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St Nicholas Church, Winsley
Winsley is a friendly, lively and welcoming village. St Nicholas church reflects the character of the village and offers lots of opportunities for the community to be involved – whether it is for Sunday worship, special services or through regular outreach events.
The village has a population of just under 2,000, and there are four small outlying hamlets - Conkwell, Haugh, Murhill and Turleigh - all within the parish boundary. Dorothy House, the regional hospice, is situated in Winsley and has regular support from both Winsley village and members of the clergy. Avon Park retirement complex is just beyond the village.
There is a hearing loop in church and disabled access to both the church and church hall. Toilets and a small kitchen are available in the church hall opposite, together with a car park. St Nicholas church is available for baptisms, weddings and funerals.
The church is open every day. We are very mindful of the people who drop in, often when visiting very sick relatives at Dorothy House, and we have kept the building warm and heated throughout recent winters in order to provide a welcoming environment. We have a prayer corner where people can light a votive candle and say a prayer
Children and Young People
Our Children's and Families Worker is employed by St Nicholas PCC and since the pandemic has worked across all four parishes, enabling the benefice to connect well with many children and families. We offer a monthly Forest Church and the service rotates round the churchyards in the Benefice.
Sunbeams is a group which meets twice monthly on Wednesdays for pre-school children and their carers. It is a time for play and a talk with a bible theme. Run by a dedicated team, it is popular in the local community, and a number of babies and children from this group have been baptised.
Winsley C of E Primary School has close links with the church and members of the church and clergy regularly lead collective worship and present Open the Book. Pupils also attend special school services such as Harvest and Christingle.
Social Events
The Men's Group meets monthly throughout the year and is open to men across the benefice, whether they are involved with the church or not. The general pattern is to meet for a takeaway supper followed by a talk from either a member of the group or local speaker. Several times a year, ladies are invited to attend the meetings, and these evenings are always a lot of fun.
Kettle’s On started several years ago. Meeting on a Wednesday morning twice a month it is open to everyone and involves coffee, cake and chat. It is popular and well attended, particularly by people who are retired. There is a fairly even split between church members and non-church members from the village.
Soup’s Up was a Warm Spaces initiative started in November 2022 to provide a twice-monthly simple hot meal, warmth and fellowship during the cold winter months. It has proved very popular and the home-made soups, bread and puddings are delicious. It meets at lunchtime on alternate Fridays during the winter months.
Home and prayer groups There are several twice-monthly home groups running in the parish in addition to a couple of informal prayer groups, A weekly Christian Meditation Group meets on Monday afternoons at 4.30pm.
Village Life There are both Cub and Scout groups within the village, and the leaders and young people regularly take part in the Remembrance Day service at the war memorial, in addition to offering their gardening skills at our twice-yearly churchyard clear ups.
The Church and Church Hall
St Nicholas church was built in 1841 to replace an earlier building and retains an attached 15th century bell tower. The church interior is bright and naturally well lit, and can seat around 180. Average Sunday congregations are around 50 although the building can be full for certain major services, such as the village carol service and nativity service.
Inside the church there is flexible lighting and a modern IT projection facility offering an opportunity for more creative services. There is a Guide and Prayer Trail available in church click here to view. In the churchyard there are three Commonwealth War Graves.
There is a church hall of prefabricated construction located just across a quiet road from the church. It also has IT projection facilities and our monthly café style Refresh service is held there.
Our church all provides a venue for community activities for residents of Winsley and beyond. Sunbeams Mother and Toddler Group, Kettle’s On Community Café, Soups Up winter lunches and the Men’s Group, they all take place in the hall. It is also hired by several art groups, a choir for rehearsals, a Pilates group and Morris dancers. The church use the hall for coffee after services and meetings. Family gatherings are also held there after funerals.
The hall was in urgent need of renovation if it was to continue to provide a venue for these activities and events. In response to the fund-raising campaign launched by the PCC in 2024, sufficient funds have been raised for Phase 1 – replacement of the leaking roof and Phase 2 – replacement of the windows and doors.
St Nicholas Church PCC, who manage the hall, are extremely grateful for the amazing donations from the residents of Winsley and for the hard-working organisers and supporters of fund-raising events. Along with generous awards from the grant awarding organisations, as listed below, also our project was made possible thanks to # National Lottery Players. The PCC and the users of the hall are very grateful.
