St Mary the Virgin - A 12th century church
St. Mary the Virgin - Appeal for Funds for an interim refurbishment of the church interior. (Further details and to donate)
Detailed History of St Mary the Virgin Church
Church Bells and Bell Tower
We welcome young, old and everyone inbetween, and we welcome worshippers of all faiths. Join us for a cup of coffee and a chat after the service. Our monthly church services are held on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 11 a.m.
We celebrate Holy Communion, Morning Service, and Festival services throughout the year. For the younger members of the congregation we hold a Sunday school group while the main service is taking place.
For further information or if you have any queries, please email the Church Warden.
Christenings,
Marriages and Funerals
For information regarding Christenings, Marriages or Funerals please contact the Churchwardens
Blisworth Benefice
St. Mary the Virgin at Grafton Regis is one of five churches in the Blisworth benefice. The benefice consists of the parishes of: Blisworth, Milton Malsor, Stoke Bruerne and Shutlanger, Alderton and Grafton Regis.
The services for each church are published in Grass, the church magazine and available on their website.
Grass is the original church newsletter for the parishes of Grafton Regis, Alderton and Stoke Bruerne with Shutlanger, hence the name. The Rural Dean is The Rev'd Paul McLeod, the incumbent of the Whittlewood Benefice.
Brief history of the Church
The original building on the site of St Mary the Virgin was built in the Norman times and is recorded as early as 1189. Very little remains of the original building as it has been extended, built up and generally tinkered with through the centuries.
As with such an old building the repair list is endless and expensive. The structure of the building is probably in better order than the fixtures and fittings. The building has no foundations so is susceptible to rising damp. The wooden fittings at ground level, flooring and pews suffer from wet rot and at higher levels from woodworm and furniture beetle. The stone flooring copes with the underlying dampness far better, a mistake made by our Victorians ancestors was to remove some of the old stone flooring and replace it with wooden block flooring.
Our last Quinquennial, (5 yearly architects) inspection was in 2008. An estimate of the cost of repairs listed is £50K. A recent quote for redecoration of the church interior was for £15k. Unfortunately the longer we put off carrying out some of the work the higher the price of the work becomes. The report does not cover work such as the restoration of the Sir John Woodville monument, £30k or upgrading the heating and lighting, £20k.
This year, jointly with the village hall committee the PCC has put on several fund raising events in the village. This has improved the finances for the church but we are still grateful when ever someone with an interest in the village church finds that they can make a donation to the funds, however small.
The church has been the venue for several of our fund raising events and it has made us aware of the rundown appearance of the church interior. This year we hope to carry out a small project which will make the interior of the church more comfortable and pleasant to be in. The estimated cost of this work is £9.5k.
If you would like to make a donation towards any of the work we need to carry out, follow the link to the Diocese of Peterborough website and select the "Gift Aid Monthly return form" (Link)
For further information or if you have any queries, you may email the Church Warden.