Friends of The Collegiate

Church Of The Holy Trinity

Tattershall Lincolnshire

Keeping this old house alive

Friends newsletter Number 1.

 

Welcome to the official website of the Friends of Holy Trinity Church, Tattershall in Lincolnshire, England.

 

This is the first letter of our new organisation – or at least it is the first letter of the newly formed Friends of Holy Trinity, for there have been previous incarnations.  

 

In the 1970’s a Friends group was set up on a local basis by the Rev. George Taylor, then Churchwarden and curate of Tattershall Parish.  In the 1980’s this was superseded by a body run by Mr. Hugh Goodliffe Wayman, who, with the help and dedication of the Churchwardens of that time,  raised the best part of £500,000 GBP for a major restoration of the Holy Trinity Church, carried out between 1988 and 2000.

 

Now in the new Millennium, Friends of Holy Trinity is reborn with ambitions for a global, as well as a local, reach.  It is the first time that a Friends of Holy Trinity has been formed as an official Charitable Trust – governed by a Constitution and with the aim of establishing an active body of membership.

With all the advances in communication, of which this letter is just such an example, it is hoped that the Friends of Holy Trinity will generate interest and membership from all over the World.

 

We have been most fortunate to be able to secure Julian Fellowes as our Patron.  As well as his established celebrity as an actor, director and script writer, Julian is also Lord of the Manor of Tattershall.  Already he has been actively participant in the early stages of establishing the Friends and will be as involved in the events and related activities as his busy schedule allows.

 

In this year of our launch, 2007, it is also the 400th anniversary of the voyage of local hero Captain John Smith (he of Pocahontas fame) to America.  Ten years before the Pilgrim Fathers set out from England, John Smith had arrived on the banks of the James River and on May 14th 1607, Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony was founded.  Jamestown is commonly regarded as the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following many earlier failed attempts along the east coast.  It was named in honour of King James I of England, who granted the private proprietorship of the area to the Virginia Company of England.

 

John Smith’s historic life began in Willoughby, near Louth, where he was born and christened, and progressed to his becoming the President of Virginia.  Tattershall Castle and Holy Trinity Church have been included on a trail of ten places in Lincolnshire where he was known to have had significant associations before leaving for America.  In the grounds of Tattershall Castle he learnt his swordsmanship – and it is only a small leap of faith that has him praying in Holy Trinity Church, just as the modern day congregation continue to do.

 

We are launched on our own voyage on Easter Sunday, April 8th 2007, needing to raise nearly £250,000 GBP in our first three years in order to carry out essential work to the magnificent building that is Holy Trinity Church.

 

We invite you to take time to read over the content of our newly launched website, contact us and send us your comments – and most importantly join us as a Friend.  

 

Please, wherever you are in the world, become an active member of our very important organisation.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Roger Ede and David Mullenger

Founding Trustees of The Friends of Holy Trinity, Tattershall.