Welcome to
Friends of Bardwell church

About FOBC

The objective of the Friends is to preserve the fabric of Bardwell Church and the churchyard in as good a state of repair as possible.

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Bardwell is over six hundred years old, having been largely restored in 1421 when the magnificent roof was erected. The original church was much older and was mentioned in the doomsday survey of 1086 and at the time was endowed with eight acres of land. The church was Listed as Grade I in 1955 - the listing is on the English Heritage website at historicengland.org.uk.

We are extremely fortunate to have this building of such historical interest and the members of the church need the assistance of all those who live in the village to help look after it.

Like the 16,000 other parish churches across England, Bardwell Church receives no financial support from the Church of England. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has to find a considerable sum of money for the running expenses of the church and it is their intention to continue to do this. However, to find the necessary funds to preserve and make improvements to the fabric is now beyond the resources of church members, so we are asking everyone in the village to consider giving their support to helping to maintain the church building and churchyard.

Members of the church feel that they would like the building to be used not only as a place of Christian worship, but to see it revert to its medieval pattern of use as a meeting place where concerts or other suitable activities can take place. Friends of Bardwell Church is an organisation, which not only holds fund-raising events, but also enables those who are new (and not so new) to the village to get to know each other.

The former Bardwell Environmental Survey Team (BEST - now disbanded), did a lot of useful work in the Churchyard, and the Friends have also taken on this role. It is hoped that apart from raising money for church improvements that some volunteers may wish to join us to do other things, such as being part of the team that cares for the church and its churchyard.

We are always delighted to welcome new "Friends" - see the membership section below.

Update from the Chairman

2025

The Friends of Bardwell Church (FOBC) seek to raise funds and provide volunteer help with repairing, maintaining, and improving the church building and church yard. Members of Friends are people who value our magnificent Grade I Listed church building and its surrounding churchyard and want to preserve both for future generations to enjoy; some are members of the church community, but others follow different faiths or none - membership is open to all.

This report covers the calendar year 2025.

The Friends ran a successful Safari Supper on 5 April 2025 which was as usual a very enjoyable evening. The Friends again sold cash draw tickets at the Cars on the Green (COTG) event on 25 May 2025 in exchange for a share in the profits. We sold tickets both before the event, and on the day, thus helping to boost overall sales and produce some useful income for the Friends.

For the first time since 2019 the Friends ran an Open Gardens event on 15 June 2025. This was very successful with a record number of visitors (220): the gardens and both refreshment points (in the Church and in the Tithe Barn) were kept busy throughout the afternoon. A record amount (for an Open Gardens event) was made for Friends' funds.

At short notice, the Dun Cow proprietors kindly offered to run a Quiz Night in the pub on 21 September in aid of Friends' funds. The Friends entered 3 teams (none of whom won), gained 2 new members, and raised a useful sum. We are very grateful to Polly and Kevin for this event.

Our main event in 2025, both in terms of effort and return, was the 'Twentieth Century Songbook' concert in the church on 25 October. We are very grateful to Chris Ingham and Joanna Eden for kindly performing yet another concert. The Friends arranged the promotion of the event, the ticket sales, two bars, and all the other organisation. It was a very enjoyable evening, and a very useful sum was made for Friends funds.

During the year, the Friends provided £1225 towards the cost of the new car park in the churchyard. The need for physical help in the church and churchyard was reduced significantly during the year because most of the tasks needed were carried out by a Community Payback team which has visited once a month on most months during the year. Thus Friends' assistance has been limited to one or two people helping out with relatively small tasks such as taking green waste to the tip, and using a vibrating roller to prepare the ground for the new car park. Other assistance has been provided by Friends helping to man the church for the two Heritage weekends in September, and two tower open days during the year.

Looking forward, the PCC is planning three projects for this year. Firstly, it is planned to renovate and conserve two C18th paintings in the church - the Royal Coat of Arms for King George II, and the hatchment to Charles Crofts Reade who died in 1720. Secondly, it is intended to carry out repairs to the churchyard walls, and thirdly it is hoped to install stainless steel protective mesh outside the one C19th stained glass window without such protection. Planning for these projects started at the end of 2025; because of their nature, these projects will have limited opportunities for grant funding, and Friends' financial support will certainly be needed.

The Friends committee met five times during the year (in addition to the AGM). The committee was boosted by two new members at the AGM in March and one more during the year, and we are grateful to have these new members. Sadly our long-standing Vice Chairman and former Chairman, Andrew Smith, resigned from the committee. We are grateful and thank him for his past major contributions, and we are delighted that he has agreed to continue as the Friends' Treasurer.

As Chairman, I would like to record my grateful thanks to the Friends committee, to the Friends members, to all those who organised, helped at, and supported our events, and work parties over the year, and to those who subscribed to, or donated generously to, our funds - without all of you much less would have been achieved.

