BooksCHURCH
Our thriving church serves the ancient village of Lydeard St Lawrence together with the surrounding hamlets of Westowe, Pyleigh, West Leigh and Chapel Leigh.
The present church building is believed to be the third on the present site, the first being a Saxon church which later gave way to a Norman one which, in turn, gave way to the present building. It is of traditional design with a Somerset tower built of local red stone.
Our Services are normally Morning Prayer at 11:15 on the first Sunday of the month and Holy Communion at 11:15 on the third Sunday. Children are very welcome on our church and we have a carpeted children’s area with tables and chairs, stocked with soft cuddly toys, books and art materials for young, enthusiastic and energetic visitors.
Details of forthcoming services are on the News and Events page
Holy Week Services 2024
All these services will be at Bishops Lydeard unles otherwise indicated:
- Maundy Thursday 28th March Washing of feet 7:30 pm
- Good Friday 29th March at West Bagborough Stations of the Cross Noon
- Good Friday 29th March The Last Hour 2:00 pm
- Easter Sunday 31st March Easter Sunday Holy Communion 11:15 am
Abseiling Event on Lydeard St. Lawrence Church Tower
Saturday 18th May
A fun fund raising event in aid of the church development project. If you are interested in having a go, please contact Pat Coles
Church Development Project
The Lydeard St Lawrence Church Development Project aims to make our beautiful church more suitable to the needs of the 21st century so that more people will want to use the church, not just to attend services, but also for school activities, concerts, art and photography exhibitions, music lessons, bell ringing events, plays, and as a meeting place for hobby and interest groups, for example, local history talks, arts and crafts sessions.
The Project aims to provide the church with a fully accessible toilet, a water supply, drainage arrangements, a food and drinks servery, a meeting/gathering area, a better heating system and improved access.
The project team has been working very hard to drive this project forward and has already achieved successful Big Lottery funding which has financed getting architect plans drawn up; obtaining the necessary church permissions/approvals to agree to the work being carried out; conducting a village survey which produced over 100 responses in favour of the project (see the link to the survey report on the side of this page).
Church Development Project Team
Pat Coles, Don Hobson, Helen Foster, Melanie Gray,
Kate Campbell, Janine Donovan and Paul Yeomans.
Bell Ringing at Lydeard St Lawrence
The church has a beautiful set of 8 bells, plus a semitone bell to give a lighter middle 6. We practice on a Monday evening and ring for weekly services at Lydeard St Lawrence and Combe Florey. We welcome both visiting ringers and potential new ringers. See the Contacts Page to get in touch with the Tower Captain.
