St Mary
{article title="Introduction - St Mary's Church"}[title] [text]{/article}
After months of renovation work, you will all be pleased to hear that St. Mary’s will once again be open every day from the beginning of May! A christening is taking place on Sat 2nd May, and a wedding on 6th June, but other days will be open to visitors as usual.
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We are planning an open weekend on 4th and 5th July, so you can come along and talk to us about the restoration work, see all the stunning new stonework and repairs, and the new windows. The lych gate will also be fully completed by then. This will coincide with Forncett History Group’s WW1 timeline being moved to St. Mary’s from St. Peter’s church. The timetable for the weekend will be as follows: Saturday 4th July – 11am-3pm Refreshments, raffle, large 2nd hand bookstall, WW1 artefacts on show, including medals, binoculars, war diaries, etc. Sunday 5th July – 11am -3pm Refreshments, bookstall, and a special visitor – a WW1 soldier, in uniform, with his gun and other items, in the person of Nigel Amies who specialises in re-enactments and will be in the church to talk to visitors, and answer any questions. Donations for refreshments welcome.
More dates for your diary:
Sunday 13th September - Service at St. Mary’s, time to be confirmed. The Bishop of Norwich will be joining us for a service to celebrate the restoration work and installation of the bell in memory of Tony Baines and Harold Turner.
Saturday 26th September - popular jazz band DixieMix will be returning to perform in the church at 7.30pm. Sure to be a sell out, so book your tickets early !Friday 4th December – Carols by Candlelight. We will once again be joined by Dolce choir and their director Philip Aldred.
Any queries about the church opening times, or any of the events, please contact us on 01508 481856 or
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
photos by May Prior and Richard Ball
(click pic for slideshow)
Harry Barker and Rod Evans have built a lych gate as an entrance to the churchyard at St Mary's Church at Forncett. They started this project in October last year and it is now all but complete.
The Bishop of Norwich has agreed to lift the restriction on marriages at St. Mary's, so weddings can now take place without the need for a special licence.
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
{module St Mary Nov 2014 update}
photos by May Prior.
(click pic for slideshow)
Restoration work is continuing at St. Mary's church, and will, we hope, be completed by early Spring 2015. Stonemason Steve Miles and his workmen have replaced or repaired the stonework and tracery on the four Nave windows, and glass has been fitted to the two South windows by specialist fitters from DevlinPlummer Stained Glass. Patterns for new glass have been taken from the two North Nave windows, and glass should be fitted late December/early January. The Vestry windows have also had new glass fitted.
Extensive repairs are being carried out to the East wall, as metal rods fitted in Victorian times have now gone rusty and needed replacing. Repairs are also being carried out on parts of the roof and the wooden interior of the roof will be cleaned. Work should begin soon on the drains.
The annual 'Carols by Candlelight' service has had to be moved to Forncett St. Peter church for this year, on Friday 5th December at 7.30pm. Philip Aldred and Dolce choir will be leading the singing as usual, and mulled wine and mice pies will be served in the church at the end of the service
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
{module craft fair 2014}
Click pic for slide show
Photos: Richard Ball
Around 100 visitors came to Forncett Steam Museum on Saturday 18th October, for the 3rd Forncett Craft Fair, this year not able to take place in St. Mary's church due to on-going restoration work. Stalls included wrought iron work, wood turning, garden decorations,, hand made cushions, toys ,cards, watercolours, and stained glass items. There were tempting home-made cakes on offer for refreshments, also warming soup and a roll. Museum owners Rowan and Jane Francis kept a jolly atmosphere by starting up the pianola situated on the ground floor of the museum, and many visitors were fascinated by the engines, although on this occasion they were not running. Plant doctor Robert Maidstone had several enquiries about pruning fruit trees, how to plant hedging, and garden pests.
Thanks to everyone who helped organise and run the event, and to Rowan and Jane for the use of the museum.
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
{module 2014 Dolce Choir}
Click pic for slide show
Photos: Richard Ball
On Saturday 10th May the Dolce Choir entertained us at the Steam Museum, an event organised in aid of Forncett St. Mary Church.
The choir, 15 strong, was directed by Philip Aldred who also acted as compere and kept the concert lively with a string of jokes.
With an interval for drinks and eats, the choir performed a varied repertoire including California Dreaming, The Rose, Fields of Barley, You raise me up, and songs from Miss Saigon and Les Miserable.
Highlights of the evening were the Titanic episode (see pics!), Highland Cathedral sung by a Caledonian native, and the audience's rendition of a first world war combo (Pack up your troubles from one side and It's a long way to Tipperaray from the other side) and the 'One old man' fugue! and Anna Cottrell's African story.
All in all, a most enjoyable evening. Thank you Dolce Choir for performing, May and Graham Prior for organising and Jane and Rowan Francis for housing it during St. Mary's refurbishment.
