Save This Medieval Church For The Modern World

Hello, I'm Helen McCarthy and I'm fundraising on behalf of the Parish Council treasurer for the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Weston-in-Gordano, Somerset, United Kingdom.

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul has stood in a wooded valley in Somerset since the 12th century of the Christian era. Families in the area have been baptised, married and buried there for hundreds of years. The Church has a regular active congregation and is essential in this ancient rural community.

It also has beautiful mediaeval woodwork, including pews and what may be the last surviving wooden palm gallery in Europe. From this gallery to the singing of a choir, leaves representing the palms spread before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem would be blessed and dropped to the congregation on Palm Sunday. In the Middle Ages, palm galleries were a feature of many Christian churches, and now the only one known to survive is in a building under threat from rot and fungal damage.

So far, the gallery is unaffected, but one of the mediaeval pews had to be burned, along with wooden flooring. Sadly, 2000 beautiful Victorian floor tiles also had to be destroyed in investigating the cause of the rot and ensuring spores did not spread. The church was closed so that specialist investigations could be carried out and remedial works were agreed.

(image © Basher Eyre, Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Saint Peter and Saint Paul is no museum piece, but an active and beautiful building that was in constant use for centuries, until the damage to the woodwork and floor made it necessary to close for safety reasons. The community has made a start on fundraising and has managed to amass just over £16,000 to start the necessary work.

Now we need help to save as much of the woodwork as possible, make long-term repairs to the floor supporting it, and ensure that the church can return to its role in the community. For a thousand years, local families have worshipped in this building, knelt on its floor and sat in its pews. The community and the church are linked in a rare surviving example of ancient tradition continuing into the present day.

We need another £43,000 to ensure the work on the floor can be completed, and that woodwork carved centuries ago for this church and community can continue in use in its ancient home.

That £43,000 includes around £11,000 in Value Added Tax. It is likely, but not certain, that we will be able to reclaim this from the Government. If we succeed in reclaiming the money, we will devote it to restoration on the Perceval family monument within the church. This is a remarkable historic tomb in need of specialist restoration.

(image © Basher Eyre, Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0)

If you love history, architecture, the ancient craft of woodworking or small local churches, please consider helping us to restore Saint Peter and Saint Paul to its role at the heart of its community. All donations will be very much appreciated, and will help to preserve this beautiful ancient church and its fittings, for the benefit of its immediate community and the world.

Please share this fundraiser as widely as possible.

(Header image from the Church's Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/WestonGordanoChurch/)