churchtourismstudy

This is a church with quite a story attached. The Revd J. Keble Martin had a dream about a new church. This was on 11th March 1931. In the morning he made a note of the design. There was to be no screen dividing priest from people but an open church with 3 radiating transepts. An unusual design more at home in continental Europe than in Newton Abbot. Martin’s brother, Arthur, was an architect and he translated the notes into a plan. The building was started in 1936 but not consecrated until 1963 due to the war.

This looks to be a church well worth visiting. Having found it, it was locked. The signs outside give lots of information and stress that this is a church where the ‘proper’ beliefs are held. It is a Forward in Faith parish. Somewhat ironically the Common Worship Lectionary reading for that day was Luke 13, vs 10-17, where Jesus is criticised by the religious authorities for healing a woman on the Sabbath. They wanted him to do the right things on that holy day, Jesus did what was right in God’s eyes. I will leave you to draw your own parallels here. Except to say that it is good to hold to what we believe to be right but it is better to be open to God’s spirit.

I found the notice board here rather off putting. If I was seeking a place of quiet to pray or to think something over, St. Luke’s would not be very welcoming.

No doubt the church is shut for all the right reasons but this is surely a wasted opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ to the good people of Milber.

As always, comments and feedback are welcome.

PS. Feb 2017 I have recently heard that things are changing here. A new Priest has been appointed with the aim of making St. Luke’s a much more welcoming place. This is good news indeed and I hope to visit this fascinating church again.

All Saints is a church that every guide book on Devon churches mentions. A large, fourteenth century church in the middle of the village, just off the main road. It is worth walking around the outside here before going in as it has some lovely rich red Devon stonework.

The sign board outside doesn’t mention being open every day but the door was open. There were some postcards for sale and some ‘bats’ with a bit of history on them. There are some laminated sheets about the saints featured on the fine screen, the chief glory of All Saints. No guide book or anything else except a folder of photos of a fine flower festival held here in 2012. Some 10 visitors in the book for the 24 days of this month.

There is some wonderful carving here in a lightish coloured wood. I also found a prayer board and the Lady Chapel is set aside for quiet and prayer. There was a good selection of prayer cards, booklets and books to help guide people.

I rate All Saints as OK for the visitor although more could be done without to much effort.

I went for a ride on the South Devon Railway from Buckfastleigh to Totnes. There is one intermediate station, Staverton. On the railway’s leaflet it says; ‘take a walk along the river past the ancient packhorse bridge or up to Staverton village with its 14th century church and village inn.’ I wondered if the church was using this publicity to entice visitors. Getting off at the little station the first difficulty is no signposts or information on where to go. Having worked that out I set off to walk the half mile of so to Staverton.

The church is easy to find as it is in the centre of the village. I found it  open. The sign board outside just mentions the service on a Sunday.

Inside there was a small information ‘bat’ with a history of the Mann family. Presumably there are some memorials in the church. There was nothing else. This is a shame as this is both an untapped potential market and doesn’t do justice to what is a lovely church which is worth a visit. There is a sense of peace and prayerfulness here. Some 12 visitors had signed the book in the last 23 days. There is a Lady Chapel set aside for prayer and a prayer book to enter intercession requests into, although there was no notice with it to indicate that this is what can be done. People had used it recently.

Some bright kneelers are displayed and there was information panels about St. Paul de Leon, which is the saint the church is dedicated to. This is a good idea.

On my walk back to the railway I was reflecting on this visit. Some simple things would benefit this church greatly. A  poster at the station with directions and what a visitor might expect to see would be the first step. I would also look for historical links between the railway and the church. Is a former station master buried there? Or some other railway worker? A bit of research could well turn up a story to tell. Even better if this could be illustrated with some pictures. It just takes a bit of research and some imagination.

As it is I have to rate St Paul’s as just about OK, but it could be so much better.

After all these ancient buildings, a modern one. St. Luke’s has an interesting story. The old church for the town is Holy Trinity, up a hill some way from the town. In 1894 a simple church, St. Luke’s, was opened as a chapel of ease for Buckfastleigh. In 1992, Holy Trinity was severely damaged in a fire. It would have been difficult to have rebuilt this building as there is an extensive cave system underneath which would have precluded the use of heavy machinery. The tower has been restored and the bells re hung. It sees the occasion service.

St. Luke’s was demolished and a new building erected. This was consecrated on October 13th 2002. It is a light, airy building which must be a good place to worship in. There is a lounge and a side chapel. Also, there is a lovely prayer chapel built of glass bricks with stained glass windows rescued from the old St. Luke’s. These were renovated as a gift by Buckfast Abbey.

