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Celebration of our new roof

2019-09-04T14:06:04+01:00

We held a special service on July 28th to celebrate the work done on our new roof.

Our Lord Mayor & his wife join members of the Roof Project team and the congregation to celebrate the successful and safe conclusion.

The project to replace the roof is the culmination of a major renewal programme which began back in 2013 with the new community centre building. This was followed in 2017 by a complete internal renewal of the church which saw the replacement of the old heating system, new energy efficient and modern lighting, improvements to our sound and video capability as well as a beautiful new wooden floor. 

All these changes represent a once in a generation, investment by the church and its supporters in the life of the local community. The newly revitalised buildings act as host to services, weddings, funerals, major civic events, beer festivals, Christmas markets, concerts and other performances, community cinema shows, dancing classes and a wide variety of activities.It seems fitting that this final phase, tops off this renewal with a new roof and insulation upgrade for the church itself.

The service was attended by our Lord and Lady Mayor, Robert Buckland our MP and Robert Skinner our roofing contractor and members of his family and team. Thanks were given for all those who have made the roof project a success and particular thanks was given for those, no longer with us, whose generosity in the form of legacies, enabled much of the work to proceed. Pamela Gilbert, Peter Ford, John Sondermann, John & Aila English, John Plaister and Ken Trennary.

Celebration of our new roof2019-09-04T14:06:04+01:00

South Transept Window Repair

2020-01-25T20:35:33+00:00

As our major roof repair draws to its close, we are turning our attention to securing the future of our South Transept Window.

The late John Plaister, a long standing member of the church and valued adviser on all matters relating to clocks and windows, first drew our attention to the poor state of the stonework on the mullions ( the upright  bits that frame the 4 panels in the windows). This has caused the stained glass to bow and crack in places.

For various reasons we were unable to proceed with the necessary repairs until now. It will be necessary to completely remove the window – we are entrusting this work to Holy Well Glass a respected glazing and renovation company who will start work on it in the next 2 weeks. This will involve scaffolding both inside and outside the church. All efforts will be made to ensure that neither impacts the day to day use of the church unduly. Everyone though is asked to take care whilst in the area of the Childrens Corner and the South Transept door.

  • The window
  • Preparing the works
  • The stained glass is removed

The window will be completely removed and taken to HWG’s workshop to be renovated and the stonework will be repaired and replaced. The work is planned to take up to mid/late November and represents another, once in a generation restoration. We are greatly indebted to all those who have left us legacies over the years and to those who generously donate to secure the future of the church building for future generations.

The Friends of Christ church have ensured John Plaister’s work and legacy is remembered by donating £2,000 towards the cost of this renovation. You can view details of many of those who have contributed both time and money to the maintenance and future of the church in our searchable on-line database https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/memorial.php

South Transept Window Repair2020-01-25T20:35:33+00:00

Old Town Festival Events

2019-06-19T12:51:20+01:00

The Partnership of Churches are once again supporting the OT Festival this year. View the whole week’s events here

Thursday 13 June 2019 1-2 pm Lunch time Piano Recital by Paul Turner in Christ Church
Fascinatin’ Rhythm 

Tickets £5 from parish office or on door

Refreshments from 12 noon Sponsored by the Friends of Christ Church & Morris Owen Accountants

A piano recital celebrating the influence of jazz in classical music in classical music

JOPLIN                        Maple Leaf Rag                                              
DEBUSSY                    Le petit negre, La plus que lent
                                      Golliwog’s Cakewalk
GERSHWIN                Three Preludes for Piano

COPLAND                   Four Piano Blues     

KAPUSTIN                  Twenty-Four Preludes Op. 53                   

CHICK COREA           Selection from ‘Children’s Songs’            

GINASTERA               Danzas Argentinas                              

Friday 14th June from 2 – 5pm – Sparkling Afternoon Tea –

with Live Entertainment

 Christ Church, Old Town, Swindon

Cream tea £5.00

Prosecco tea £7.50

Bar open
Tickets on the door

Old Town Festival Events2019-06-19T12:51:20+01:00

Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2019

2019-10-06T11:09:54+01:00

We held our A.P.C.M to elect new members of the Parochial Church council ( P.C.C.) and to report on our activities and finances for the previous year.

This is an important meeting which provides our congregation, supporters and friends with information on what we have done and provides opportunities for them to ask questions or challenge the way we do things.

If you missed this year’s meeting you can catch up with the minutes and reports on the links below:

APCM-Finance-Report-on-2018Download
APCM-minutes-2019aDownload
PCC-minutes-after-2019-APCMDownload
Annual Parochial Church Meeting 20192019-10-06T11:09:54+01:00

7th Old Town Beer Festival

2019-05-18T10:56:26+01:00

10th & 11th May

Once again this year we are hosting the Old Town Beer Festival. This gives us an opportunity to welcome hundreds of local people into the church to sample a fantastic range of beers and ciders as well as enjoying our beautiful building and grounds. You can find out more about the beers & ciders on offer at https://www.facebook.com/OldTownBeerFestival or on our website at http://oldtownbeerfestival.com/

Buy your tickets for the event from our on-line ticket office https://www.book-online.co.uk/cccc/tickets/events

Proceeds from the event go to the Christ Church roof appeal which aims to help fund the major works to the roof. Find out more on https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/roofappeal

7th Old Town Beer Festival2019-05-18T10:56:26+01:00

Forging Connections

2019-05-18T10:57:06+01:00

Forging Connections is a partnership between our town-wide Christian Organisations and the Church in Swindon to build relationship, serve each other well & share the Gospel. We aim to meet and engage with Church leaders from throughout Swindon before hosting a ‘Forging Connections’ event for the wider church community, to;

• Raise the Profile and Awareness of our organisations to a wider range of churches
• Forge Relationships and Communication between us to work more closely together
• Seek new Volunteers to serve in our organisations and so grow our services
• Connect people in need of our services, through the support of the local church
• Develop our Services through our Christian connections to reach more people
• Create Pathways for people we serve, to find their way into the local church.

