A MESSAGE FROM THE VICAR OF ST AUGUSTINE'S,
THE REVEREND IVAN HOWITT

The Church building of St Augustine Hedon, East Yorkshire, England, has stood on the high point of the ancient mMarket town of Hedon for over 800 years. During that time the building has witnessed many changes, but has continually served the needs of the community.

Now in the 21st Century this lovely old building is in need of major restoration. Along with the plan to find the funding necessary to restore St Augustine's, there has come the realisation that the building needs to be developed to enable it to fulfil a fuller function than it is able to at the moment.

The building is used for regular worship: on Sundays, a midweek Holy Communion, funerals, weddings and baptisms, but for the large part of the week the building lies empty….and locked!! This is a great shame for such a majestic building. It stands proudly at the centre of this ancient town and it should be open much more. It has great potential to be able to serve the community in new and exciting ways.

Such uses could include:

Regular concerts Exhibitions Group and school visits Musical education Historical and architectural education Community and social gatherings

St Augustine is a beautiful building of fine scale and proportions. It has many delightful architectural features. So in addition to the above uses it should be accessible to as wide an audience as possible including tourists and local folk who would like to explore its many treasures.

These are in addition as to how the Christian Community could make better use of the building, including; open access for private prayer, children and youth work, spiritual nurture, meditation, education and parish administration.

It is an underused resource for both the Christian Community and the town itself. To enable wider use of the building it was realised that it needed some development.

Plans are therefore being drawn up to

look at installing toilet facilities, including provision for the disabled. install a kitchen area. make use of one of the transepts as a meeting room. develop a room that could be used as a parish office.

These developments would increase the possible ways in which the building could be used and would also help the Parochial Church Council to fulfil its obligations under the new Disability Discrimination Act.

A building like St Augustine's needs to be open and accessible. It therefore needs to be restored and developed in ways that will enable it to continue its function as a place of worship but also as a major community facility for the town of Hedon and its people and the country as a whole.

Ivan Howitt
Vicar

---

UPDATE - January 2006

Provision of toilets and catering facilities within the North Transept has reached an advanced stage of planning. The final hurdle arises from archaeological concerns resulting from disturbing the ancient foundations. It is expected that this will soon be overcome and that a long needed facility will materialise.

BACK TO PREVIOUS PAGE ~ BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE