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Events for 2026

Mon, 11 May 2026 11:44:34 GMT

Our Calendar of Events for this Year

Church Closure Update

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 09:32:16 GMT

Update on Change of Parish for Wigmore and Closure of St. James' as a Place of Worship

The Friends of St. James' have been asked by the PCC to publish the documents relating to the plans for Wigmore church to be closed as a place of worship and for the parish congregation to move under the parish of Aymestrey and Leinthall Earles. The documents are available to download below and comprise a letter from the Commissioners about the process, an overview of the plan (known as a scheme in church parlance) and a glossary of terms.

Friends of St. James' AGM

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 13:02:16 GMT

Sat 20th Sep 2025 @ 11am

The final event organized by the Friends this year will, as last year, be our Annual General Meeting.

We are particularly interested in what members of the Friends group see as the way forward for our organisation particularly in light of the Church's position regarding the future of St. James' and the difficulty we have had this year of attracting an audience for events.

The AGM is an ideal opportunity for us to be able to air thoughts on this and discuss potential plans. So, please come along if you can.

Fleur de Lys

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:41:17 GMT

Medieval music in our ancient church

Annie Garthwaite and the King's Mother

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:39:58 GMT

Talk by Best-selling novelist

Book Launch and Illustrated Talk - 2nd July

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:15:14 GMT

Hereford Castle (A Hidden History of a Defended City)

Future of St. James' Church

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:08:49 GMT

Minutes of 2 ^nd Consultation meeting - 22 ^nd May 2025

Attached below (click on the button) are the minutes of the meeting circulated today by Serena Askew, Lay Chair of the Wigmore Abbey PCC.

Perspectives on Ukraine

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 13:13:17 GMT

Our best attended event so far

Thank you very much to Olya, Ivan and Marcus both for their very interesting and informative talks and also for the tasty snacks and drinks they so kindly provided.

The evening was a great success and was the best attended event we have organised so far at St. James'. So, thank you too to all those who came along.

The Friends made a donation to a charity of the guys' choice and I was informed this morning by Marcus that they had donated it to the Red Cross in Ukraine.

Friends Events 2025

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 14:45:01 GMT

This season's events at St. James'

Remembrance Service

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 17:56:31 GMT

11th November 2024

National Churches Trust

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 13:01:44 GMT

Open For Visitors Award

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Friends AGM

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 12:59:50 GMT

Friends AGM - 12 Oct 2024

At the end of this month the Friends of St. James' Church, Wigmore will have been a registered charity for a year and so we have scheduled our first Annual General Meeting for:

Saturday 12th October @ 2pm in Wigmore Church

The agenda will be:

Review of activities and achievements in the past year
Review of finances
Initial proposal for events for 2025
Election of Trustees for the next year

Regarding events for next year, if anyone has suggestions for what they might like to see then please let us know.

With regard to the last item, Trustees, if any member of the Friends would like to become a Trustee of the charity, please Direct Message me so that we know in advance who might be interested. If noone else wishes to become a Trustee then the three incumbents will be re-elected for the next year, that is:

Bill Jackson - Chair
Fran Rhodes - Treasurer
David Swatton - Secretary

The meeting will be minuted and a summary of the outcomes will be posted to this site and to our Facebook group.

Builth Male Voice Choir

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 07:50:47 GMT

They sounded awesome!

Thank you!

...to everyone who came out to support us and to enjoy the concert by Builth Male Voice Choir. As expected the sound was great.

The concert was our last ticketed event of this season. We are already planning next year so if you have any suggestions for events you would like to see then please let us know.

h.Art coming to Wigmore Church

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 08:30:08 GMT

This September...

Since 2002, h.Art, our county-wide art trail has taken place, always starting on the first Saturday in September.

h.Art has become part of Herefordshire's rich cultural calendar, with a huge variety of art and art forms on show in Open Studios, Group Exhibitions and Gallery Events.

This year, four local artists are putting on an exhibition at Wigmore church and brings together the work of: Kate Green, Emily Gaunt, Beki Penny and Keira Thompson.

For more information view the h.Art site

The exhibition will run from 7th-15th September with a special "Meet the Artists" event on Saturday 7th September @ 2.30pm.

Builth Male Voice Choir

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 08:27:29 GMT

Coming soon to Wigmore Church

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Best-selling author Anne O'Brien coming to Wigmore church...

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 10:04:02 GMT

Bringing Medieval Women to Life

In the next of our current season of events at St. James' Church we are delighted to welcome Anne O'Brien who will talk about her work and how she brings medieval women to life in her novels.

Aardvark Books will be there with a range of Anne's novels to purchase and the author will be signing copies after the talk.

It promises to be a fascinating session in a very fitting setting.

TICKETS ARE £10 (WITH A DISCOUNT FOR MEMBERS OF THE FRIENDS OF ST. JAMES' CHURCH) AND ARE AVAILABLE FROM:

https://www.wegottickets.com/event/616210

or on the door.

Thanks to Tim Bridges...

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 10:01:42 GMT

Thanks to Tim Bridges..

...and to everyone who came to the talk Tim gave yesterday at Wigmore church.

I now have a long list of local historic churches to visit.

This was our second ticketed event of this season. Next month we host international best-selling author Anne O'Brien.

An Evening with the Ludlow Concert Band

Sun, 05 May 2024 15:19:39 GMT

A big thank you...

...to the Ludlow Concert Band and their leader David Redmayne who provided a splendid couple of hours of entertainment yesterday evening. It sounded great in the old building.

Thank you too, to all those who came out to support us, including the six new members who signed up for the Friends of St. James', and we hope to see you at our future events throughout the summer.

Local Public Consultation on the future of St James Church, Wigmore in the Parish of Wigmore Abbey

Fri, 03 May 2024 09:10:33 GMT

Official Minutes Circulated by Serena Askew

The Friends of St. James' Church have been asked to post the minutes of the recent meeting held at the church regarding its future. As this document is so large I have converted it to a PDF. Clicking on the icon will load it into a separate tab.

Meeting to Discuss the Future of St. James' Church

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 15:09:07 GMT

Held at St. James' Church, Wigmore - 29 Apr 2024

The meeting held by the Priest in Charge, Rev Adrian Thompson, and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) last night to discuss the potential closure of Wigmore Church was a somewhat rambling, almost two-hour affair so please bear with me while I try and summarise.

A number of increasingly circular arguments developed but can be broadly categorised as:

Previous Closure Process / Consultation

· Back in 2021 the PCC initiated the closure process and began a consultation which no one attending the meeting not connected with the PCC seemed to know anything about.

· That original process expired after being on pause for 2 years and hence this new attempt by the PCC to initiate closure.

· The new Priest in Charge stated that he believed that retaining the community of Wigmore within the parish for worship was more important than the building in which that worship took place. Hence, the suggestion to use the village hall for worship instead of the church. This argument wasn’t readily accepted by others at the meeting.

Lack of Church Officers / Congregation Etc

· A lot of negative feedback was presented about the previous Priest in Charge and his lack of interest in St. James’ and the apparent lack of interest shown in St. James’ by the PCC.

· The PCC chair made a point of highlighting the lack of church officers, wardens and congregation at St. James’ over the last few years. Some at the meeting argued that this was inevitable given the lack of interest shown in St. James’ by the PCC.

Finances

· Regarding finances, the church costs approximately £4000 per year to run, including insurance, utilities, routine maintenance and Wigmore Abbey PCC expenses. Of the £25k legacy left by Muriel Tonkin for church maintenance approximately £12k of that remains.

· Currently between £300 and £500 per year is donated in cash by visitors to the church.

· It was suggested that a digital “donation” device be installed to facilitate easier donation but it was stated that this has failed in the past and help would be required to set this up – a member of the audience offered to help establish this.

The Process of Church “closure for worship”

The Diocesan representative, Sarah Girling, explained the “closure” process as follows:

· A formal public consultation period is initiated by the PCC – during this period the church remains physically open to visitors. Note: this formal consultation period has not yet been initiated.

· If they recommend closure, the Archdeacon and Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee will be consulted. If they recommend closure to the bishop then the Church Commissioners will undertake a national consultation process - during this period the church remains physically open to visitors

· If closure goes ahead then the “ownership” of the church transfers from the PCC to the Diocese, and the Church Commissioners seek an appropriate alternative use for the church - during this period it was stated that it could not be guaranteed that the church would remain physically open to visitors.

