St Nicholas' Church in Ulceby could be facing closure
A VILLAGE has sent out an SOS to save its ancient church from closure.
St Nicholas' Church, in Ulceby, is facing an uncertain future due to falling attendance and a lack of support.
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Historic church: St Nicholas Church, in Ulceby, is mentioned in the Domesday, but could soon be closed.
The church – which is mentioned in the Domesday book – has been without a vicar for two years after the previous leader was repositioned by the Diocese of Lincoln.
And its two former wardens, who have maintained the building, are calling on new people to get involved if the church is to survive.
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Margaret Thompson was a warden there for 26 years before she retired and has been a village resident since 1965.
She said: "If the church was to go, we would be left with no place of worship and would lose the use of an ancient building.
"I just hope new people want to get involved. The congregation is not very well attended anymore.
"We need some new ideas. I have been here 26 years and clearly we need something new.
"When we have had a vicar, the church has been the focal point of the village. The last vicar was great, but she had to leave.
"Since then we have had various travelling vicars, but they are not here long enough. It would be great to have someone living back in the vicarage, we really need a resident vicar.
"No one has yet come forward wanting to be a church warden. We could join with other parishes and share the wardens with other local churches if we really need to.
"The church and the village needs more activity, more people. We really want the young and new residents from the village to get involved."
The church recently underwent its five-year building inspection by the Diocese, which revealed there are £200,000 worth of maintenance and repairs required.
This follows the cost of replacing stolen lead from the church roof, as reported, a few months ago.
Val Mumby, a resident in the village, whose family has lived there for more than 100 years, said: "There are a group of about 15 people keeping the church going, but they need more support.
"We need to have two church wardens by April otherwise we cannot get any grants from the Diocese to help with the costs."
St Nicholas still holds a service every week, with readings from members of the congregation.
A recent public meeting brought together many members of the village. As yet, no one has come forward to take on the role of church warden.
The Archdeacon of Stow and Lindsey, the Venerable Jane Sinclair, oversees CofE practices, including St Nicholas Church.
"We really hope it will stay open and hope we can turn it around," she said.
"It will need a lot of support from the community to make it happen.
"The works needed on the church are those expected on a medieval building. Grants can be applied for to help pay for the work.
"However, for grants to be given, the church must have a church council and church wardens.
"If the church were to close, however, we would ensure the residents could attend another in a local parish."
Comments
by MalcomsMate
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 12:49PM
“Christingles are good, quite jolly and keep the religious content firmly in the background. Let's face it, Christmas and Easter increasingly are great for family get-togethers, a bit of a knees up and general revelry. They boost retail sales and the trees, nativity scenes, easter bunnies and the little chicks are entrancing enough for the litle ones without the spiritual nonsense getting in the way.
Another plus, is that without Christmas, we wouldn't have had It's A Wonderful Life, Die Hard or all those brilliant Christmas records filling the top spots on the charts.
Keep it up, but keep it fun, commercial and above all - keep it secular!,”
by 1lincslass
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 10:54AM
“Hi respectmania - not sure how Ulceby natives would feel about a comparrison to Nunsthorpe - but I get your point.
I do think it is in everyones best interests to preserve these historic buildings for generations to come.
Perhaps the community in Ulceby need to bring back the Christingle services that used to fill the church when i was younger.”
by respectmania
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 10:48AM
“even bigger shame is in another area the well loved st martins group that has done so much for young people on the nunsthorpe are being evicted by the church .Young people have brought many good news headlines to St Martins yet will be back on the streets through no fault of the group”
by respectmania
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 10:44AM
“even bigger shame is in another area the well loved st martins group that has done so much for young people on the nunsthorpe are being evicted by the church .Young people have brought many good news headlines to St Martins yet will be back on the streets through no fault of the group”
by 1lincslass
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 9:40AM
“Malcolms Mate - I went to the Primary and was a member of the choir when I was younger (mr Marsden was the Vicar then) - and my old headmaster (Mr Saltfleet) used to tell us all gory stories about the Plague pits and why the sycamores were planted throughout the churchyard. Such a shame for this beutiful church to close if it does. Harvest Festival was such a big deal and was really lovely - Its a shame todays kids might miss out......
By the way - even when you approach Ulceby the chuch is so dominant in the skyline. Anyone in the village and those who have been schooled there will be afftected by this - please dont view it from a religious aspect - think of the culture, the heritage and the future.
I for one am so proud that I went to this school - so for all those who left the primary in 1992 - Hi! And all you guys from Ulceby please fight to keep this beautiful church open!”
by MalcomsMate
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 8:42AM
“religian? Sorry, religion.”
by MalcomsMate
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 8:41AM
“Don't these people realise that the majority these days have not taken on the superstitions of earlier generations and are capable of living lives without the need to be propped up by religious mumbo-jumbo?
It is inevitable in a secular society that all forms of religian will lose ground against more humanist ways of life. Instead of bleating about it, these believers should wake up, smell the coffee and get together to work out which of their buildings are worth saving for cultural, historical or architectural reasons and hand the rest over to needy causes as cheap housing.
If they don't want to do that, they should bloody well shut up going on about falling congregations and lack of support and start to accept they are part of an anachronistic, ignorant and entirely future-less belief system.”