Last Friday evening November 15, churchwarden Nigel Ashton, presented the results of over four years’ work – the plan to modernise the lighting and sound system of grade I listed, St Thomas’ in Winchelsea. Being both a man of great faith and deeply talented, he was the head of drama at Kent College for over 30 years, who better to take on this challenge. Having an eminent architectural lighting designer to work with, would be the ideal scenario and as is not uncommon in Winchelsea, the right man for the right job stepped up, fellow resident Graham Large.
The town, yes Winchelsea’s a town remember, sat packed into the pews and he started by confronting head on, the biggest news story on everyone’s lips. “This has been the most difficult week for the Church of England in my lifetime. The church is reeling from a safeguarding crisis, the archbishop of Canterbury has resigned and other church leaders may soon follow suit.”
It was particularly apposite, as a previous archbishop of Canterbury, Robert de Winchelsea, officiated at the marriage of Edward I and Margaret of France. It was of course Edward l, who in 1281, granted a charter for a planned town based on a grid layout, “modern” Winchelsea, with the Church of St Thomas at its heart.
He continued: “The church has lost a third of its national congregation over the last two decades, there are 370 people training to be priests this autumn, a number that would need to be over 1,000 to replace the clergy retiring in the next year.
“The Church of England is facing huge financial pressures and the Chichester diocese is asking parishes to contribute significantly more to their clergy costs. So why is Winchelsea launching this £200,000 project in such a difficult situation for the church as a whole? Because St Thomas’ is different to many country parish churches.
“We are saying goodbye to our priest Jonathan Meyer, whose inspirational leadership has grown our congregation and seen children return to church on a regular basis. However we realise that to continue to grow, our extraordinary building has to be increasingly used by the wider community. To do this, we have to ensure that St Thomas’ comes into the 21st century. The PCC has voted unanimously to support this work.
“Firstly we need to replace the lighting and sound together, because of the overlap of wiring for both projects and the very significant cost of scaffolding.
“The only speaker we have in church is a 1970s guitar amp balanced on a roof beam. The old unreliable, unrepairable radio mics are trying to send, unsuccessfully, a signal through thick medieval stone walls.
“New microphones will allow congregants and audiences to hear clearly. This is vital for worship, funeral orations, weddings and very importantly for all the school events held here by St Thomas Church of England Primary School, particularly the nativity plays.
“Live streaming will enable anyone with a Wi-Fi connection to join events and the hearing loop will mean that all of us with hearing aids will have a reliable loop to tune into.
“John-Marc Swansbury from Avenue Sound, a company specialising particularly in listed churches, is an experienced sound designer. Following his first visit two years ago, he has recommended the same speakers that are in use at York Minster. Unobtrusive and the same colour as the wonderful cream Caen stone.
And then Nigel Ashton moved on to the lighting. “The wiring throughout the building has come to the end of its life. The sodium lights are no longer manufactured and spare parts are no longer available; two sets of lights no longer work. Switches on the control panel have started to operate other lighting circuits and our electricians don’t know why, which is concerning. We have a constantly flickering light above the organ. And most concerning of all, the power supply to the building does not have a surge breaker, which means that if there was a major electrical surge, it could cause a fire in the roof which would of course be catastrophic.
“Our current lighting was never intended for interior use, it is street lighting and has the effect of flattening every detail of the incredible interior carving. It washes the whole space in amber light and corrupts the subtle colour of the ancient stone and as Jonathan has said, destroys any sense of wonder, spirituality or awe within the building at night.
“The lighting committee spent many months poring over Graham’s magnificent original scheme, refining and simplifying it to reach the current design.
“St Thomas is one of the most important churches in Sussex and contains two of the country’s finest medieval tombs. The Douglas Strachan stained glass windows are arguably the finest early 20th century examples in England. I think we sometimes forget how important and extraordinary this building is.
“The estimated cost for the sound is £45,000 and for the lighting, £175,000. Allowing an additional £10,000 for rising prices and unforeseen costs, the total is £230,000.
“I am delighted to let you know that we have already received donations of £21,500 which means we need to find £208,500 from grants, donations and from our own funds. The PCC will be applying to English Heritage, the Sussex Historic Churches Trust and similar organisations and will match the total of all donations and grants received, from the funds it holds for its wider charitable objectives: mission and ministry.
“Over the summer I had a number of conversations with the wonderfully named Rev Buff Stone, environmental officer for the diocese. She was very supportive of the project, thought it was a very environmentally friendly scheme and that the existing lighting should never have been installed anywhere other than a garage forecourt.
“Ten members of the diocesan advisory committee, including eminent architects and designers, visited the church and discussed the plans in detail with Graham. They were very impressed by the design and appalled by the current fixtures. They specifically asked that we should consider the sacred atmosphere of the building that can be created by sensitive lighting, in all our deliberations. We are confident that Graham’s scheme will fully address their request.
“Finally, we aim to begin work as soon as practical, as the PCC feels that the current wiring must be replaced urgently, to protect the building from fire.”
£200,000 is a lot of money, no one disputes that. But can you put a price on history, heritage, art, community and spiritual wellbeing.
If you would like to know more about this project or make a donation please email Churchwarden Nigel Ashton nashton364@gmail.com
Image Credits: Natasha Robinson .