Harvest Festival was a wonderful day held on Sunday 8^th October 2023. There was a lovely service at the Old Parish Church of St James, which was full of people all there to celebrate the harvest. The church was beautifully decorated.

After the service, there was a lunch organized by Gini and Jonathan Trower in the Haybarn at Stanstead Bury Farm, Stanstead Abbotts. The food was delicious and it was a really joyful event for the community.

Special thanks go to:

• Joe and Mo Howlett and the High Street Allotment holders – East Window and Altar Baesh Chapel
• Nicholas Buxton and Easneye Estate – North window Baesh Chapel
• Lucy Isham and Stanstead Abbotts Beaver scouts – North Window Baesh Chapel
• Vanessa Murphy – South windows in Nave
• Suzy and Tony Richardson – Entrance
• Kate Green and GIng – Porch
• Anne Sauntson – Altar and Pulpit
• Aaron Griffin and Emma Clark who have grown much of the produce at Stanstead Bury
• Louise Hedger of Vintage Afternoon Teas for the cake display

Thank you to everyone, especially Gini and Jonathan Trower and their helpers, for all the hard work that was put into making this a special event for the Benefice and the wider community.

The 3 Churches Benefice

Celebrate the Harvest Festival with us!

On Sunday 8^th October, a traditional Harvest Festival celebration is being held for everyone in the three villages to enjoy! Come and enjoy the beautiful historic church of St James, give thanks for the harvest and celebrate locally produced food in all its variety.

HARVEST THANKSGIVING SERVICE
11am at St James’ Church, Roydon Road, Stanstead Abbotts

HARVEST LUNCH
12.30pm in the Haybarn at Stanstead Bury Farm, Stanstead Abbotts
Tickets £15. Booking essential

To book your place for lunch or for more information, please email ginitrower@btinternet.com or book online at EventBrite.

Everyone is welcome!

A traditional Harvest Festival celebration is being planned for everyone in the three villages to enjoy on Sunday 8^th October! It will allow everyone to enjoy the beautiful historic church of St James, give thanks for the harvest and celebrate locally produced food in all its variety.

In the build up to the  big event, the organisers are looking for some local volunteers! Check to the poster below for all the information.

If you are able to help, do contact the relevant people (details on the poster). It promises to be a very special event for our community, so please do support it however you can!

This Sunday (14th May) it is Rogation Day, so The 3 Churches Benefice are holding a special 10.30am Rogation Day Service at the historic church of St James, which is the old Parish Church of Stanstead Abbots. This is a fantastic opportunity to join in a thanksgiving service as well as chance to appreciate the history of St James.

After the service, meeting outside the church at 11.30am, there will be a traditional ‘Beating the Bounds’ walk, led by Miles Dymock. Do remember to wear appropriate clothing for the weather, sturdy shoes and bring a bottle of water!

Miles kindly gave us some additional information about the walk he has planned:
The walk across along the Parish Boundary on Olives Farm reveals one of the many quirks of Medieval England, where in the 1500s Henry VIII altered the Stanstead Abbotts and Hunsdon Parish Boundaries in buying Olives Farm, which he purchased for its supply of spring water that fed into the newly created Fish Ponds that were central to his new Park, Ponds Park.

This was one of a number of formal Deer Parks, which were effectively enclosed spaces around Hunsdon House in which it was possible to stage manage a deer hunt with a high chance of success, though Ponds Park was possibly the most ornamental and may have been influenced by Italian gardens of a similar scale that Henry had seen in his youth. Many of these original deer parks will shortly be being paved over by the Gilston Development or be mined by the potential quarry development.

For those that are not proposing to walk the entire Parish Boundary the walk from the church to Olives Farm and back is approximately 3.5 miles and decent walking boots are recommended as it can get extremely muddy. The plan will be to stop at Olives Farm for refreshments, which is the halfway point on the circular walk and if anyone is interested to see some of the many Roman remains found in the fields over the years I’ll have these set out in one of the barns.

This is open to everyone, so do go along if you are interested!