Two out of Seven Ain’t Good

On Thursday, 15^th May 2014 I visited a group of country churches in the Deanery of Pershore, Worcestershire.  The Benefice of Abberton, Bishampton, Flyford Flavell, Grafton Flyford, Naunton Beauchamp, North Piddle, and Throckmorton.  It was a bright and sunny day and my mother had packed me a lunch of thickly-cut ham and cheese sandwiches, crisps, fruit, chocolate, and two bottles of pop.  (“Are you sure that that’ll be enough?)  I had high hopes that day as I drove east on the A422, past Spetchley Church (now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust) and took the small B road south to Naunton Beachamp. I parked in a small space near the gate of St Bartholemew’s Church (15^th century tower) and wandered through the unkempt grass of the churchyard.  I tried the door.  It was locked.

On to Bishampton St James and then the Throckmorton Chapelry.  To my delight both buildings were open.  More about them in the following posts!

Then to North Piddle St Michael and All Angels (a medieval church rebuilt with an interesting avenue of Irish yew trees.) It was located on a leafy cul-de-sac where a surly man with a huge machine was clearing the drainage ditches by the roadside and who seemed quite put out that he had to move his digger to allow me to pass to the church.  It needn’t have mattered.  It was locked.

 

So was Flyford Flavell St Peter’s (Norman origin with later additions) and Abberton St Edburgha (1881 construction using medieval stones as outer cladding.)  Likewise St John the Baptist at Grafton Flyford (14^th century tower) which has been locked on every attempted visit over the years.

 

It was lunchtime so I pulled off the road and sat on a stile where the path led alongside a cornfield and on to what looked like an old apple orchard.  It had been a generally frustrating morning but lunch restored my morale.  It is always uplifting to spend time at peace in the Worcestershire countryside, and a picnic adds to this! It was a warm early afternoon so I made my way to the Boot Inn at Flyford Flavell (14^th century with later additions!) for a thirst-quenching pint of shandy.  It was a good place to reflect on the perceived but disappointing need to keep churches locked.  And with the two exceptions within this Benefice I tried to understand the issue.  It wasn’t a common pattern in this part of rural Worcester because all around the county churches are either open to visitors or else a key is made available close-by.  No, it was simply the apparent practice of this Benefice.

Add to these thoughts of mine the fact that, according to Church of England information, the incumbent does not even live within her own Benefice but in another village, and I wonder even more if these delightful churches are taken seriously as places of pilgrimage, passing prayer and visit.  Or are they just taken for granted?  And locked accordingly.