- Details
- Written by: Richard Ball
Following a successful grant award to St. Mary's from English Heritage/Heritage Lottery last year, architect Nicholas Warns has completed the development stage of surveys, quotes and plans, and the restoration work is scheduled to take place this year between April and September. This will include replacing the Nave and Office windows, flint repairs, cleaning the interior wooden roof, and new drains and gutters. Events will be difficult to organise while the work is being carried out, but we are hoping that the following will take place:
Tuesday 25th March, 7p.m. - Service for the Festival of the Annunciation
Saturday 16th August 7.30p.m. - Popular jazz band DixieMix are back for another foot tapping performance. Sure to be a sell out!
Saturday 18th October - Craft Fair, 11am -3p.m.
Forncett History Group is producing a book of commemoration for the men from Forncett who lost their lives in both World Wars, and a timeline depicting major events in WW1 will be displayed in St. Mary's Church - renovation permitting - or St Peter's.
For enquiries about any events, or church opening times, please contact Graham and May Prior 01508 481856 or
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
photos by Sarah Prior
(click for slide show)
Over 100 people enjoyed carols and lessons in St Mary's church on 6th December and the Dolce choir, led by their musical director Philip Aldred, performed five seasonal songs, including 'In the Bleak Midwinter', 'Shepherd's Pipe Carol', and everyone's favourite, 'O Holy Night'.
Mulled wine and mince pies were served in the village hall after the service.
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- Written by: May Prior
{module Craft Fair 2013}
photographs by Sarah Prior
(click pic for slide show)
Over 150 visitors enjoyed Forncett's 3rd craft fair held in St. Mary's church on 19th October. Soup and rolls proved very popular for refreshments and the stall holders all reported brisk business, with Ruth Walker selling out of her lovely hand painted cards very quickly.
Thanks to everyone who helped organise and run the event, and the ladies who baked cakes and biscuits to sell. £472 was raised for St. Mary's and St Peter's churches.
- Details
- Written by: May Prior
{module 2013 cream teas}
Click pic for slide show
Over 60 people enjoyed cream teas in St. Mary's church on Sunday 18th August. Thanks to everyone who very generously donated scones, jam, tea, coffee, milk, and cash for me to buy clotted cream, and a special thank you to Mike and Jan Smail, for their help in organising, and providing all the crockery, cutlery, teapots, pretty pink tablecloths, and anti-histamine cream for a wasp sting!
With a raffle and sale of books and bric-a-brac we raised £257 for funds.
The architect's plans for the remaining restoration work on the church are now on display in the church - work should begin in April 2014.
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- Written by: May Prior
{module Chester Organ Recital Aug 2013}
Click pic for slide show
Photos: Richard Ball
Richard Bower, organ builder and Director of Music at St Nicholas, Dereham, gave a lively and very enjoyable organ recital on the the theme of Fine and Fun Organ Music, to a pretty full house at Forncett St Mary Church on 23rd August 2013.
Assisted by his wife, Barbara, Richard played his own recreation of a 1970's Hill, Norman & Beard Chester organ, and the music was selected to sound good on the limited number of pipes available. This included pieces by Susato, Bach, Handel, Boëllmann, Gordon Young, Saint-Saëns, Pietro Yon and Lefébre-Wély. I particularly enjoyed the Serenade composed by Derek Bourgeois to be his own wedding march with the express intention that no-one would be able to march down the aisle to its tempo. They might well have danced, though!
£330 was raised for the St Mary's Church Fund.
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- Written by: Richard Ball
{module valuationday2013-based on East Ruston}
Click pic for slide show
Photos: Sarah Prior
A steady stream of visitors attended the Valuation Day on 20th July with a wide variety of items for senior valuers Roy Murphy and Andrew Bullock to inspect and value.
Clocks, books, jewellery, paintings, silver, and a large coin collection were among the items brought along, and along with Forncett residents there were people from Norwich, Wymondham, and a couple from Diss who said they have been following the story of the church's restoration and wanted to come and see it for themselves.
Thanks to Ann Lorne, Joan Ward and Andree Handford for serving refreshments, Florrie Freeman, Jenny Jordan and Barbara Jackson for manning the door and making sure people got to see the right valuer for their specific items, and everyone who donated homemade goodies for refreshments.
£268 was raised for church funds.
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- Written by: May Prior
A capacity crowd enjoyed DixieMix jazz band performing in St. Mary's church on 15th June, and £730 was raised to split between St. Mary's and St. Peter's churches.
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- Written by: May Prior
Around 150 car enthusiasts attended the 3rd Forncett Autojumble on May 12th at the Forncett Steam Museum.
Trading was under way well before the official start time of 10 am with motorists out early for the best bargains. Organiser Philip Yull was pleased with the attendance of both stallholders and customers, helping to raise funds for the Museum and Forncett St. Mary Church.
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- Written by: May Prior