75th Anniversary Address by Sir Paul Britton
THE FRIENDS OF KENT CHURCHES
75th ANNIVERSARY SERVICE, ALL SAINTS, MAIDSTONE: 21ST SEPTEMBER 2024
ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN, SIR PAUL BRITTON
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us today to celebrate the Friends’ 75th anniversary. A particular welcome to our distinguished guests:
the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, and one of our Patrons, Lady Colgrain
the High Sheriff of Kent, Dr Gillian Fargher
the Leader of Kent County Council, Mr Roger Gough and the Vice-chairman, Mr Alan Ridger
the Mayor of Maidstone, Councillor John Perry
our patrons, Lady Kingsdown and the Rt Reverend Michael Turnbull.
This is a significant moment for us but so it is for the county church trusts as a whole, because Kent and Suffolk, both founded in 1949 and it is not quite clear which came first, were the first of about 35 such trusts and therefore the movement also celebrates its anniversary this year. So, I am very pleased that Sir Philip Rutnam and Claire Walker, Chairman and Director of the National Churches Trust, our over-arching body, are here today.
Our story begins with a letter to the Times in 1949 from three far-sighted people drawing attention to the poor state of churches and chapels in Kent and advocating the setting up of a charity to raise money to help with their repair. They were: Henry Scott Huxley, Lady Astor of Hever and Rupert Gunnis, author of the magisterial ‘Dictionary of British Sculptors’, a book which is indispensable for the study of sculpture and church monuments in England.
Why Kent? Because Kent churches had not only suffered from 10 years of neglect, as had most other churches and chapels in England, they had also been extensively damaged by the aerial battle fought above them. Several were destroyed, not to be rebuilt: for instance, Little Chart, Eastwell and St James at Dover which had also suffered from artillery fire from the German batteries on the French coast. Lydd lost its fine chancel. Many churches had badly damaged roofs or lost most of their windows, for instance Tonbridge, Wateringbury and Hawkhurst. At Shipbourne there was still cardboard in some of the windows in 1952 and the War Damage Commission did not settle the final bill until 1963. In each of these cases the congregation had to meet quite a large part of the costs of repair. One can see why it was felt that a fund-raising charity was needed.
The early stalwarts of the Friends were Henry Scott Huxley himself and Philip Toy, who between them occupied the chair until 1983. At first, they concentrated on raising money for church repairs from donations and legacies. The grants they were able to give now seem pitifully small: no more than a few hundred pounds in total each year. Later, in the 1950s, the remit was widened to include encouraging interest in the buildings and educating the members about church history and architecture: a programme of visits and lectures was instituted .
The sea change came in the mid-1980s with the introduction of Ride and Stride, an annual sponsored walk and bicycle ride between churches to raise money for repairs. A brilliant idea, it was invented in Suffolk in 1983 and was rapidly taken up by most county trusts. In Kent it must be one of the biggest community events each year, with 700 churches and chapels participating. At present it raises about £140,000 a year, half of which goes to the churches sponsored and the rest coming to us. This has transformed our ability to give grants. The key to this success was the hard work done by Jeremy Leigh Pemberton and others at the outset to establish a strong structure with organisers at county and local level and a contact at each church and chapel. I am sorry to say that Jeremy died a few months ago.
Also in 1983 our sister charity, The Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust was founded, without whose support many of the Marsh churches would have closed. Kent therefore has not one but two charities dedicated to the support of its churches.
We are now in good heart as a successful charity, fulfilling its object of helping churches to make repairs, install facilities and improve access and encouraging interest in these buildings. We have about 300 member churches and 450 individual members. Our visits and lectures are well attended. Currently we are making grant offers totalling £180.000 a year. And in the 75 years of our existence we have, so our treasurer Jane Bird has calculated, made about 1500 grant offers totalling over £4 million. We have become the most important source of grants for the repair of churches and chapels in the county.
What is it about Kent’s churches which has inspired people to do this? The quality of their architecture, fittings, glass and monuments certainly, but also the recognition of the contribution that congregations of all denominations make to our communities. So far as the former is concerned, if you ask people who know a lot about English churches which English counties are the best for churches, few would mention Kent. And John Newman, in the first edition of his two Pevsner volumes on Kent, even said that “Kent churches are worth seeing but not worth going to see.” He was wrong, as he implicitly recognised in the second edition published 20 years ago which omitted this slur.
Think of St Martin’s Canterbury, the church in which Queen Bertha of Kent worshipped even before St Augustine’s mission arrived in England in 598 AD, the oldest church continually in use in the English-speaking world. Barfrestone, an exquisite Norman village church on the North Downs, good enough to be in Normandy. Think of Stone, built on an unprepossessing site amidst the worked-out chalk pits near Dartford but glorious within because built by the same masons who were rebuilding Westminster Abbey for Henry III. Look around you at this building, All Saints’, built with its adjacent palace and college by William Courtenay, the most aristocratic of English archbishops, which is the largest medieval parish church in south-east-east England (and to which, incidentally, we gave several years ago a grant of £25,000 to re-lead part of the nave roof). Think of Mereworth, that Italianate church with its exotic tower which is always such a surprise when one accosts it in the placid Kent countryside. And think of St Augustine, Ramsgate, Pugin’s own church built for his worship and delight. These examples seem to me to demonstrate the range and depth which Kent’s churches offer and which is the equal, at least, of many other counties.
The second factor which compels us to support these buildings is their importance to their communities. Many are the only community assets remaining in their villages. Their congregations provide all sorts of services, for churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike: coffee and lunch clubs for the elderly, mother and toddler groups, food banks, youth clubs, debt advice and so forth. Whether or not you go to church, you surely must recognise the importance of what churches do for our society.
As for the future, it is hard to be optimistic in the face of the retreat of organised religion. But Kent seems to be better placed than many other counties. Our churches and chapels are generally in good condition: there are only 25 or so churches on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. And there have been few closures in recent years, at least of Anglican churches. As congregations decline, the financial support that we can provide becomes increasingly important, given that there is at present little government financial help for church buildings and that the Lottery has been less generous to them in the last few years, though there are signs that that might be about to change. Keeping Ride and Stride going and attracting legacies and donations is key for us, which is why we have chosen to launch a legacy appeal to mark our anniversary. Do, please, consider leaving us a legacy, however small, to help us in our work. A legacy to help Kent’s churches is a very good way of keeping some of your hard-earned money out of the grasp of the Treasury at this moment when we are threatened with heavier inheritance taxes in the forthcoming Budget!
I need to thank a number of people. First, my thanks to all those many people who have served this charity since 1949, especially those who serve today. It is a bit invidious to single out individuals for praise but I shall mention, because their contribution has been exceptional, Sarah Bracher, Jennifer Raikes and Mary Gibbins who between them have led the charity for no less than 26 years. All three are here today.
Second, may I thank the great number of people who make Ride and Stride such a success. We depend on them. We have with us today Joy Pennells, 98 years old, who has participated in almost every Ride and Stride since it began 40 years ago, a remarkable achievement. Well done, Joy, and keep it up!
Third, I am most grateful to John Richardson and his team at All Saints’ for allowing us to celebrate our anniversary in this splendid building and for arranging and presiding at today’s service. My thanks to Emma Panufnik and Simon Mold for composing music for the service. And, finally, to my colleagues Paul Wallace, Rosemary Dymond and John Lumley for all the work which they have done to make today possible.
Our cause is a noble one: may our work continue successfully for many years to come.
