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Marking 800 years at the centre of the Brackley community
12/06/2023
A special service and full peal of the bells marked St Peter’s place in the town since 1223
The 800th anniversary of St Peter’s Church in Brackley was marked at a special service yesterday morning (Sunday). Civic dignitaries, Bishop Andrew Proud (Honorary Assistant Bishop of Peterborough) and former clergy from St Peter’s were amongst those attending the service.
160 people joined the congregation. Amongst them were the church’s five patrons: Rt Hon. Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, Caryl Billingham MBE, John Townsend, Brackley Mayor Councillor Sue Sharps and David Laing.
At midday a full peal of the church bells rang out in celebration of the occasion, completed by a team of ringers from the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers. In the heat, the ringers managed to complete the peal in 2 hours and 55 minutes of continuous rope pulling.
A full peal was last completed in Brackley in 2016 and yesterday’s was only the second this century.
It is believed that the site at St Peter’s in Brackley has been used for worship since the seventh century. The oldest parts of the church are of Norman design and date from about 1100.
The first recorded Vicar started ministering at St Peter’s in 1223. The church is a Grade 1 Listed Building which costs over £500 a day to run.
A recent architectural inspection revealed the need for some urgent and substantial work to keep the building and churchyard safe and usable. The 800th anniversary is being used as an opportunity to galvanise support in raising the £412,000 that is needed to complete the work.
A series of events have been planned to allow the community to come together to celebrate the 800th anniversary and to generate money for the work.
Over the weekend of June 23 – 25 bridal dresses from different eras will be on show together with wedding floral displays and photographs of past weddings held at St Peters Church.
During the Sunday of Silverstone Formula 1 weekend (July 9) a Funday in the churchyard will feature a picnic, a special race circuit for children to try and a teddy parachute drop from the church tower.
A number of other events are lined up including a Barn Dance, Medieval Banquet and a Brackley and District Band’s Midsummer Concert.
Full event details are available here.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam