All Saints Beckingham, Lincolnshire

"The perfect English church in the perfect English village"

"A mini cathedral"

(Descriptions from BBC "Restoration Village" 2006)

 

Situated on the A17 close to Newark on Trent and on Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire border, All Saints church in Beckingham is coming alive after being unavailable for services for some ten years because it was found to be structurally unsafe.

While the church was closed the villagers never gave up the vision of it coming alive again and kept holding services where they could.  These included harvest festivals in the churchyard and carol singing round the village streets.

The roofs on the chancel, the nave and the north aisle have been restored, thanks to grants from English Heritage and charitable benefactors.  The south aisle roof needs attention, and the interior needs much restoration.

 

 

 

 

Our Aims

BRINGING ALL SAINTS BECKINGHAM ALIVE AGAIN

"All Saints is a Grade 1 listed building, which has suffered too long from degradation by the weather and past neglect. It was closed in 1998 and almost declared redundant. But the villagers and the PCC are determined to bring it back into use again - and a good start has been made, gaining funds to restore the roofing. But there is so much more we want to do! We are a small village in Lincolnshire, near the Nottinghamshire border, on the A17 We have THREE objectives.

1.  LOOKING UP:

To restore the chancel as a glowing neo-gothic jewel, a focus for worship and a real ‘gateway to heaven’ area! Already we are holding services there, though the walls are peeling!

2.  LOOKING OUT:

 To transform the rest of the listed building – back to its almost Cistercian simplicity, with soaring arches, and a great space where community events can take place – and with such adjuncts as catering facilities, disabled loo and room for concerts, art exhibitions and so on!

3. LOOKING FORWARD:

To make the church ‘sustainable’. Projects need to self-sustain! So we are hoping to put in solar heating, and facilities which will allow the church to become a place which pays for itself! I hope it will become a beacon for the future development of many other rural churches."

Alan Megahey, Rector