We held our first Open Day in November to gather peoples' views on whether we should go ahead with plans for a new meeting room for the church adjacent to our Grade 1 listed building. We held a photographic and painting competition for everyone about the church and this was the basis for our on-line Advent Calendar in December.
St Peter’s has been a place of Christian worship since the 7th century and as the oldest building in the village, it deserves our care and attention.
A little known fact is that St Peter's only had electricity installed in 1953 and water in the early 1980s. We have inherited a building that is solid, well-maintained with comfortable seating. But sadly
We have
* Inadequate Kitchen and Toilet facilities, in the vestry, not accessible to people with mobility problems. No baby changing facilities.
* Nowhere for people to mingle before or after special events such as funerals and baptisms, or even coffee after church
* Poor heating. (Our lighting has now been upgraded to LED lights and we are delighted with the results)
We need
* Better kitchen facilities and toilets which are accessible for all
* Somewhere for people to see the history of the church and village and to learn about the flora and faune around us.
* A small hall for pre and post funeral and baptismal gatherings
* Somewhere for the vicar to talk to prospective marriage partners, people grieving, and for us to hold children and youth group gatherings
* A building fit for the 21st century
Please click the button above to give what you can to our Meeting Room fund.
We held a second Open Day on April 1st with two presentations of the plans for our new meeting room at the Tewin Memorial Hall on Lower Green. Here is the report from that session:
We welcome your feedback and consultation on our building project.
Since then we have revised our designs and have put them forward to the local planning authority for a pre-App assessment.
We already have a substantial bequest to start off our fund for this project. However, all donations are welcomed and encouraged.
Current designs as at August 2023 now sent for pre-App
This is an artist's impression of the new building. Of course you will never see it like this because of all the yew trees that are in the way!
The initial plans are being considered by the Diocesan Advisory Committee at St. Albans Diocese, and following further consultation with the village, Parish Council and the Planning Authority; once funds have been secured, we hope to go ahead with this project within three years. We showed our plans at an open day on April 1st and here are some photos from the event:
We first discussed the history, pointing out that the church had gone through many changes over the past 1000 years.
Susannah Underwood, our vicar, showed the needs for our church community.
Yasmin Shariff, our architect, displayed our initial plans for the new meeting room with updated toilet & kitchen facilities.
And then we had some lovely cakes.