· No timescales were identified for any of these separate processes.

· It was stated that should closure go ahead the preferred outcome was for the church to be taken on by the Churches Conservation Trust, a Charity specifically set up to look after churches in the same position as ours. She was fairly certain that as a large Grade 1 listed building it wouldn't just be left to fall into disrepair. She also made the point that the CCT is willing to work with local communities where appropriate.

Outcomes…?

At the end of the meeting the Archdeacon, The Ven. Derek Chedzey, identified what he thought were the main outcomes of the meeting:

· He didn't think that the PCC had sufficient grounds to go forward with the Closure application at the moment – i.e. he could not support the commencement of the formal closure consultation process beginning now.

· From the number of attendees and their response he identified that there appeared to be potential for Wigmore church to go forward as a functioning church again and suggested its designation be as a Festival church with up to 6 services a year marking the major festivals.

· He recommended that St. James’ should establish a committee to work with the Priest in Charge and PCC to agree a way forward.

· He recommended working with the Friends of St. James’ Church to establish an on-going mix of religious and secular events.

· He made the point that approximately 3 years of on-going finance remains for the church from the Muriel Tonkin legacy which provides a window to establish clearly whether or not St. James’ has a viable future as a place of regular worship.

In the community interest the Friends of St. James’ Church are willing to facilitate a meeting in the village hall to discuss the pros and cons of setting up a viable new congregation and the associated necessary offices. We would pay for the hall hire. We would suggest this meeting is attended by the Rev Adrian Thompson, a churchwarden and a treasurer from another church to explain their role and any Wigmore residents who have an interest in retaining St. James’ as a viable place of worship.

The Friends of St. James’ Church would liaise with the Priest in Charge to agree an agenda for this session and publish it in advance.

Mortimer History Society Spring Conference

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 14:19:23 GMT

Saturday 18th May 2024

Many thanks to the Harley Charity...

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 13:41:43 GMT

When I posted the update about our planned nature board I mentioned that we had received a grant from the Harley Charity.

We have received the very generous sum of £2500 from the Harley Charity and these funds have been ear-marked for three projects that we have underway.

As stated before, the largest chunk of the funds will go towards our nature board. Note: I was notified this morning by the Wigmore Group Parish Council clerk that the planning application has been drafted and is to be submitted imminently.

The second project for which we will use a portion of the Harley Charity funding is the purchase of a quality PA/Sound system for use at our events. The talks we have hosted have suffered from rather ordinary sound quality so we hope to rectify that. A former BBC sound engineer who lives locally has kindly drawn up a suitable spec for the kit we need so we can now go ahead and acquire that equipment. Hopefully, at our future talks you will enjoy much improved sound quality. Note: our next scheduled speaking events are:

5th June - “From Medieval to Victorian; architecture and restoration at St James, Wigmore and other local churches”- Illustrated Talk by Tim Bridges
25th July - “Bringing Medieval Women to Life” - Illustrated Talk by best-selling novelist Anne O'Brien

Lastly, a small portion of our Harley Charity grant will go on the purchase of a set of fold-up tables for use at our events which will mean we no longer have to borrow and transport tables from the village hall.

Once again, many thanks to the Harley Charity for their generosity and hopefully many of you will come along to enjoy our events scheduled for this year

Churchyard Nature Board Update

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 13:39:01 GMT

Slow but sure progress.

Having installed our interpretation display in the south aisle of St. James' Church we are looking to improve the visitor experience outside the building.

If you have seen our newsletter you will know one of our projects is to install a nature board in the churchyard so I thought I'd provide an update on where we are with this.

The plan is to install the board along the western wall of the bell tower (see the mock-up below).

However, to do this there are a number of financial and administrative hurdles to overcome.

Firstly, regarding funding, we have just been informed that The Harley Charity has granted us funds for a number of small projects, one of which is our nature board - so MANY MANY THANKS to them. (I will be posting separately about the generous grant we have received and what we will be doing with the funds.)

We have obtained the permission of the Diocese of Hereford for the installation.

We have obtained the approval of the Wigmore Group Parish Council (WGPC) who manage the churchyard.

