T.S. Eliot is probably the most well-known churchwarden. A deeply religious man he was churchwarden at St. Stephen’s in London for 25 years. Today churchwardens are often described as the unsung heroes of the Church of England. This ‘vaguely specified job’ broadly covers management, maintenance and mission; the foremost duty being to: ‘represent the laity and co-operate with the parish priest in the encouragement of true religion, unity and peace.’ The office of Churchwarden dates from the 13th Century, and is thus one of the earliest forms of recognised lay ministry. The primary function of the office at that time seems to have been that of taking care of the Church building and its contents, including the responsibility of providing for the repair of the nave, and of furnishing the utensils for divine service. In earlier times the Offwell churchwarden was also responsible for distributing awards for destroying vermin, kites, moles, badgers, foxes and crows. He was assisted by a Parish Clerk, an elderly gentleman in receipt of Parish Relief, who was often given an additional fee for ‘Dog whipping’ which meant turning out dogs who had entered the church during services. Most importantly churchwardens had custody or guardianship of the fabric and furniture of the church, and even today they are the legal guardians of the church’s moveable goods, such as furniture, plates and ornaments. They also have a duty to look after the church building, the overall aim being to pass on to your successor ‘a building that is in a better condition than the one you found it in’. Many old churches are dusty, cold and damp and the worst of these is the damp. One churchwarden was recently instructed by his diocese architect to: “Look after the water that falls on the roof and goes into the gutters, the hoppers and downpipes, then into the drains and away from the building; if you do that you have done four-fifths of the job, and the church won’t fall down on your watch.” Which is all very fine but repairs and renovations to Grade I and Grade II listed buildings have become prohibitively expensive, particularly for rural churches with declining congregations and ‘unsung heroes’ for churchwardens, not men and women of great wealth. In Offwell we were fortunate to have the prosperous Copleston family as rectors from 1772 until 1954, as well as dominant families like the Collins’ who were of ‘superior status and wealth’. One long serving churchwarden was Emmanuel Dommett, who served as churchwarden over a period of 60 years in the late 18th, early 19th centuries. Dommett was a wealthy landowner and benefactor and at the end of his life he gave £120 to the village land trustees to be used for charitable purposes. In 1824 most of this sum (£99) went towards the purchase of local land with timber, the income from which was to be used for the education of the poor. The remainder of Emanuel Dommett’s gift was for the building of a house for the village schoolmaster; Dommett having already provided the land on which Bishop Copleston would build Offwell School in 1841. Throughout the centuries churchwarden accounts note a never ending list of yearly payments for musicians, repairs to bells, new bells, ropes, windows, lintels, curtains, pews and stonework. In 1811 two masons were employed to replace 114 cubic feet of stone and set in new windows. The stone and sand were dragged by horse and plough from Honiton, a task that took two men and three horses four days. The expenditure for that year amounted to £113 10s 2d; in 1815 it was new timber and slates for the roof with a total expenditure of £213 1s 8d, well over £21,000 in today’s money. Two hundred years after Emmanuel Dommett bequeathed land for Offwell School the present churchwardens are about to embark on grant funding in order to renovate and re-order the interior of St. Mary’s. The hope is that by widening the nave aisle, this will enhance the space for weddings, funerals and those with mobility issues. Renovation to the box pews will ensure they can continue to be used for years to come and the repositioning of the 15th century font, to its original location in the south aisle, will create more space for groups to meet and for hospitality to be provided. Church re-ordering projects take many years to reach completion. At St. Mary’s discussions began back in 2009. It has taken dogged determination and an ‘unsung hero’ mentality to get us to the starting line. Let us hope that 2024 will be as important a year for St. Mary’s as 1824 was for Offwell school. NB. For more information on the re-ordering project please go to St. Mary’s page on the Benefice website www.parish-church.com or www.offwell.church By Carol Hayes |
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