Refurbishment Project - October 2024

Phase 1 now fully funded. 

We are delighted to announce that with the pledge of £5,500 from the Rowlands Trust we have now raised sufficient funds to complete Phase 1 of our Refurbishment Project. We are hugely gratfeful to the Trust and indeed all of the people and organisations that have made this possible.

This Phase of the work is about providing the church, for the first time in its 1,000 year history, with kitchen and toilet facilities.  As we have to undertake a number of other related areas of work it is a large project and is costing around £90,000 overall. The work will be complete in early 2025.

We will then start fundraising for Phase 2 of the work - which is about undertaking the backlog of repairs and maintenance work needed in the church.

Your help in supporting our work will make a real difference and ensure that St Peter’s church remains a vital part of the local community for the next millennium. If you would like to make a donation, click on the DONATE button at the top of the page.

With thanks in anticipation.

Refurbishment project gets the go-ahead

We have now had the final approval we need to install kitchen and toilet facilities at St Peter’s. The Faculty was granted by the Herford Diocesan Chancellor on 8th July 2024.

It’s great news and will be the realisation of an idea first suggested over 20 years ago.

Elsewhere on this website we cover the background to the need for such facilities, both as part of supporting the congregation and as part of a longer term plan to open up the church to wider use. In this way, we are aiming to secure the future of St Peter’s.

We will have to restrict access to the Church during the building work and the notice opposite has the details.

We look forward to welcoming you to the church complete with its new facilities in the very near future!

'Snowdrop Weekend' raises over £1,300 for St Peter's

Our annual 'Snowdrop' event was held this year over the weekend of 10th and 11th February. 

It was the best ever. We welcomed hundreds of visitors and raised £1,350, which will go towards the vital refurbishment work we are planning at the church.

In early spring, the churchyard is carpeted with Snowdrops. Originally planted over 150 years ago, the Snowdrops have become "one of the springtime glories of South Shropshire". People travel widely to see them and and we raise money through the sale of tea, cakes and preserves.

The event is run by Sue Parker. Fifteen years ago Sue noticed just how many people were attracted to the churchyard by the arrival of the snowdrops. Together with her mother, Gillain Parker, they set up the first of the Snowsdrop Teas,. They ran the event themselves in the early years; but now, a wide range of volunteers help - making cakes and preserves, handling refreshments and meeting and greeting the visitors.

Since starting, the Snowdrop Weekends have raised over £10,000 for the church - an absoluetly remarkable achievement. 

We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2025! 

You can find out more about the history of the Snowdrops, the churchyard and the church itself by going to the history page on our website

Natasha Leigh-Willets picturted at St Peter's War Memeorial with her Book of Remembrance

Each year, we hold a memorial service at St Peter’s Church to honour the service and sacrifice of those who fought in the line of duty.

This year will be a very special occasion. A Shropshire based photographer, Natasha Leigh-Willetts, offered to compile a special Book of Remembrance that commemorates the men born in Stanton Lacy who gave their lives in World War 1. We were pleased to support the initiative and are delighted with the results.

Of the 23 men who died, three are buried in the churchyard at St Peter’s, one is buried at St Mary’s, Bromfield. One other, Able Seaman William Charles Williams, awarded the Victoria Cross, has a memorial plaque at St Peter’s and at the Naval Memorial in Portsmouth. The others are buried or memorialised in countries across Europe – Belgium, France, Germany, Greece and Turkey. All of the men are listed on the War Memorial in St Peter’s Churchyard.

Natasha’s work, done on a voluntary basis, assembles extensive information on these men, their service, their families and their untimely deaths. Typical is the story of Donald Edward Easthope. A blacksmith by trade he was part of the 1st Battalion Herefordshire Regiment who fought at Gallipoli. He landed on 9th August 1915. He died of his wounds less than two weeks later. A letter from Captain E P Rogers to the parents of Private Eastope says;

“We were under fire from hidden snipers. It was the worst place …  Your boy fell while he was on duty ... (he)was one of my best men and always trustworthy and reliable”

Natasha used a wide variety of sources of information, from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to press articles and military records. She has added a range of photographs, some taken by Natasha herself.

The Book of Remembrance is now on display in St Peter’s. We urge you to visit and have a look at this remarkable piece of work. We remain hugely grateful to Natasha. Her work provides a poignant record of the people behind the names we know and the sacrifices they made.

Details of this year’s service are on the Events page of this website here.