{"id":16091,"date":"2017-07-14T16:23:37","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=16091"},"modified":"2017-07-14T16:23:37","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:23:37","slug":"church-tourism-week-takes-place-nationwide-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=16091","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Church Tourism Week\u2019 takes place nationwide this month!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/CCT_Tourism_Week_July2017.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-16092\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/CCT_Tourism_Week_July2017-284x300.jpg\" alt=\"CCT website 140717\" width=\"284\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Between 21-30 July the silvered oak doors of historic churches and chapels across the country will be thrown open for events including concerts and theatre, Champing\u2122 church camping adventures, historic tours, family trails and craft, tower climbs, art exhibitions and more.<\/h3>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The activity is all part of Church Tourism Week, an annual celebration of historic churches taking place nationwide. The week-long programme of events and activities for all ages is a celebration of our outstanding architectural heritage and an invitation to explore church buildings &#8211; and British history &#8211; in new ways.<\/p>\n<p>CCT writes:<\/p>\n<p>For the first time heritage charities and attractions across the UK are taking part in the celebration, with over 30 participating sites nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Church Tourism Week includes the chance to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Discover Fantastical Beasts\u00a0<\/strong>and create your own curious creatures at family events in Bristol and Worcestershire.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take a<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>tower tour at St Peter\u2019s Church in Sandwich<\/strong>, and get a unique perspective on the Cinque Port town, said to be the \u2018most complete medieval town in England\u2019.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay overnight in a church<\/strong>\u00a0any day of the week \u2013 and kids go free \u2013 on special Champing\u2122 (church camping) adventure. Breaks are available at churches in Somerset, Kent, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Shropshire and Lancashire.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make your own decorative \u2018medieval\u2019 tiles<\/strong>\u00a0at family activities days in Cambridge, Shrewsbury, York and Sandwich.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enjoy Cimarosa\u2019s light-hearted opera \u2018The Secret Marriage\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0in rural splendour in Wiltshire on Friday 21<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0July.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Explore medieval stained glass and traces of the Civil War<\/strong>\u00a0with a special guided walking tour of Shrewsbury on Saturday 22<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0July.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wring your hands at Shakespeare\u2019s tragedies<\/strong>\u00a0King Lear in Bristol or Macbeth in Sussex.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hear Worcestershire\u2019s poet laureate\u00a0<\/strong>perform spoken word and poetry<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>at St Swithun\u2019s Church in Worcester on Saturday 22<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0July.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Uncover art and artefacts from the medieval to the Arts &amp; Crafts\u00a0<\/strong>movement on a historic tour of Cambridgeshire on Thursday 27<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0July.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Learn how to manage churchyards traditionally for wildlife habitat<\/strong>\u00a0in Shropshire on 24<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0July.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enjoy one-day folk and world music festivals\u00a0<\/strong>at BromFest in Essex on 23<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0July and One Fine Day Festival at Braemar in the Scottish Highlands on 27<sup>th<\/sup>July.<\/li>\n<li>Have a go at circus skills including tightwire, trapeze, juggling and more at a\u00a0<strong>family circus taster day<\/strong>\u00a0in Bristol on 30<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0July.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Crispin Truman, CEO of The Churches Conservation Trust, the national charity that protects historic churches at risk, says: \u2018Church Tourism Week highlights the heritage of our extraordinary ancient churches and chapels, showcasing the fascinating stories, art and experiences they offer and inviting people to explore them in new ways. Churches are often the oldest and grandest buildings in our communities, but more than that they tell the stories of those communities, the people that lived within them and the last thousand years of our country\u2019s history in a way no other buildings can\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative follows on the footsteps of a \u00a3600,000 investment made by the Government\u2019s Department of Culture, Media and Sport to develop a number of the trust\u2019s most important churches as first-rate heritage visitor sites. For the first time heritage charities and attractions across the UK are taking part in the celebration, with scores of events over 35 participating sites nationwide. Partners include Circomedia Circus Academy, Caring for God&#8217;s Acre, Friends of Friendless Churches and the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust.<\/p>\n<p>For the full events programme visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.visitchurches.org.uk\/ChurchTourismWeek\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en-GB&amp;q=http:\/\/www.visitchurches.org.uk\/ChurchTourismWeek&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1500131866585000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH_wJxZTB64OZxm0iJzpPP3KlFOKw\">www.visitchurches.org.uk\/ChurchTourismWeek<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitchurches.org.uk\/what-we-do\/news\/church-tourism-week-takes-place-this-july.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more&#8230;.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between 21-30 July the silvered oak doors of historic churches and chapels across the country will be thrown open for events including concerts and theatre, Champing\u2122 church camping adventures, historic tours, family trails and craft, tower climbs, art exhibitions and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=16091\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16093,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16091\/revisions\/16093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}