Work sheds new light for Malmesbury's United Reformed Church (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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Work sheds new light for Malmesbury's United Reformed Church
9:00am Sunday 3rd March 2013 in News
Richard Payler and Carol Allnatt with the renovated window at Malmesbury United Reformed Church
Amemorial window in Malmesbury United Reformed Church has been renovated, and will be rededicated in a service this spring.
Last summer, it was decided that the window was in dire need of restoration, and the community quickly raised funds for the project.
Richard Payler, an elder at the church, said: “It had to be totally restored.
“We got a grant from the War Memorial Trust and local people donated.
“We had a heritage weekend for local people to come and look up relatives in our church archives, and we raised money that way.
“It cost over £2,000, but has a new protective grill.”
The window was restored by Bristol-based company Wayne Ricketts Stained Glass.
Hullavington’s military chaplain, Richard Priest, will conduct a rededication service on March 17.
Mr Payler said: “We thought we ought to have some sort of rededication and mark the fact the window is back in place.
“The fact that it’s a war memorial and all four names mentioned on it are in the army, why not have an army padre?
“Hullavington is our closest base, and Richard is happy to do it.”
With the memorial window complete, elders at the church chose a lift installation to be their next project.
Mr Payler said: “We have a very good church hall, but it’s on the first floor and only accessible from a fairly long, steep staircase. The hall has a nice laminate floor and kitchen, but it’s not suitable if people can’t use the steep staircase, so we want a lift.
“It’s about a £30,000 job.
“We’re applying to grant-making bodies like the county council, Community First, and all sorts of charitable organisations in the hope we get contributions.
“We’ve got a few applications pending – we’ve actually had a grant from Malmesbury Carnival, which is really rewarding because it’s local people making the judgment that the project is worthwhile.
“We want to make the hall available for the whole of the community, not just the fit people.
“It’s not a worship room, we don’t have services in there, it’s a function room and we should have proper access to it.”
