St Anne's, Mill Lane

A small church that meets in the evening, so the whole village can come.

Our main service is at six on Sunday evening — after milking, after the late shift, after the football. It lasts an hour. There is tea afterwards and nobody is in a hurry.

Plan your first evening Meet us

Inside a small village church: rows of wooden pews leading to a painted altar under a white ceiling.

This week

Sun 18:00Evening service, with the choir of eleven
Mon 10:00Toddlers and tea in the side room
Wed 19:30Bell ringing practice — come and have a go
Thu 12:30Soup lunch, pay what you can
Sat 09:00Churchyard tidy, gloves provided

Old stones, an open door and a kettle that is always on.

St Anne's has stood on Mill Lane since 1342. The roof is newer, the heating is newer still, and the welcome is the oldest thing in the building.

We are a small Church of England parish of about sixty people, from the baby on the back row to Margaret, who has read the lesson for forty-one years. You do not need to know the words. Most of us still read them off the sheet.

Who we are

A plain white chapel with a simple altar, a wooden cross and rows of wooden chairs.

A dark stone cross on a small altar in a sunlit stone chapel.

Four ways to join in

You are welcome to just sit at the back. If you would like more, this is where most people start.

A group of friends of different ages talking and laughing together indoors.

Thursday soup

A long table, two soups and bread from the bakery. Pay what you can, or nothing.

A circle of people sitting on the grass on a sunny day.

Summer field group

Bring a blanket. We read, talk and eat in the meadow behind the church, June to August.

Someone carrying a tray of small communion cups between rows of people.

Helping on Sunday

Reading, welcoming, or carrying the tray. A rota you can leave whenever you like.

A large, cheerful group of young people posing together outside an arched doorway.

Youth on Fridays

Pizza, table tennis and an honest conversation for 11 to 16 year olds.

Plan your first evening

The people you will meet

There is one vicar, shared with two other villages, so Sunday evenings are run by all of us together.

Got a question before you come? Ring the vicarage, or just ask whoever is at the door with the hymn sheets.

Revd Ruth OkaforVicar of three parishes

Margaret HaleReader, since 1984

Tom PryceChoir, bells and boiler

Aisha & Dev MistryYouth on Fridays

An old wooden church with a tall steeple among autumn trees under a blue sky.

The back of a full congregation seated in wooden pews during an evening service.

Stories from the back row

What people told us after their first few evenings.

A white church tower with a pointed steeple against a pale sky.

Kerry, nurse on nights
"Six o'clock is the first time in years I could go to church. I come straight from bed and nobody minds the hair."

Joe, nine
"I ring the small bell now. You have to pull it really slowly."

Hannah, new to the village
"I came for the tea, honestly. I stayed because someone remembered my name the second week."

Before your first evening

An old stone church with a red roof, half hidden by trees.

Where to go

Park on the green by the pub, not on Mill Lane. The south door is the one with the lamp on; the step is level for wheelchairs.

Rows of wooden pews in front of tall stained glass windows.

What happens

Two hymns, a reading, a ten-minute talk and a prayer. Communion on the first Sunday of the month; join in or stay seated, both are fine.

A village at night with its small church lit up among snowy roofs and trees.

And afterwards

Tea, squash and whatever someone baked, at the back. Stay five minutes or an hour. Children can play in the vestry.

Ring the vicarage