Church history.

The group started out life with a mantra which had a clear instruction of, ‘no one is to do anything unless we are having fun’. The research group is secular and consists of people who come from a range of diverse backgrounds, but they hold in common, a genuine interested in the history of Charlwood Church and want to protect and promote the church for villagers of today, and for the future generations of Charlwood.

The group has the following plans in place, to create a replica of the funeral helmet of Sir Nicholas Saunders from 1553, the installation of CCTV cameras in the bell tower to share the ringing experience and help with training and recruitment, to institute a series of lectures by experts on aspects of the history of Charlwood Church, and to video edit Brendon Sewill’s series of 2017 Church History Talks and publicly release them.

The grant was possible due to the hard work and perseverance of villagers Maggie Hensman, along with Maggie Ashworth, who applied to the National Lottery Heritage Fund on behalf of Charlwood community.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund awards from £3,000 to £5 million and more, funding projects which sustain and transform the UK’s heritage by supporting it and advocating the value of the nation’s heritage.

Speaking about the heritage fund award, Maggie Hensman says: “The Church Research Group wishes to express their thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for financially supporting our projects.”

Songs Of Praise For Charlwood’s Church

For more information about St Nicholas’ Church in Charlwood, its regular services and information about groups associated with the  church, visit: www.charlwoodandhookwood.co.uk/st-nicholas-church.php