St Lawrence's Church
ST LAWRENCE’S CHURCH, MEREWORTH
At the Annual General Meeting of the Parochial Church Council of St Lawrence’s Church, Mereworth, Mr Michael Darbyshire (01622 812797) and Mr Andrew Wells (01622 814608) were elected Churchwardens and Mrs Tessa Wells (01622 814608) was elected Secretary. Mr Stephen Card ((01622 812495) was appointed Treasurer.
More hands make light work!
Volunteers are always needed to help as sidesmen and women at our services each Sunday. This is not an onerous activity - mainly handing out service books, setting up and clearing the altar and taking the collection. We need enough people doing this to ensure that duties only happen every two months or so.
Rector (Fr Noel McConachie 01622 812214)
CHURCH SERVICES
1st Sunday of the month: 10.00 am Matins and short Holy Communion;
2nd Sunday: 9.00 am Holy Communion;
10.00 am Family Service;
3rd Sunday: 10 am Holy Communion (sung);
4th Sunday: 9.00 am Holy Communion;
10.00 am Holy Communion (sung);
5th Sunday: 9.00 am Holy Communion;
10.00 am Holy Communion (sung).
The Church
Rector - Rev R N McConachie - telephone 01622 812214 please contact Fr. Noel for information regarding baptisms, weddings, etc..
Mereworth Church Conservation work
The interior cleaning and conservation work has now been completed and the scaffolding dismantled and removed. What we now see is very much what the parishioners saw in 1746 - a splendind interior with vivid colours and amazingly clear and intricate decorations. Our grateful thanks go to The Collyer-Ferguson Trust for providing most of the funds to enable this work to be carried out, and to Tom Organ and the Wall-Painting Workshop for their painstaking expertise and skill in carrying out the work. In addition, grateful thanks are extended to The Friends of Mereworth Church who have funded the new lighting which transforms the interior and bathes the high-level ceiling in a glorious soft light which enhances the transformation.
The church is an Anglican church and service times are published in the monthly parish magazine. The 10am service on the second sunday of the month is very much family orientated and lasts for 30minutes only. All services are printed in simple booklet form and easy to follow. Friendly welcome to all.
There is a peal of six bells and bell-ringing practice is on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm - new ringers both experienced and beginners are welcome.
Choir practice is on Thursday evenings. The team of flower arrangers is looking for new members. There is a Sunday School - contact 01622 812660 for information
Cream teas are served in July and August on Sunday afternoons between 2pm and 5.30pm. The church is open during the hours of daylight and anyone is welcome to enter and find rest and encouragement and "a quiet place". Please feel free to go as often or as little as you please, you will be welcome.
History of the Church
St Lawrence’s Church was built for the 7th Earl of Westmorland in 1744-46, probably to a design by Roger Morris, previously an assistant to Colen Campbell who had designed Mereworth Castle for Lord Westmorland twenty years before. It replaced a church, presumably medieval, next to the castle.
St Lawrence’s is unique among country parish churches, with one of the most remarkable neo-classical interiors in Europe, designed like a Roman basilica. All its surfaces are painted with trompe l’oeil classical designs and organ pipes on the west wall. The ornate tower and spire have close similarities to several significant town churches, notably James Gibbs’s baroque St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Medieval and monuments and 16th and 17th century glass from the earlier church were incorporated into St Lawrence’s.