St Bartholomew's Church, Great Barrow, has celebrated 700 years since the first Rector, Osbertus Gifford was instituted.
The milestone weekend began with a harvest supper on Friday night attended by more than 90 people. Previous rectors and their families came along to make it a nostalgic evening.
The following morning saw a treasure hunt around the village which families enjoyed. Clues were based on rectors from the church’s history. The church was open all day with a steady stream of visitors to see historical and art and craft exhibitions.
In the afternoon, there was a concert of local talent full of variety from instrumental pieces by Sophie Runciman and Charlotte Higgins, organ recitals by church organists Zandra Lomas and Curtis Antrim and performances by local musical artists, singer Rachel Barlow and musician Simon Jones, with his friend James singing and a Pam Ayres poem by the current rector, Colin Randall.
Between each item of the concert, there were snippets from the past history of the parish from Alan and Julia Frew.
Sunday saw a full church for a service which celebrated both the harvest of crops and the 700-year ‘harvest of souls’. Children took part by dressing up in period costumes from each of the last seven centuries.
A visual time-line made by Judith Smith was unrolled down the aisle.
Bishop John Hayden gave a talk on ‘Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today and for ever’ and ended the service by praying for God’s blessing for the future.