Forging Connections Event
Thursday 9th May (19:00 – 21:30) The Trinity Centre (Gateway Church), Stonehill Green, Swindon, SN5 7AR
This will be a collaboration of our Organisations hosting a ‘Market-Place Fayre’, to give the whole church body an opportunity to meet us personally and find out all about our services. The event will encourage people to pray, volunteer and get involved with our organisations. All are welcome

Forging Connections2019-05-18T10:57:06+01:00

Concert at Christ Church

2019-06-19T12:51:54+01:00

David Halls- Director of Music
Salisbury Cathedral

ORGAN RECITAL: CHRIST CHURCH: OLD TOWN: SATURDAY 18 MAY 7.30
To further celebrate the refurbished Christ Church organ, a recital will be given by  David Halls, Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral, on Saturday 18 May at 7.30.  The choirs of the Old Town Partnership of Churches will be joining in with  “I was glad” by Parry and Zadok the Priest by Handel.
Refreshments (wine and soft drinks) will be provided in the interval by the Friends of Christ Church who have made a major contribution to the costs of the organ work. A retiring collection will be held in aid of further church refurbishment.

Concert at Christ Church2019-06-19T12:51:54+01:00

Easter eve Ramble

2019-05-18T10:57:20+01:00

Saturday 20 April 2019 – Avebury to Marlborough via Fyfield Down. 

Meet at bus stop outside Prospect shop in Victoria Road Old Town, to catch 10.11 bus to Avebury (Stagecoach service 49). 

The bus is scheduled to stop at Avebury (Red Lion pub) at 10.34 and from there we start the 7 mile walk to Marlborough.  The route climbs from Avebury till we cross the Ridgeway path at Overton Down and continues across Fyfield Down and Sarsen Stones where we plan to stop for a picnic lunch.  We continue eastwards, past gallops and descend into Marlborough where there are several options for refreshment.  The route follows quiet roads, grassy meadows, and rutted and gravel tracks.  Depending on the make-up of the walking party and the weather, we would expect to arrive in Marlborough at about 3 pm.  

Please bring packed lunch, spare clothes and waterproofs. 

We plan to catch a late afternoon bus back from Marlborough (e.g. 15.49 or 16.49 Salisbury Red X5, or 16.40 Stagecoach service 80).    The Wiltshire Day Rover bus ticket (£8.50) is valid on Stagecoach, Salisbury Red and Swindon’s Bus Company bus operators.

A booking has been made for 6 pm for an early supper at Il Capricorno’s, Old Town.  Please let Daniel Pitt know if you would like to join the supper party so that the number can be confirmed. 

Daniel Pitt – home 521732, mobile – 07834 704350

Easter eve Ramble2019-05-18T10:57:20+01:00

Minutes of the March Buildings Committee

2019-03-27T12:19:41+00:00

Wheatsheaf Pub –11th Jan 2019

Present :  Stephen Grosvenor, Mike Palmer, Reg Hardwick, Daniel Pitt

  • Item 1. SG opened with a prayer.
  • Item 2. Minutes of last meeting (21/01/19) – reviewed and accepted. Any outstanding items have been are included in the agenda for this meeting.
  • Item 3. Budget 2019 and monitoring of payments – Discussion on the specifics of how this might be achieved. Since our buildings budget is so small this year, we need to monitor and agree expenditure. Stephen to discuss with Andrew our Treasurer and Ian Hamilton/ Helen how payments are managed and recorded.
  • Item 4. – Christ Church & St Mary’s Projects.
    1. DAC submission for Remembrance Garden. Passed to Chancellor for final approval but he has a question before grant of faculty. Stephen has forwarded this to Simon and the committee for consideration and reply to Janet Saxon/The Chancellor. Ian Handy is proceeding to provide an estimate of costs for the planned works. This will inform the budget process.
  • Progress on roof. Despite poor weather at times, the roof replacement continues. The chancel and east facing transept roofs and organ roofs are all complete and the new ridge tiles are soon to be fixed in place.
  • We agreed the final draft of a report on the project cost estimates for the March PCC meeting.  This is attached to these minutes.
  • Sound System – the reconfiguration of the sound controller is complete and should make the operation of the sound system significantly simpler.
  • Gas repairs – thanks to Daniel for his dogged pursuit of the outstanding documentation for the Gas heating system from Bayes. We are still awaiting a response to our request for
    • Gas safe certificate
    • The original drawings with pipe dimensions
    • 2 A1 copies of the heating schematic for the files
    • A certificate/acknowledgement of the Gerberit guarantee on our pipe joints (which should be a life time guarantee).
  • Also thanks to Dan for managing the recent repair to the Bosch heat exchanger which was done under guarantee. The new exchanger is guaranteed for a further 5 years.
  • Item 5 Victoria Road. All is going well at Firestorm games. Mike is producing a quarterly invoice for the rental.
  • Item 6 – Community Centre – The doors and locks are still causing some issues. Stephen will pick up with Chris.
  • Item 7 St Mary’s – Chris has submitted final costs for outstanding items for the refurbishment
  • Item 8 – Other properties:
    • 31 – some queries on the electrics in the kitchen – these are not dangerous but may require attention in the future. Gary has still not produced a quote for the new shower.
    • 32 Rob Skinner has looked at the roof and cannot see a problem.

Item 9 Any other business

Next Meeting: May 22nd 7.30pm Wheatsheaf Public House

Minutes of the March Buildings Committee2019-03-27T12:19:41+00:00
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