Church Recorders Move Forward!

When The Arts Society North Bucks was founded in 2009, a team of enthusiastic Church Recorders was set up at an early stage, just one of The Arts Society's dedicated volunteer teams operating across the country.  Recorders research, discover and record the creative art, craftsmanship and all things worthy of recording inside the nation’s places of worship, with their historical, community and religious significance - making a permanent record of their rich artistic heritage and important treasures. By 2021, over 2000 churches had been recorded; the records are held digitally at the V&A Museum Art Library, Historic England Archives and Church Care, where they can be used by researchers and historians. Each Church receives an illustrated book detailing each item within the church along with its history, and a copy is held at the local County Archives.

Since 2009 our recorders have completed Records of five Churches: St Peter’s Gayhurst; St Mary’s, Haversham; St Leonard’s, Little Linford; St Michael’s, Lavendon and St James', New Bradwell (Images from St James' Church are shown below).  The Record of St James' Church was presented to the Church on 19th September 2021, with the research and writing of the detailed descriptions having continued throughout the pandemic.  St James' Church is Victorian, with an unusual history, having been built by the London and North-Western Railway company in 1860 as part of the development of a new 'railway colony' to accommodate the employees of the expanding Railway Works in nearby Wolverton. St James' has several much-admired 19th and 20th century stained glass windows and also possesses items of interest transferred from its predecessor as Parish Church in the area, St Peter's, Stanton Low; in particular the Romanesque Arch which was removed from St Peter's and re-erected in the West doorway.

A new national body for recorders – The Church Recording Society

Church Recording now comes under the auspices of the recently formed Church Recording Society, a charity specially created to support the continuation of the role of church recording for the future. The recording team are delighted that TAS North Bucks is continuing to support our work financially.

And we move forward! We have now received permission from the church authorities to begin work on a new church record at St Lawrence's, Bradwell Milton Keynes. The Church will be 800 years old in 2023 and we will begin our work there on 25th October. We do need a few more volunteers for the team; there are so many aspect of the fabric of the church to cover:  woodwork, metalwork, stained glass, textiles, stonework - I could go on. So if you are interested in joining this friendly group, who meet monthly, why not pay a visit to St Lawrence Bradwell on the morning of 25th October to find out more? Contact Felicity Head (felicity.head@btinternet.com) for more details