All Saints Church

Loading Map....

Address
Church Lane
Minstead
Hampshire

SO43 7EX
United Kingdom


All Saints Church is part of the United Benefice of Lyndhurst, Emery Down and Minstead.

NEWS

Click on Church Notices 15th March 2020 for details of Benefice and Parish services, events and notices.

Follow All Saints Church on Facebook and visit the Benefice website for more information.

To get in touch with Minstead Parochial Church Council please contact the Parishes Office via benefice@newforestparishes.com (023 8028 3175).

There was another very successful Open Door Café on 20th February and many thanks go to Isabel Yeo for organising this monthly Community event. Please do your best to help her at the forthcoming events on 19th March and 16th April and in future months.

Please click All Saints Stewardship Letter 2020 to read the recent letter from our Vicar, David Potterton, about the present financial situation.

CORONAVIRUS

For Church Services going forward, the current advice from the Church of England is consistent with public health advice which is:

If anyone is presenting with signs of infection then they MUST self-isolate.

Whilst those who are not infected are free to meet together for worship, they (we) must take necessary precautions to minimise the risk of infection by following the following advice form the Coffee which currently is:

1) Ensure everyone maintains good hygiene (we should be doing this already as part of normal good practice) at all gatherings, whether services or other occasions. This includes those who prepare or serve food, those handing out books etc or having other direct physical contact with numbers of people, as well as those administering the Eucharist
· Provide hand gel at entrances and ensure there is a good supply of soap or hand gel in cloakrooms and kitchens and any other appropriate areas.
2) The best way of protecting us from the spread is for everyone to use universal good hygiene, – this means everyone, all the time, which will effectively disrupt the spread of the virus.
3) Ask those attending services to wash their hands as they come into church.
4) Ensure ministers of the Eucharist wash their hands before and after distributing communion.
5) Suspend catering (teas, coffees etc.) where multiple people touch mugs, utensils and foodstuffs.
6) Refrain from passing collection plates/bags around. The Diocese suggests that we place our offering in the offertory in the plate as it is held in front of you. Not easy if we have pews. My suggestion is that we ask people to place their offering on the collection plate as they leave. THIS INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE SHARED AT THE START OF ALL SERVICES & PRIOR TO THE BLESSING. The plate MUST be held by a previously designated person at the door and not abandoned to chair by the door! Can Church Wardens /Stewards ensure that such a person is designated and briefed – as well as to say “Thank you”.

The above advice stands for tomorrow’s services and is in addition to the earlier direction relating to Holy Communion, physical contact during arrival, departure and the peace. Please remember that pastoral visits to the vulnerable and self-isolating are not permitted along with all Home Communions until we receive direction that it is safe to start again.

So, hand washing remains critical but we may well have to ask people to bring/use their own hand sanitiser (with the correct percentage of alcohol).

Revd. David’s Tuesday afternoons in Minstead

On Tuesdays from 12.30, Revd David is usually in Minstead, for anyone who would like to speak with him. To make an appointment to see him, you are warmly invited to contact him in advance on 07468 527820.

TOWER FUND APPEAL

As you may be aware our much loved Church is in need of funds to keep this beautiful building in good repair.

Do you have any unwanted possessions, in reasonable condition, which you would be willing to donate to the Tower Fund Appeal?

If so either Helen Bennett or Sylvia Dibben (details below), authorised by All Saints Church PCC, will visit you with their identification.  You will be asked to give written confirmation of your gift.  the process will be confidential and, if you wish, anonymous.  Items will be sold or, as appropriate, auctioned, using reputable local auction houses

Anything suitable for sale/auction will be acceptable, for example, Pictures, Paintings, Rugs, Ornaments, Crockery, Small Furniture etc etc

On behalf of All Saints Church Minstead PCC please contact:

Sylvia Dibben tel 02380 812967 ​ e.mail Sylvia@dibben.net

or

Helen Bennett tel 02380 812358 e.mail helen.bennett160@yahoo.com

All Saints History

In the 12th century a Norman Church was built and various additions have since been made. Although the present church building is not mentioned before 1272, the list of Rectors dates from 1279 and parts of the church are definitely of an earlier period.  The 17th century three decker pulpit is one of the most interesting features in the church. The lowest ‘deck’ was used by the Parish Clerk and was entered from the Nave, where he sat and was responsible for saying the ‘Amens’.  The Parish Clerk today is responsible for the maintenance of the Parochial Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths, but is no longer required to participate in services.  The middle and top levels were entered from the Chancel and were used respectively for the reading of the Scriptures and Preaching of the Sermon, as they are today. This type of pulpit is very rare and few examples exist.  The Font is possibly Saxon. In 1893 Henry James Abbott, who was doing some gardening, dug it up in the Old Rectory garden. He wheeled it up to the Church in his wheelbarrow and it was placed where it belonged.

Three Tier Pulpit and Saxon Font                               ACD Headstone

Three Tier Pulpit and Saxon Font                                                 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s headstone
 
 
There are two galleries; the first was for the Church minstrels to play their instruments and the second was possibly for the poor of the Parish or for the children of the Charity School.  There are two private pews, one for the occupants of Castle Malwood and the other, which now houses the organ, for Minstead Lodge. The extra long hat pegs were for the accommodation of the tall stovepipe hats that were worn by many men who attended church.There are six bells, the first was cast in the 15th century and is inscribed ‘Sancta Maria’. The second is inscribed ‘Love God R.B.1604’. The third is inscribed ‘In God is my hope 1638 J.H’. The fourth and Fifth were cast in 1980 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and inscribed ‘By Subscription’. Following a successful fund raising effort by the Minstead bell ringers a new treble to augment the ring to six bells was installed in June 2013 and is inscribed ‘Taylors of Loughborough 2013’.
 
A key attraction in the Churchyard is the grave of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

 

 

Upcoming Events