December 2014:
REEPHAM, St Peter and St Paul.
Our December 2014 visit was to St Peter and Paul church in Reepham which is only a short distance from Lincoln. This medieval building has arcades of the period with fine waterleaf capitals.
Much restoration work was carried out by Michael Drury in 1862. The only stained glass is in the porch and was designed and made by a local craftsman, Richard Still in 2013. He worked with children from the primary school to create the designs based on the four seasons.
The pews have recently been removed leaving a much used chancel free from obstruction and versatile in a way which pews prevented. Very modern attractive light beech upholstered chairs have taken their place and tone very well with the newly laid light wooden floor. Some of the Victorian wooden floorboards can be seen with their interesting graffiti (not for the faint-hearted!)
The church is now light, spacious and welcoming as were our two guides, both members of U3A, who told us about the church with great enthusiasm and optimism for its future as a versatile place of worship and of real use to the community.
This must be a model which other churches must follow if they are to preserve their historic focus for the community.
This must be a model which other churches must follow if they are to preserve their historic focus for the community.
Acknowledgments ; I am grateful to Max Kitchen for most of the photographs and Eric Wilson for the text. Special thanks to Richard Still for providing a composite photo of his windows. JRK
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