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All Saints Church will be reopening for worship
with a Family Service, at 10 am on Mothering Sunday, March 14th
Please note there will be no Church Service on March 7th.
a socially distanced Christingle and Carol service - Updated 20th December 2020
Dinny playing the Piano in the Church Porch is a clear indication, that in common with everything else this year, the 2020 Christingle service was not going to follow the usual format.
Following a bit of careful planning and with the full co-operation of the congregation an open air Carol and Christingle Service was held in the Churchyard wih suitable social distancing of Family "Bubbles".being maintained throughout.
On a beautiful moonlit evening (unlike the previous daywhen Santa Claus and his entourage were liberally soaked in a downpour) a service of traditional carols was followed by the carefully managed distribution of the Christingles.
Thanks to al those who put everything together from the preparation of the Christingles to organising of the equipment, including the piano..
Coffee & Clear-Up - Updated 5th November 2018 In an operation carefully timed to coincide with the monthly Coffee Morning, the usual suspects turned out on the 3rd of November to clear up the Autumn leaves
and make everything spick and span for the events later in the month and the Christmas Festivities.
Various forms of transport were in action around the churchyard although I suspect the drivers of the two parked vehicles on the right
were not operating the various bits of Horticultural Machinery trundling around the Church.
There were plants for sale outside the Church from Carol and Steph with Audrey on hand to offer helpful advice to passers by, including Tim who was surveying what was on offer.
The hedges were spruced up and the wild flower patch was also getting the treatment before the volunteers headed into the Church for well deserved Refreshments
Farringdon Celebrates Sue Fifield's Award
The Church was decorated for the 2017
Harvest Festival Service held on October 1st
(Thanks to Gill Pears for the Pictures)
The Christmas Fair and Coffee Morning held on 10th December 2016
The Annual Christingle and Crib Service was held on Sunday 17th Dec.
Images of the Church Decorations and the Christingle Service are shown right and below.
Electric lights on the Christmas Tree but the candlelight display was in the capable hands of the Hartley pyrotechnics team.
With all the Candles lit the congregation began to take their places.
Visitors to the church can see a stained glass window in the vestry designed by village resident Hugh Powell, who moved to Farringdon in 1958. His work repairing bomb damaged stained glass was much in demand. His also made a window in Southwark Cathedral in London.
Many a village lad mourned the passing of the old hand-pumped church organ in 1969 as it provided a ready source of pocket money.
Ancient wall paintings of an Apostle dating back to 1340 were discovered when layers of old lime wash began to flake off medieval plaster work. In 1988 experts were consulted to carry out an investigation, so that decisions could be made about conservation.
Two paintings were discovered - both 'Dooms' or 'Last Judgements', with Christ as the central figure displaying the wounds of his crucifixion. The paintings were faded in places and difficult to make out, but some details are still clear.
Unfortunately these paintings are in the loft space above the ceiling and are not accessible to visitors, although when the recent repairs were carried out it was discovered that the ends of the ceiling timber supports had crumbled away, with only the plaster work preventing an unscheduled descent, which would have given those of the congregation who were still conscious, a clear view of the old paintings.
The old yew in the churchyard, beside the path from the Lych gate, is certainly an ancient tree, the exact age is uncertain but possibly less than the 3,000 years claimed in some estimates. Whatever the true age, the author of the following verse was obviously convinced the Farringdon Yew was more than 2,000 years old.
Gilbert
White was curate here,
For nearly four and twenty years
He daily rode
the rural track
From Selborne to All Saints and back.
But long before
he came this way,
Old Farringdon had much to say —
For is it true the
hollow yew,
When Christ was born, was far from new
