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Welcome to the
Gringley on the Hill Parish Church web page.
We hope that you will
find this information useful and interesting.
Churches

A parish
church has stood in Gringley on the Hill for a thousand years,
and the present building has served our community for more than
eight centuries. The church is used for regular Sunday and
midweek services, as well as a cultural centre, as a setting for
drama, music and exhibitions. The Church is also used by the
thriving St. Peter’s Primary School in Gringley, for special
occasions such as Harvest Festival and Christingle, and end of
term services,
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Key
contacts:
Priest-in-charge:
Rev.
Jonathan Smithurst Tel: 01777 817364
Church
wardens:
Ann Marie
Morley Tel: 01777 818823
Hugo Dunkley Tel:
01777 816003
Services:
Gringley on
the Hill Parish is now grouped with Clayworth, Everton and Mattersey,
and schedules of services for all four churches are planned together.
Rev. Jonathan Smithurst was appointed the new Priest-in-charge of this
group, and was installed in a service at Everton Parish Church on 3rd
April 2006. Full details of service times are displayed on the Church
Notice Board, just to the left of the entrance gate from High Street, in
the Beacon, and in the monthly newsletter.
We try to
provide a range of services, and everyone is welcome to attend any of
the services. Holy Communion services
are either according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, or Common
Worship – Traditional language. The style of Holy Communion service is
shown on the service listing. Regular Family Services are held about
every six weeks, and we also have
services of Morning Prayer. Most services at Gringley are at 9.30 a.m.,
but once every six weeks (or thereabouts) the service will be at 8.00
a.m. On special festivals, a joint service for the whole benefice
is held in one of the churches, which is usually the only service in the
benefice on that day.
Sundays
Services
for the next few weeks are as follows, all at Gringley unless stated
otherwise.
Sunday 7th February 9.30 a.m. Holy
Communion
Wednesday 10th February 9.30 a.m. Holy
Communion at Clayworth
Sunday 14th February 10.00 a.m.
United Service of Holy Communion for all four Parishes at Mattersey
Sunday 21st February 9.30 a.m.
Family Service
Sunday 28th February 9.30 a.m. Holy
Communion (BCP)
Sunday 7th March 9.30 a.m.
Morning Prayer
Wednesday 10th March 9.30 a.m. Holy
Communion (BCP)
Sunday 14th March 9.30 a.m.
Family Service for Mothering Sunday
Sunday 21st March 9.30 a.m. Holy
Communion
Sunday 28th March 9.30 a.m.
Morning Prayer – Palm Sunday
Monday 29th March 7.00 p.m.
Compline
Tuesday 30th March 7.00 p.m.
Compline at Clayworth
Wednesday 31st March 7.00 p.m. “The
Road to Calvary” – music and readings for Passiontide at Everton
Thursday 1st April 7.00 p.m.
Agape meal in Mattersey Church Hall
Good Friday 2nd April 10.00 a.m.
Family Service
Saturday 3rd April 7.00 p.m.
Compline at Mattersey
Easter Sunday 4th April 9.30 a.m. Holy
Communion
Sunday 11th April 10.00 a.m.
Holy Communion at Everton
Sunday 18th April 9.30 a.m.
Family Service
Sunday 25th April 9.30 a.m.
Holy Communion
Family
Services
are held every month. There is a well-stocked children’s corner, so
children of all ages are very welcome.
The next Family Services are
on Sunday 21st February, Sunday 14th March –
Mothering Sunday, Good Friday 2nd April, and Sunday 18th
April.
There are
occasional sung evensongs which are detailed in the “Beacon” (see below)
and on the church notice board.
Wednesdays
A mid-week
service of Holy Communion is held once a month on Wednesdays, rotating
round the Parishes.
Thursdays
There is a
service of Morning Prayer every Thursday morning at Clayworth at 9.30
a.m.
Full details of
all services are shown monthly in the diary section of the Gringley on
the Hill village magazine
“The Beacon”, in
the Church Newsletter, and on the external church notice board.

Access to church:
We are pleased to
confirm that the church is open every day from around 9.00 a.m. until
dusk, and we welcome visitors to our church.
Bell Ringing:
Gringley Church has an enthusiastic and active Bell Ringing Group, which
practises at 10.00 a.m. on Saturday mornings, and rings at Sunday
services, and for special occasions. The bells were augmented to six in
January 2002, with the additional of two new bells. (For further
information, please contact the Tower Captain, Ann Marie Morley on 01777
818823). Visiting ringing groups are always welcome.
Choir:
Gringley Church has an active choir, which sings at Sunday services and
on special occasions. Practices take place as required, and usually on
Tuesdays or Wednesdays. We are always keen to have new members, either
for the regular Sunday choir or for special occasions – please contact
the Choirmaster – Hugo Dunkley on 01777 816003, for further information.
Singers from Clayworth, Everton and Mattersey are particularly welcome
so that the choir is representative of all four Parishes in the group.
