After a short walk in the hills around Cromford, we visited St. Mary’s Church. It isn't often open and although we've walked by it lots of time, we'd never been inside before.
In the Parish of Cromford, on Mill Lane, is the Parish Church of St. Mary’s.
Originally planned as a chapel for Willersley Castle, by Sir Richard Arkwright, St. Mary’s was completed five years after Sir Richard Arkwright’s death in 1797.
It's an interesting church but there weren't many visitors. A chap handing out leaflets told us the congregation has declined to about twenty people and they are mostly in their seventies. "It's going the way of all churches," he said.
5 comments:
That and the Church hierarchy getting all fatcat and soaking parishes for ever more cash. Perhaps if Welby took up preaching the Gospel rather than greenery more people would get the message.
There's a problem that's been obvious for years. Some churches are objects of great beauty: it would be perfectly reasonable to use the public Arts budget towards keeping them upright and weatherproof.
But most are nothing special aesthetically. It's hard to imagine that a largely secular public would be willing to fund the preservation of all of them. But even if they are no great beauties they may interesting historically. What is to be done?
(It occurred to me years ago that this is much less of a problem in Scotland. The prosperous Victorians covered the country in new churches - but they clearly have little historical interest and, as it happens, were often ugly lumps anyway. Moreover The Kirk still looks upon the Congregation as the thing that matters rather than the building it happens to congregate in. This makes it more straightforward to dispose of redundant churches. But what happens when the Kirk can't even afford St Giles? What then?)
My wife has three churches, all get rave reviews in Pevsner, and two are in Simon Jenkins' 1000 Best Churches. Congregations are down, of course, and elderly, but we are lucky because people here are extremely rich and want to keep their churches as part of English country life. Even if they are not churchgoers, they want a church like they want a duckpond and a maypole on the village green.
Before we came here, the "West Window Problem" was solved by a bunch of parishioners all stumping up £10k. Sorted!
For less affluent parshes, there is always the CCT, of course: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/
I have a somewhat jaundiced view of churchgoing. It applies to lamentations about the death of the High Street too.
People vote with their feet and if not enough people go to church or shop at the High Street, or vote for historic political parties for that matter, it's no good pleading or haranguing the non-church goers, the non High Street shoppers, the non voters - that won't work. There are too many other more appealing distractions on offer. And there is no personal downside to ignoring the Church, the High Street, or political parties. So last millennium, and just a little bit sad.
Sackers - yes Welby is a disaster, nowhere near to being what is needed.
dearieme - a large Victorian church near where we are has been changed into the HQ of a large double-glazing company. With new double-glazed windows and doors it's almost a handsome building which it certainly wasn't before. I suppose some churches will be made use of and others will decay, but not rapidly enough for it to become a major public issue.
Sam - maybe that's how it will go, churches in prosperous villages will survive and others will be used for something else. Thanks for the interesting link - I've bookmarked it.
DJ - you are right, there is no personal downside to ignoring the Church, the High Street, or political parties. We vote with our feet too and we're not unaware of the consequences, but as you say it is a little bit sad.
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