St Mary’s Church
Rector
Revd Mark Brigden
The Rectory, 135 High Street,
Barkway, SG8 8ED
📞 01763 848756
Churchwarden
Liz Jakeman
4 Church Close,
Reed SG8 8AN
📞 07596 597042
St Mary’s Church is first recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086. and parts of it date from the Saxon period. It’s a beautiful, much loved little church.
St Mary’s is the responsibility of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), which is made up of elected members of the Parish, and chaired by the Rector. With the generous support and partnership of Friends of Reed Church (FORC), a substantial programme of renovation and repair has taken place at St Mary’s over the past fifteen years. This included the installation of a fine new organ in 2024.
More about these works and plans for the future
Today, St Mary’s forms part of the United Benefice of Barkway, Barley, Reed and Buckland.
St Mary’s also hosts Reed Choir. Read more about the choir here.
Our normal pattern of service
1st Sunday; 9.00 a.m. Parish Communion (said)
2nd Sunday; 10.30 a.m. United Benefice Holy Communion (may be at
Reed but moves between Barkway, Barley & Reed)
3rd Sunday; 10.30 a.m. Parish Communion
4th Sunday; 10.30 a.m. All-age service (children especially welcome!)
5th Sunday; 10.30 a.m. United Benefice Holy Communion (may be at Reed but moves between Barkway, Barley & Reed)
Up-to-date information on service times, including special services such as at Christmas and Easter
If you would like to receive the Church’s weekly newsletter by email, please email lizkershaw@hotmail.co.uk to be added to the mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Renovation and Repair at St Mary’s Church
Work over the last 15 years and plans for the future
A substantial programme of renovation and repair has taken place at St Mary’s over the past fifteen years, including three major projects, encompassing careful renovation of both the interior and exterior of the building.
In 2006 the East Window underwent total refurbishment. In 2009, a complete renovation of the inside of the Church was undertaken, as well as the provision of a new French drain and associated soakaways. And in 2019 we embarked on the most significant project of all, this time to the exterior of the building, including repointing of the tower, and extensive repair and renovation to external masonry and windows.
This significant programme of work has only been possible through the generosity of countless people – including everyone who has supported Church and Friends of Reed Church events – and also through the generosity of numerous grant-making bodies, in particular, the Turney Village Trust.
While the Parish can take pride that our Church is in a better state than it has been for very many years, there is yet more to be done. Two significant projects are currently being developed.
First, a project to provide the Church with a fine new organ (see below).
And second, a project to provide St Mary’s with a WC and kitchenette facility, allowing greater and more comfortable use of the Church by all.
New organ in place at St Mary’s, Reed
Reed’s fabulous and much-anticipated new organ – made possible through the commitment and generosity of so many in the community – is in! The first service supported by the new instrument was, very fittingly, our sunrise service at 6.15am in St Mary’s Church on Easter Sunday, 31 March 2024. The old organ in Reed was “economically” installed in the 1970s and, although it had seen good service, had reached the end of its useful life. An ambitious fundraising project was therefore launched aiming to raise £150,000 to commission and install a beautiful new organ. Fundraising – which included a 24-hour organ marathon by organist Paul Harrison – proved extraordinarily successful – through the extraordinary generosity of many, both in the village and outside. This enabled the team to sign a contract with our preferred organ builder, Mander Organs, who have been working on site in St Mary’s since January 2024. And, as of 28 March, the organ is now complete, and both looking and sounding magnificent!
