We welcome all those who would like to support and assist in the maintenance and development of our beautiful, medieval church; to preserve and protect it as a place of Christian worship and to help it grow as a focal point in the life of our local community.
Since I wrote the introduction to the Friends of St Mary's brochure more than ten years ago, many of the objectives we set ourselves then have been achieved through the extensive refurbishment that is currently in progress.
When our church was built more than 750 years ago, it was the biggest roofed public building on the Island and was very much a focus of Island life. For that reason, and in common with churches up and down the land, it was a very flexible building with no fixed internal structures.
During the Victorian period the Island population in general were regular church–goers and the inside of the church was changed to reflect this and make it more comfortable. Pews and other fixed fittings were introduced but, unfortunately, with them the flexibility of the church was gradually lost together with its suitabilty for general community activities; the current refurbishment is designed to address this problem. Phase I is now complete and we are now at the early stages of Phase II.
Needless to say, all of this costs money and though good progress has been made and is being made to raise it, there is a long way still to go. So if you would like to help us and the Island please join the Friends of St Mary's by completing the Membership Application Form on this page.