St Michael & All Angels

There are some 16,000 parish churches in England, each of them special and different. They share much in common, of course, but each one also has a unique story formed by the history of the place in which it is set and which, just by being there, has helped shaped that history. This is true of any church, even modern ones.

We know that there has been Christian worship here for well over a thousand years. Tens of thousands of people have lived their lives in within the influence of a place of worship close to a river which is itself remarkable. Less than 200 yards from the church the sweet waters of the Sugar Brook turn, almost instantly, into the saltiest inland river in England, the River Salwarpe (‘salt water’). It passes through the ancient settlement with its story of weirs, mills and fish ponds, all long gone but whose marks are there for those who can see. The salt pan, just below the surface of the ground, the last remains of an ancient sea that dried out millions of years ago, leaches salt into the river and into the lives of dozens of generations of people.

We can stand today and breathe in all that long, long story and look up at the glorious wooden steeple with its woodpeckered shingle covering. Around us are many trees, but especially yew trees, two of which are 1200 years old. But if you visit those trees you are close to a Pokémon Palace and not far away is a geocache.

The war memorial is a testimony to the brutality of the 20th century and the headstones are no longer readable because of the acid rain caused by industrial pollution. This is no place to escape from reality, but to ponder it all in the presence of a stone witness to the truth that our complex world with its turbulent history is not meaningless or a sad accident, but is held together, made meaningful and full of hope, by the love of God which this place insists is the bedrock of existence.

So approach the porch, open the door and enter. Then open your ears, your nose, your eyes. Touch the stone, feel the wood, feel this place. The angels await you.