image: canvases and triple decker pulpit, St Doged’s, Llanddoged
The ‘Latest News’ bulletin from Friends of Friendless Churches updates on a new church in their care, St Doged’s, Llanddoged and offers an inside look at our works at St James’s, Llangua, watch the ‘Salisbury Organist’ play at Long Crichel, and more.
Friends of Friendless Churches writes:
Earlier this month repairs began at St Doged’s, Llanddoged near Llanrwst in Denbighshire. This is a double nave church, and we need to re-roof the outer slopes and renew the lead valley between. There is a lot to do with the fascias and rainwater goods, before getting to grips with masonry externally and plaster internally. The image above shows the canvases and triple decker pulpit in the church. St Doged’s is a new church to come into our care, and repairs were made possible by donations from our supporters. So, thank you!
A closer look at the repairs at St James’s, Llangua
We were delighted to be joined by Coast and Country from ITV Cymru Wales on site at St James’s, Llangua in Monmouthshire to show them our current repair project. We are working to repair the magnificent wagon roofs, carefully developing a restoration strategy truss by truss. The photo above shows Director Rachel Morley and the team from Jones and Fraser alongside presenter Sean Fletcher and camera-man, James Harries. You can watch it on Friday 15 December at 7pm on ITV Wales or catch up wherever you are afterwards online. And below you can watch a video showing the process and level of detail which goes into carving a new wall plate, using the old one as a template, at St James’s.
The Salisbury Organist Returns
Ben Maton, the Salisbury Organist, returned to St Mary’s, Long Crichel in Dorset in his newest video. Having found a friendless organ at a farmhouse in Wiltshire, he brought it to a new home at St Mary’s so that the church can be filled with music again in the future. He also composed a piece of music inspired by St Mary’s and one of the inscriptions in the stained glass windows – ‘rex regnum beatior.’ This translates as ‘The King of Kings is more blessed’ but is also a subtle nod to William King, who was rector at St Mary’s when it was rebuilt. You can find out more about Ben and his work on his website.
St Andrew’s, South Runcton
Thank you to everyone who came out on a chilly November weeknight to hear about the architectural history and planned repairs to St Andrew’s, South Runcton in Norfolk. We were given a warm welcome at Kings Lynn Minster where our Director, Rachel Morley gave an introduction to the Friends and our current projects, Trustee and architectural historian, Richard Halsey spoke about 19th-century rebuilding of the church, and architect Ruth Blackman spoke about the investigation works undertaken and the repairs that are now onsite until autumn 2025.
Wall painting symposium at The Courtauld
As we are about to start work conserving the medieval wall paintings at St Lawrence’s, Gumfreston in Pembrokeshire, readers may be interested in the upcoming symposium ‘Records of Care: informing approaches to the conservation of Britain’s wall paintings’ being held at The Courtauld in partnership with The Church of England, Icon, and English Heritage. This event is taking place on 31 January 2025 and is the culmination of the first phase of a major digitisation project which aims to make The National Wall Paintings Survey publicly accessible. A wide variety of speakers are taking part including Jane Rutherfoord who is undertaking the restoration work at St Lawrence’s. You can sign up for a place now.