We now have to obtain planning permission from Herefordshire Council as the churchyard is in a conservation area and outside a Grade I listed building. WGPC have offered to include the nature board as part of a broader planning application they are submitting which will save us the fees of applying separately so hopefully we will soon have all the necessary permissions in place to go ahead.

We plan to use Shelley Signs to manufacture the board for us as they did a great job with the interpretation display but the materials used will be different - we are going for hard wood surround and legs to be more in keeping with the natural surroundings. The board panel will be approx 1.5m x 0.5m.

Any future for Wigmore Church?

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 14:11:24 GMT

Public Consultation on the Future of St James’ Church, Wigmore

The month after unveiling our community interpretation boards in the church and announcing our calendar of events for the year we have received this notification from the chair of Wigmore Abbey PCC, the body responsible for the physical maintenance of the building.

If you are at all interested in the future of this historic building I would urge you to attend this meeting or make your views known to the email address at the bottom of the notice.

If you elect to email a question or view to the PCC please could you CC the Friends Group (admin@friendsofstjameswigmore.org.uk) so that we too have a record of your opinions.

FROM MEDIEVAL TO VICTORIAN; ARCHITECTURE AND RESTORATION AT ST JAMES, WIGMORE AND OTHER LOCAL CHURCHES

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 09:13:49 GMT

An Illustrated Talk by Tim Bridges

Interested in Our Local History - put this date in your diary!

Tim Bridges will be presenting an illustrated talk entitled:

"FROM MEDIEVAL TO VICTORIAN; ARCHITECTURE AND RESTORATION AT ST JAMES, WIGMORE AND OTHER LOCAL CHURCHES"

Tim is a Conservation Adviser for The Victorian Society and is the Church Buildings Support Officer for the Diocese of Hereford and is a specialist in the history and architecture of our local churches.

Please Remember :

There is no parking at the church so please use the parking spaces available at the Village Hall and School on Ford Street.
As there are no facilities in the church, please use the public toilets at the Village Hall.

Thanks...!

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 10:34:02 GMT

Thanking all those who have made our Interpretation Display Project possible

On Saturday 23rd March, the Friends of St. James’ held the official “unveiling” of our village interpretation display in St. James’ Church, Wigmore. We had a full house for the event which was great to see and we were delighted that the display was so well received.

We owe thanks to many for helping to deliver this project which provides the first resource of its kind, presenting the history of Wigmore church, castle and wider village community in one place.

But, I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few individuals, in no particular order:

Will Ruell who generously allowed us to photograph many artefacts he has unearthed over the years in and around the village.
Richard Croxton who provided us with first-hand family history of Whitaker Morgan, one of the soldiers commemorated on our World War 1 memorial.
Graham Turner, historical artist who allowed us free use of reproductions of two of his beautiful paintings that have a direct association with Wigmore and the medieval Mortimers.
Ruth Butler and Philip Hume from the Mortimer History Society who have supported our project from the beginning.
Edward Harley, who has supported our project since its inception and kindly did the honours at our unveiling event.
Rob and Richard Shelley and all their team at Shelley Signs in Shrewsbury who did a brilliant job on the manufacture of the display boards.
Lastly, and probably most significantly, we wish to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund who provided the funding for the production of the interpretation display boards.

Officially Launched...

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 09:46:21 GMT

The unveiling of our interpretation display...

On Saturday 23rd March, the Friends of St. James’ held the official unveiling of our new interpretation display about Wigmore Castle, church and wider village community. It was preceded by a talk arranged by the Mortimer History Society and then officiated by Edward Harley, Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, who was kind enough to say some very complimentary things about the activities of the Friends Group. We had a full house for the event which was great to see and we were delighted that the display was so well received.

We owe thanks to many for helping to deliver this project which provides the first resource of its kind, presenting the history of Wigmore church, castle and wider village community in one place.

But, I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few individuals, in no particular order:

Will Ruell who generously allowed us to photograph many artefacts he has unearthed over the years in and around the village.

Richard Croxton who provided us with first-hand family history of Whitaker Morgan, one of the soldiers commemorated on our World War 1 memorial.

Graham Turner, historical artist who allowed us free use of reproductions of two of his beautiful paintings that have a direct association with Wigmore and the medieval Mortimers.

Ruth Butler and Philip Hume from the Mortimer History Society who have supported our project from the beginning.

