Flamstead Children’s Village Show

We had planned another exciting heritage scarecrow tableau in the Church during our 2020 Scarecrow Festival, and to add some arts and crafts classes focused on the history of St Leonard’s to the children’s competition classes in the September Village Show....

Delivering a heritage project during a pandemic

In early March (2020) we heard the fantastic news that the National Lottery Heritage Fund had decided to award us the funding for the Delivery Phase of our project to repair the medieval nave roof and clerestory windows of St Leonard’s Church in Flamstead, and...

Scarecrows tell the heritage story

Visitors to St Leonard’s Church during Flamstead’s Autumn Fayre will have encountered a scarecrow group of 13th century stonemasons busy going about the task of widening the building – and encouraging the 21st century onlookers to lend a hand! This...

The spell of St Leonard’s

I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last, to fall under the spell of St Leonard’s Church – that wonderful, craggy, 900-year-old assembly of stones, bricks, glass, wood, lead and copper sat there in the middle of our churchyard. Through being...

Flamstead Book Festival

The Flamstead Book Festival “Books in the Belfry” is back this year with a stellar line-up to help raise vital funds for the village church roof and other urgent repairs. HELEN PANKHURST, the great-granddaughter of suffragette leader Emmeline, headlines...

Matched funding pledges

When the St Leonard’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) submits a first round Heritage Lottery Bid on 25th May, it has to declare the level of funding the community will raise as a contribution to project costs. Heritage Lottery will then require that amount to be...

New thriller raises funds for church

Flamstead author Ian Ridley has swapped the buzz of sports books for the excitement of writing a thriller – and is selling copies in the village shop to help raise money for the St Leonard’s roof appeal. Ian, writer of 12 sports books including Sober, the...