11 Conyngham Lane, Bfidge, CT 4 5JX 01227 830954 12”‘ September 2015 Dear Bridge Resident, How much does your village matter to you? What value do you put on it, and (even) what price? St Peter's Church carries the memory of generations of people who have lived here, worked in the village or its surrounds, or in Canterbury or beyond; it is a precious resource of shared identity. But it is more than this, because now and going forward it is our most iconic building, one that features in every successive attempt to describe what we are as a community, and want to be. (Bridge Village Appraisal 1995/96, Bridge Parish Plan 2005, Bridge Neighbourhood Consultation Plan 2014). It remains this whether we ourselves are church—going or not; it is our most defining image. But the building we know as St Peter's Church is at risk, and it is now up to us in our generation to ensure that it is maintained and carried forward, for our children and our children's children, in the widest sense of a social heritage. As the accompanying leaflet makes clear, St Peter's is already a precious community resource, besides being fundamental to Christian worship in the village. The Church's congregation work hard to fund the day—to—day running costs of the church, but they now need help from the wider community to maintain the building. The church is in urgent need of £90,000 for essential repairs, and its funds to carry out such repairs are very small. Please will you help to support St Peter's by becoming a Friend of St Peter's? As the enclosed leaflet says, the SOLE purpose of setting up the Friends of St Peter's Church (FOSP) is to provide money for the repair and upkeep of the Church's structure. We also need committee members to help run the Friends. The Friends will organise social events* to help raise the much needed money for these urgent repairs; please don't feel inhibited about joining the committee orjust becoming a Friend. Your village church needs you! If you have any queries either I or the PCC Treasurer Clive Medhurst (C830762), will be happy to talk to you about what is needed. With best wishes, sew, lieoaflig Stephen Woodley (Chairman, Friends of St Peter's Bridge) *The first FOSP event is to be held on Sunday 20"‘ September at 3pm, a combined event with FOSM at St Mary's Patrixbourne —- see posters in the village for more details. Please come. Please tear off this portion of the form and leave it in the box in the church, or send it to: FOSP, C/o Mr Stephen Woodley 11 Conyngham Lane, Bridge Canterbury, Kent CT4 5JX. Damp patches on the interior of the vestry wall caused by damaged external stone -work §Scaffo|ding bracing the West wall What is the Friends of St Peter's Bridge? The Friends of St Peter’s Bridge is formed to provide money purely for the upkeep of the fabric of the church of St Peter’s Bridge. The Friends’ Committee will organise membership services for members and fundraising events. The Friends has charitable status as a sub committee of the PCC and is thus able to receive Gift Aid on donations. Individuals who are Friends of St. Peter’s Bridge do not need to be members of the PCC or even regular churchgoers. They simply need to love our Church and want to preserve our village heritage. Please join the Friends and help us to guarantee the future of this Church. '. " ‘\ 5.‘. v -.,. 1-_ ‘ ,1 , f... V \l i .g_:}3'i ht. ,4«\=; 1 ;§|.u4 " -"Er" H kir Q V '7"? Published by Patrixbourne with Bridge PCC Tfle friend} of St Teter’s Briafqe 1. J. St Peter’s Bridge, Canterbury, Kent. UK. Histog St Peter’s Bridge is sited on Watling Street, the old Roman Road to Dover, and is a grade 2 listed church. The Domesday Book lists a ‘Brige (sic) Hundred’, an administra- tive area with a church. The chancel, south aisle and tower base of the church all date from the 12th century with the nave itself dating from the 11th century. The west door- way is 12th century stonework with very detailed carving. In the 13th century the north transept aisle and chapel were added. During this time the building was a ‘chapel of ease’ to the main parish church at Patrixbourne. The church as we see it today is a result of major reconstruction work carried out in 1857 under the direction of the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. This was funded by Mrs Gregory of Bridge Hill at a cost of £4000. The work involved re—facing the external walls with knapped flint and Bathstone stonework and the enlargement of the North and South aisles. These changes to the church in Victorian times were necessary as Bridge village had grown and the church was used by a large congregation. The west doorway was left mostly untouched by this restoration work. Looking after our village’s heritage. St Peter’s Bridge is an important part of our village, available to all who live here for worship, weddings, christenings or funerals. During the floods of early 2014 it became a place where the rescue services could meet, rest and take refreshment and a place where residents could go to obtain help and advice; a resource for the whole community. The Parochial Church Council (PCC), has to date mostly managed to keep the Church in good condition, in terms of regular repair and maintenance. in the last ten years we have carried out work at the back of the church; a new glass porch entrance hall, toilet and a servery to provide refreshments have enhanced our facilities. However we now find ourselves faced with a number of urgent and expensive challenges, which to rise to will need help and support from the wider community. The challenge In July 2014 a fall of flints from the gable above the west door took place. Inspection revealed that urgent work was needed to tie the whole west wall back into the structure of the church, to prevent further damage. Scaffolding has been used to brace the wall but long term repair is now needed. An architect’s inspection has shown many other problems with this old building. These essential repairs are likely to cost in the region of £90,000. The PCC is applying for grants to carry out the work, but to assist us with the costs of these repairs we need to set up a ‘Friends of St Peter’s Bridge’ scheme, so that the congregation and the village together can care for this ancient and much loved Church. This scheme will be similar to the Friends group at St Mary’s Patrixbourne, which has generously provided funds for a number of projects at our other parish church. Membership of one scheme does not preclude membership of the other scheme, and we recognise the importance of all our local churches to our village communities. St Peter’s Bridge needs your help! Q. How do I become a member of the Friends of St Peter’s Bridge? A. By filling in the following, then detach- ing this part of the leaflet and sending it in an envelope to the address overleaf. I /We wish to join the Friends of St Peter’s Bridge (FOSP) Name: ...................................... .. Post code: ................................ .. E-mail address .......................... .. O I would like to receive details of FOSP events 0 I would be willing to be a member of the FOSP Committee 0 Please send me details of how i can make regular donations to FOSP and the Gift Aid Scheme. 0 I would like to make a donation to FOSP of £ ............. ..(Please make all cheques payable to Patrixbourne with Bridge PCC). N.B. FOSP funds held by the PCC are used solely for the upkeep of the fabric of St Peter’s Bridge.