St. Peter’s Primary School:
St. Peter’s School is a Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary school
and is well supported by the community. A recent project to provide
additional teaching and staff accommodation has just been completed, and
provides much enhanced facilities. For further information, please
contact the school on 01777 817330
Upcoming events:
Sunday 21st
March: A performance of
Stainer’s Crucifixion will be given at 6.30 p.m. in Clayworth Church by
Tickhill Parish Church Choir, augmented by the Choir from our four
parishes.
Wednesday 31st
March: “The Road to Calvary” a
special service for Holy Week, consisting of readings, choir numbers and
hymns for the congregation – in EVERTON church.
Friday 23rd
April: An Entertainment for St.
George’s Day at 7.30 p.m. in church.
Saturday 19th
June: “Rock in the Barn” – a
night of 60’s music featuring the Storm Beats and Rough Justice, to be
held at Dunstan Farm. More information to follow in due course.
New Facilities
Work has
now been completed on the installation of a toilet, a very small
“kitchen” area and various other facilities under the tower at the west
end of church. The font has been re-located approximately to where it
was prior to the 1912 extension to the church. This has improved
pedestrian access into church from the west door, and made the provision
of refreshments at major events much easier. These new facilities have
now been utilised for a couple of events, including the Christmas
concert on 13th December, and have proved to be a massive
benefit. Access to and use of the ringing gallery, both for bell ringing
and other uses, has also been much improved.
This is
phase one of the project – phase two is the provision of access for the
disabled from High Street, and phase three will cover the glazing in of
the ringing gallery arch. Our thanks go to everyone who has supported
events over the last few years which have raised the necessary funds to
permit these works to go ahead. However, phase 1 has
only been made possible with additional funding from external sources.
The Church Premises Development Fund of the Diocese of Southwell and
Nottingham have agreed to provide a grant of £10,000, and a sum £7,500
has been provided by Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd (WREN) who
distribute the Landfill Tax Credits of Waste Recycling Group Plc (WRG).
The allocation and distribution of this grant has been made by
Nottinghamshire Historic Churches Trust, a registered charity whose aims
are to assist with the restoration of historic churches and chapels of
all Christian denominations throughout Nottinghamshire.
A Brief History
A Church is recorded at Gringleia super Montem
in the Domesday Survey of 1066, though nothing visible now remains of
that Saxon building. After the Norman Conquest much of the land in north
Nottinghamshire, including the Rectory of Gringley, was given to Roger
de Busli, a favourite of King William I. Roger's estate passed to Sir
William de Lovetot, a great benefactor of the Church, who in 1103
founded an Augustinian Convent in Worksop, endowing it "with all lands,
tithes and things belonging" to a number of churches, including Gringley.
Before the appointment of our first Vicar, Augustinian "Black Canons"
from Worksop Priory, risking the dangers of Sherwood Forest, travelled
fifteen miles along its tracks to celebrate Mass in this remote place
hemmed in by forest on three sides and treacherous swamps to the north.
Then Canons' Houses were built just to the South of the Churchyard. and
a small community of priests moved in to serve Gringley and neighbouring
parishes. The present Church, dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul,
was begun around 1180, and originally consisted of Chancel and Nave,
with a squat Tower at the West end. There was probably (see below)
already a chapel on the site of the present Lady Chapel, possibly for
the exclusive use of the Augustinian Canons, and the building imitates
some features of their Priory at Worksop.
The Augustinian Canons served this parish until 22 November 1272,
when Will de Burghes was instituted as the first Vicar. From that day
unti1995 the parish had its own incumbent. Will and his successors were
for centuries dependent for their living on tithes -
a proportion of the produce from farms in the
Parish - and would have sat to receive them at the Butter Cross, the
shaft of which survives at the top of Cross Hill near the
Churchyard gate. The Prior and Canons of Worksop remained Patrons of the
Living, with the right to appoint the Vicar, until the dissolution of
the monasteries in the sixteen-century.
Patronage is now in the hands of the Lord Bishop of Southwell, whose
Diocese includes the whole of Nottinghamshire.
(Further information can be found in the “Short Guide for Visitors”
which is available inside the church.)
Access to Information
We welcome to the
church those seeking information about ancestors with connections with
Gringley on the Hill. It should be noted that the churchyard was closed
in 1910, and after that date burials have taken place in the Parish
Cemetery which is located on the approach to the Village from Bawtry.
All old parish records – weddings, funerals, baptisms etc – are held by
Nottinghamshire Archives and the Southwell Diocese Record Office in
Nottingham. Contact telephone No. 0115 958 1634 or visit the website
www.nottscc.gov.uk
and follow links to the archives.
This page will be regularly updated. Last update –
12th February 2010
Copyright: Gringley on the Hill Parochial Church Council
The section entitled “Brief History” is an extract from “A short
Visitors Guide” written by Ivon Baker in collaboration with Ian
Robinson, which made extensive use of researches of the late Leslie
Ellis and Henry Minta.
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