Edward Harley, who has supported our project since its inception and kindly did the honours at our unveiling event.

Rob and Richard Shelley and all their team at Shelley Signs in Shrewsbury who did a brilliant job on the manufacture of the display boards.

Lastly, and probably most significantly, we wish to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund who provided the funding for the production of the interpretation display boards.

An Evening with the Ludlow Concert Band

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 13:41:21 GMT

Details of our first ticketed event of the 2024 season

The Ludlow Concert Band is a group of talented musicians who have been entertaining audiences for years. They play a variety of genres, from stirring marches, through classical favourites and old-time swing numbers to pop anthems.

Their performances are always a treat for the ears, and this event promises to be fab in our thousand year old venue.

All monies raised go towards our future events and projects so come along and support a good cause.

Visit HEREFORDSHIRE CHURCHES

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 11:48:17 GMT

Visit HEREFORDSHIRE CHURCHES

The Friends of St James' Church have made the latest version of this publication available to visitors to the church. After a four-year gap St. James' Church is once again featured. Call into the church to collect your copy.

Members of the Herefordshire Churches Tourism Group have funded this booklet and a new website is under construction due to come online later this year.

You don't have to be a church member to join this group, just have an interest in these wonderful historic buildings.

Interpretation Display Unveiling

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 11:33:28 GMT

090ae659

Events for 2026

Our Calendar of Events for this Year

Church Closure Update

Update on Change of Parish for Wigmore and Closure of St. James' as a Place of Worship

Friends of St. James' AGM

Sat 20th Sep 2025 @ 11am

Fleur de Lys

Medieval music in our ancient church

Annie Garthwaite and the King's Mother

Talk by Best-selling novelist

Book Launch and Illustrated Talk - 2nd July

Hereford Castle (A Hidden History of a Defended City)

Future of St. James' Church

Minutes of 2 nd Consultation meeting - 22 nd May 2025

Perspectives on Ukraine

Our best attended event so far

Friends Events 2025

This season's events at St. James'

Remembrance Service

11th November 2024

National Churches Trust

Open For Visitors Award

Friends AGM

Friends AGM - 12 Oct 2024

Saturday 12th October @ 2pm in Wigmore Church

Builth Male Voice Choir

They sounded awesome!

Thank you!

h.Art coming to Wigmore Church

This September...

Builth Male Voice Choir

Coming soon to Wigmore Church

Best-selling author Anne O'Brien coming to Wigmore church...

Bringing Medieval Women to Life

TICKETS ARE £10 (WITH A DISCOUNT FOR MEMBERS OF THE FRIENDS OF ST. JAMES' CHURCH) AND ARE AVAILABLE FROM:

Thanks to Tim Bridges...

Thanks to Tim Bridges..

An Evening with the Ludlow Concert Band

A big thank you...

Local Public Consultation on the future of St James Church, Wigmore in the Parish of Wigmore Abbey

Official Minutes Circulated by Serena Askew

Meeting to Discuss the Future of St. James' Church

Held at St. James' Church, Wigmore - 29 Apr 2024

Mortimer History Society Spring Conference

Saturday 18th May 2024

Many thanks to the Harley Charity...

Churchyard Nature Board Update

Slow but sure progress.

Any future for Wigmore Church?

Public Consultation on the Future of St James’ Church, Wigmore

FROM MEDIEVAL TO VICTORIAN; ARCHITECTURE AND RESTORATION AT ST JAMES, WIGMORE AND OTHER LOCAL CHURCHES

An Illustrated Talk by Tim Bridges

Interested in Our Local History - put this date in your diary!

"FROM MEDIEVAL TO VICTORIAN; ARCHITECTURE AND RESTORATION AT ST JAMES, WIGMORE AND OTHER LOCAL CHURCHES"

Thanks...!

Thanking all those who have made our Interpretation Display Project possible

Officially Launched...

The unveiling of our interpretation display...

An Evening with the Ludlow Concert Band

Details of our first ticketed event of the 2024 season

Visit HEREFORDSHIRE CHURCHES

Visit HEREFORDSHIRE CHURCHES

Interpretation Display Unveiling

Join us for this FREE event...

Minutes of 2 ^nd Consultation meeting - 22 ^nd May 2025