We look forward to the challenges that 2026 will bring, which is the 20th year since the founding of the Friends in 2006.

Newsletters

The Friends of Bardwell Church Newsletter is published occasionally, providing a roundup of the previous year's events, AGM reports, what's on the horizon and more.

See links below to previous issues:

Dec 2025 PCC Annual Report (PDF - 176KB)
May 2019 Newsletter (PDF - 18MB)
Mar 2018 Newsletter (PDF - 13MB)
Mar 2017 Newsletter (PDF - 3MB)

FOBC Membership

Friends come from all walks of life, are of all ages and can be of any religion or none but their common interest is in preserving the fabric of this beautiful old building and also keeping the churchyard, safe and tidy.

There are currently over 50 households who pay a minimum annual membership fee of £5 - many choose to pay more. Not all members live in Bardwell or even the nearby villages but they kindly continue to support the work of the FOBC because of some past connection to Bardwell, the building or graveyard.

As well as paid up members, there are many local volunteers who help with the fund-raising events and practical work involved with the maintenance of the building and the graveyard. It isn't all hard work - the social events are fun and enable everyone to meet and and make new friends. We hope you will be able to join us for some (or all) of our planned events. If that is not possible please be assured your contribution is helping to keep the fabric of the village church in remarkably good shape.

Whatever your contribution, it is very much appreciated and if you have friends or family who you think may be interested in joining FOBC, please do encourage them to pick up one of our new membership forms in the church or contact the membership secretary: membershipsecretaryfobc@gmail.com

Churchyard

The grass in the churchyard is cut every two weeks, from late March until early October and, with the help of a grant from the Parish Council, the PCC is just about able to finance the grass cutting.

Church finances will not support any other churchyard maintenance and we depend entirely on the help of volunteers and currently on a monthly visit by a Community Payback team. These other maintenance activities include litter picking, weeding, strimming, pruning, hedge cutting and tidying graves.

To support these activities, the Friends normally organise at least two work parties a year, one in the Spring and another in the Autumn. These are usually held on a Saturday from 10am -1pm, with refreshments provided. It's a good way to meet friends, old and new, and catch-up on village news.

Work parties are normally advertised in the Village News and on posters outside the church.

Projects

Since the foundation of the FOBC in 2006, the organisation has contributed a total of £48,719 (to end-2025) towards work on the church and churchyard, including £31,000 to the 'big' project at the church in 2019/2020 to carry out some urgent repairs as well as provide some new facilities. The Friends have also carried out a number of self-help projects, notably the lime-washing of the internal walls of the church in 2009 which saved over £15,000 compared to the contractor-quoted cost, and the construction of the trench arch sewage disposal system for the 'big project' which saved over £2,000. Further details on the 'big project' are given in the illustrated document attached to the church website. In 2025, a small new car park was created in the churchyard with the help of the Community Payback team and volunteers.

In 2026, the PCC hopes to run 3 projects. Firstly, the cleaning, restoration, and conservation of 2 large paintings which could cost up to £10,500 depending on the extent of work required. The PCC has obtained 2 grants so far towards this work, but financial help from the Friends will certainly be needed. The Friends will also be involved in getting the paintings down from high on the nave walls and replacing them once the painting conservator has finished her work.

Secondly, repairs are needed to the churchyard brick and flint walls. This is likely to cost around £20,000 and grants for such work are difficult to find, although the PCC has succeeded in getting one for £5,600. Again Friends' financial support is certainly going to be needed. Already the Community Payback team has cleared vegetation to give access to where repairs are needed, hopefully helping to reduce the overall cost of this project.

Thirdly, the PCC plans to install stainless steel mesh protection to one C19th stained glass window that has no such protection. This project is likely to cost about £700 to purchase the mesh, and have it shaped and powder-coated. The subsequent installation should be within the capabilities of volunteers from the Friends.

Events

During 2026 we plan to support or run the following events:

Saturday 11th April

A successful Safari Supper was run with 24 participating diners.

Sunday 24th May

The Friends will be running a stall at the village Cars on the Green event selling tickets for a raffle with lots of attractive prizes. Tickets are also being sold before the event. The stall will also run a 'Guess the Weight of the Cake' competition.

Sunday 14th June

Open Gardens will have about 17 participating gardens, 2 refreshment locations, and a raffle.

Saturday 26th September

Bardwellian Chris Ingham and his accompanying vocalist Joanna Eden have once again kindly agreed to perform a concert "Bacharach For Two" in the church in support of the Friends.

Friday 30th October

A wine tasting event in the Tithe Barn "Call Wine Bluff", jointly with the Samaritans for the shared benefit of both organisations.

Date TBC

Quiz Night in the Dun Cow, kindly offered by Kevin and Polly.

2026 Concert