The font is from Holy Trinity and bears the scars of the fire. It is a nice reminder of what was, and what is now. All this is explained in a simple leaflet. There is also a history of Holy Trinity available.

There is a hall underneath the worship area as well as meeting rooms and a kitchen. It is all very usable and very well done. The visitors book had 4 entries in it for the last 22 days and there is a prayer board to use as well as a ‘prayer cross’.

There was a good selection of leaflets and a selection of the Nicky Gumble ‘Searching Questions’ booklets about various aspects of the Christian faith.

Perhaps not an obvious church to visit but well worth it. It is a prayerful place and right in the heart of Buckfastleigh. I rate St. Luke’s as good.

A huge building for such a small place. This church features a magnificent west door with intricate carvings. It is often best to walk around the outside of a church before going in, otherwise you run the risk of missing important features.

The signs outside are very good and entice people in with a clear welcome. Again, this is a peaceful church with the only sound being the rythmical ticking of the tower clock – lovely.

There are guide books to buy and some nice, large, postcards. There is a wonderful atmosphere inside St. German’s but some parts of the building are quite gloomy. For instance, there are two good paintings of saints on the west wall but they are hard to see. A bit of lighting would improve things a lot here. It is a church well worth seeing.

Pilgrims can use the prayer board and there is a bit of explanation of the stained glass here. Also a children’s area set out. There were 12 names in the visitors book over the last 22 days.

I rate this church as OK but really like it. Go and have a look if you haven’t been.

Another church in the Saltash Team Ministry. St. Stephen’s was open. An impressive building which must once have been in countryside. The town of Saltash has now grown around it.

Outside, there are lots of notices but nothing about visitors.In the entrance (a glazed inner porch) there are some good welcome notices. Inside, it is a very peaceful church with a really prayerful atmosphere, with just the ticking of a clock on the wall. There is a guide book on sale and some notelets. But that is about it. No visitors book either.

I found St. Stephen’s a bit disappointing from a visitors point of view. There must be a story to tell here. As it is there isn’t much indication of what this church is actually for and why it is here.

As I was there a couple tried the inner door, which is a bit stiff and not too easy too see how it is opened. They gave up and went out. It is easy for regulars, or even us seasoned church visitors, but we do sometimes forget how off putting simple things like sticky doors are to casual visitors.

I have to rate St. Stephen’s as poor. It wouldn’t take much effort or thought to radically improve this church for visitors.

Website at http://www.saltashteamministry.org

Over the Tamar into Cornwall (just) is this little church, overlooking Brunel’s magnificent railway bridge. There is a good local history panel on the railings outside and lots of notices (none about visitors). The church was locked which was a shame as there were quite a few people wandering about.

Website at http://www.saltashteamministry.org

I have to rate this as very poor.

This large church stands in the middle of a graveyard in the suburbs of Plymouth. It looks Victorian but is much older, being built by the canons of Plympton Priory. Mostly it is early fifteenth century.

It was locked today but is open sometimes. The church website is at http://www.plymptonchurch.co.uk/index.html but this doesn’t give opening times on it – a bit of a shame really.

I cannot rate this one.

A very Victorian church on the side of a steep hill. It is well worth visiting. The sign boards are very good and make it clear that St. Bartholomew’s is open to all. There is a church guide but this had sold out on my visit. There is a nicely set out children’s area here and 7 people had entered their names in the visitors book over the last 22 days.

One nice idea here is a diary for ‘Significant Anniversaries’ . People enter dates in of marriages, deaths etc and then the parish can prayer for them on the right day. Another idea well worth copying as I have not seen this anywhere else. A votive stand and prayer board are available as well.

Another nice idea was that bread and wine were left on the altar to remind all visitors of what goes on here.

As I was getting ready to leave a man came in to practice the bag pipes! He did ask if I wanted peace and quiet. It certainly filled St. Bartholomew’s with sound.

I rate this church as very good.

Another impressive church which dominates the village. It is the sort of church which would not disgrace a town let alone a village. It has a spire.

The sign outside just gives service details but there is a welcome letter in the porch.

Some ‘bats’ give a history of the church and there were some post cards for sale. Also a folder of burial records which will be useful for those tracing their family tree. 8 people had entered names into the visitors book over the last 22 days and I noticed that a couple of these had been looking for family.

This church also has two fonts!

A table was set up for children with books, colouring, toys and stickers.

A Roll of Honour folder records the details of the 21 young men from the village who gave their lives in the two world wars. There is a tapestry of the parish which is interesting to look at.

All Saints is richly carved, as many Devon churches are.

I rate this church as OK.