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An autumnal Sunday at
St. Mary's Church, Orchardleigh
by Rosie Findlater
This church must be unique. There is no electricity or heating, so
on a gloomy, dank, late October Sunday the church was lit only with
candles while a wood burning stove roared away. We had a warm welcome
and there was a real feeling of community in the church. What a very
special one to belong to, in its idyllic location at the edge of a lake,
miles from anywhere. You definitely needed a car and Wellingtons!
The church itself is old, the first priest having been recorded in
1313 (a bit younger than our St. Mary's). Because of the gloom
it was quite hard to see very much detail of the church but the carvings
we could see looked worn and beautiful and it felt very atmospheric
and almost in another world.
Imagine our astonishment when attending a baptism at a little church
in a corner of Somerset, when the banns were read out, one of the couples
came from St. Mary Barnes!
As well as three godparents from the young parents' generation,
there were two grand godmothers. We and the grandmother of the infant
had all been to school together from the age of 12. There is no doubt
that little Theo had the most joyous christening and welcome into the
church and we were all filled with that feeling of celebration and continuity.
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