Welcome Message from Reverend David Head

I very much enjoy having Elsing as one of the parishes in my benefice. Elsing Church is unusual; it was built, unlike many medieval churches, all in one go. It has some fine architectural elements, of great historical worth (but little resale value!). The remains of the 14^th century stained glass, the remains (after many mean-minded small thefts of parts of it) of one of the finest 14^th century memorial “brasses” in England – (it isn’t brass), a much-restored 14^th century font-cover, a rood screen recently selected by the Church Buildings Council for special notice among ten – but as an interesting one in a poor state of repair.

The history of the village is also intriguing. It’s so rural that the village is in fact four scattered settlements: Elsing “Village”, Peaseland Green, Mill Street, and Fustyweed; and further away in the parish is the fine late-medieval hall, still in private hands. There’s a great sense of belonging among the inhabitants, and the local history group have been active in recording by photograph.

I came to the six parishes I serve, of which Elsing is one, in 2003. My previous work in the church had been two stints as as a curate in London, a joint post of Team Vicar and Hospice Chaplain in South London, and a full-time chaplaincy in a Hospice in Surrey. But I was returning to something I felt I knew, having grown up in a benefice of four parishes in Norfolk, and still having family reasonably close in Norfolk.

My vision for the church here is that it should be a place of welcome, without trying to draw people away from the parishes to which they belong. The church belongs to the community, but also in some way forms it. It should be a place that speaks of God, and where God speaks to us, without implying that God cannot be heard everywhere.

At the same time, the social and creative life of the church is really important (and that isn’t just because I like painting and gardening, write poetry, and enjoy making canapés). The “Open Village” fundraiser, in aid of the church windows restoration, showed what good gardeners, artist, potters, musicians, and many other talented people there are in the village. There’s so much to celebrate.W

We Look forward to your joining us for services, or to visit the church

Sincerely

David Head

The parish church of St Mary was built around 1347 by Sir Hugh Hastings, just before the onset of the Black Death. it is one of the finest examples of the Decorated Period in Norfolk. The pillar-less nave, at nearly 40ft is one of the widest of any parish church. It features a font that was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1861, with its elaborately painted and gilded font cover. The pride of St Mary's however, is the beautiful memorial brass of Sir Hugh Hastings (d. 1347).

Public Appeal - to our villagers, visitors and those who have connections to us....

This new website for St Marys Church is initially dedicated to bring about global awareness to one of the finest churches in all of England. As you can imagine after being here for nearly 700 years, occasionally like all building, our church needs attention. With windows here dating back to the 13th Century, we need to raise sufficient funds to bring in an expert window restorer to ensure that the weather and elements do not further erode the damage of time. Significant storms have damaged some of the windows, and we need to replace those.

The Parish has found a company in Norfolk who specialise in the repair of stained glass windows and has surveyed all of the windows and provided to us a comprehensive outline of the costs for each window. The costs at this time are just under £30,000 pounds or approx $48,000 U.S. dollars.

By making a donation to the Church in support of the restoration of the windows, each donor will be recognized in the Church in a special book to commemorate each donors contribution. A donation may be made in your name, in the name of a loved one, in memoriam of somebody special who has connections to the Village of Elsing - whether past or present, or a donation may be made anonymously.