A second fantastic Bumper Book sale in St Mary’s Church by FOSMA and FOCAL on the amazing Adderbury Community Day Saturday 18 September yielded £2,000 to share between them. This was the result of the sale of about 2,000 books of the approximately 4,000 taken to the church by villagers plus the wonderful teas served and the payment by World of Books for the remainder. Well done and thank you to those who worked very hard on a demanding project

FOSMA and FOCAL held a wonderful giant book sale in St Mary’s Adderbury on 27th April and together they raised £1,450. This money will be split evenly between helping the library and the church. It was a lovely occasion, with dozens of people meandering gently through the aisles, totally absorbed with trying to find the book of their choice. Searching was made much easier by the occasional stop for some delicious cakes washed down with tea and coffee. The sale was helped by the enormous amount of work put in earlier with the collection, carriage to the church and sorting of the 6,000 books (give or take) which so many people had so generously given. Finally success was due to all those who helped on the day, some continuously from 11am to 4pm and to all those who came and bought. It also allowed those watching the Day of Dance to come in to the warm church and allow their limbs to defrost, before going back out again.  Many thanks to everyone who supported the event in any way.

Thank you so much to everyone who came and supported Chris Leslie’s concert last saturday night in St Mary’s Church raising the fantastic amount of £1836 for FOSMA.  It was a truly magical evening.  As the sun was setting, bathing the church in evening sunlight, Chris treated us to a selection of beautiful music and haunting songs while playing a selection of instruments including a native Indian flute, guitar, fiddle and  his much cherished Hardanger fiddle.  A huge thank you to Chris for sharing his precious time with us and treating us all to a memorable evening.

St Mary’s Church has received a confirmed grant of £290,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its tower restoration project. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the project aims to make essential repairs to the historic church tower, which is on English Heritage’s ‘At Risk Register’, and preserve it as a focus of village life and a place of great beauty for future generations.
The contractor Stone Edge has started to rebuild the badly damaged eastern parapet, relead the parapet gutters, replace gargoyles, repair the belfry louvres, repair the carved frieze and redecorate the clock faces. An educational programme is running to coincide with the work including children from the nearby Christopher Rawlins Church of England Primary School designing replacement gargoyles and a village talk by the architect about the restoration work being done on the tower.
The £400,000 needed for restoration is largely funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Friends of St Mary’s Adderbury (FOSMA) is raising funds with Jazz in the Garden, Christmas Tree Festival, Chris Lesley concert and other community events. Those who were sponsored to take part in Ride and Stride also raised money for the tower restoration. Grants were also received from the Oxford Historic Church Trust, Church Care, Society of Antiquaries, Adderbury Parish Council, Adderbury Education and Banbury Charities.
The tower, with its distinctive clock faces and tall octagonal spire, has been a focal point for the village community since it was added as part of the 14th century rebuilding of the church and reaches 150 feet into the sky visible for miles around. The church has an active congregation that does much for the community and the building is used for services, weddings, christening, funerals, bell-ringing and choral activities as well as school and village events including concerts, markets and festivals benefiting the village and wider community. St. Mary’s is home to the Adderbury Ensemble.
Commenting on the award, the Vicar of St Mary’s Church Adderbury, Rev Stephen Fletcher said: “We are delighted that we have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. The tower with its spire has been a focal point for the community since it was built 700 years ago. The restoration work will ensure the tower is no longer at risk and preserved for generations to come.”
Stone Edge Operations Director, Keith Learoyd, said: “The team is delighted to be carrying out the works at this fascinating medieval church.  It’s a privilege to be working in such a historic setting, surrounded by the wonderful carvings.”
Further information will follow in Contact and there will be updates in the church and on the website www.adderbury-stmarys.com as well as on social media @adderburychurch #adderburychurchtower. If you would like to contribute to the cost of restoration then please contact FOSMA who will welcome donations. For details of future fundraising events, please visit their website www.fosmaadderbury.weebly.com.
The restoration work uses lime mortar which takes time to dry and cure which has made it necessary to stop bell ringing from 25 June until the work finishes in December. A Quarter Peal will be rung after the service on Sunday 24 June to mark the beginning of the cessation. The carillon is sounded by hammers so continues to operate.

On Wednesday, May 2 at 7.30 pm we held our annual Poetry Evening. in Church House and shared some of our favourite poems. From Shakespeare to Limericks we welcomed them all.  It was a delightful evening and raised just over £100.

On Friday, April 13th we welcomed Australian Broadcast Corporation’s Europe Bureau Chief, Lisa Millar to Church House.  She gave a fascination insight to life as a foreign correspondent and her experiences covering some of the biggest stories of the last decade including Brexit, the Trump election, terrorism and much more.  The evening raised £650 which was fantastic.

Early in the year Matt Brock, a personal trainer, very kindly gave an hour of his time every friday morning to ‘Keep Fit with FOSMA’!  It was a fun hour in the Lucy Plackett Playing Field being put through our paces and trying to regain some long lost fitness (for some of us at least!).  Although few in numbers, it was a fun time and raised £197.