Will you help
NOW?
Our Heritage
The origins of the village and the beginning of the church building are lost in antiquity, but we do know that the Manorial rights were given by Archbishop Lancfranc to John de Cobham about 1070. From that time John and his heirs took the name de Pluckley.
In those days, the lords of the manors no doubt gave the ground and money and the villagers gave days of service, leaving their fields and looms to help the skilled masons and carpenters.
And similarly the church has been enlarged and beautified, kept in a good state of repair and loved over the years thanks to the good offices and generosity of the people of the village.
(An extract from the appeal held in 1955)
Historically
In more recent times, St Nicholas' has had to call upon the generosity and help of the community in order to ensure that the door is always open.
Just after the war, work had to be carried out on the tower, when damage was sustained after a flying bomb landed in the NW corner of the churchyard in 1944.
In 1955, various works, such as pointing to the tower, repair of the buttresses, and the roof were undertaken. And more recently, the main roof of the church sustained substantial damage during the hurricane of 1987.
Further work was undertaken in 1998/99 to relay the floor, install modern heating, provide a loop system, kitchen and toilet – something more and more churches now need to provide as part of their ongoing struggle to survive and keep abreast of all the new legislation [as it comes in]!
Today
Once again, we need to undertake extensive work on the church. At the last Quinquennial, among the many items of work which needed addressing, the two most urgent were the replacement of, the shingles on the spire and two windows and tiling on the roof at the east end of the Nave.
This work is now underway, but there is still much more to do in order to ensure that St Nicholas is passed on to the next generations in a state of good repair.
Although today there are grants available to help small parish churches cope with the costs of maintaining their buildings, there is always a large shortfall.
DO YOU WANT?
St Nicholas' Church has been the focal point of the village for over 900 years.
- Do you want your children christened in the church?
- Do you want your children to get married in the church?
- Do you want to see this enduring focal point of the village continue to serve the community for generations to come?
If the answer is ‘yes’ then we need your help to keep our parish church.
With spiralling costs and on-going work always essential, we need the village to pull together as it did in earlier times if we are going to maintain this major amenity in the village.
All over the country churches like St Nicholas' are closing due to the fact that they are becoming unsafe and falling into disrepair.
This could happen in Pluckley if nothing is done now to preserve the church for generations to come.
£170,000
to undertake the current list of repairs that are needed to keep our church up and running.
To date, £107,000 has been raised through grants and other fund raising,
but there is still a deficit of £63,000 – a massive amount of money to raise
if we want to keep our church in Pluckley in good health!
have managed to
keep the Church
OF YOUR TIME AND MONEY
Roger Nelson-Smith on 01233 840288
or Trevor Oliver on 01233 820516