Three events dominated the year - all of which involved a significant proportion of the Strethall and Catmere End community. They were the village barbecue and party held in the church field to celebrate the Royal Wedding, the Open Gardens event held in aid of Church funds and the formation of the “Friends of Strethall Church”.
Friends of Strethall Church
This association was formed at the suggestion of Roger Harcourt at an inaugural meeting held at Manor Cottage on 24th January. Its purpose was to raise funds to preserve and develop the fabric, furnishings and life of the church, whether for worshippers, occasional attenders or simply for lovers of this ancient building. Among the events staged under its aegis in its first year were the popular and successful Strethall Lectures in February, a concert in the church and a visit to the Henry Moore Foundation, both in the summer, and an evening celebration of the King James Bible in September. All were well attended and a substantial amount of money was raised. The Strethall Lectures take place each year and a number of other events are planned for 2012 to support them.
Royal Wedding Celebrations, 29th April 2011
For this event a marquee was erected in the field adjacent to the church by kind permission of the landowner, James Cross. The start of the celebration was signified by ringing the church bells at 2.0pm after the main television coverage of the event was over. From then on the village party was extensively covered by Chris Woodhouse who took both still and video photographs. These he subsequently edited on to DVDs which with great generosity he then distributed to those taking part. Copies have also been lodged in the Town Library.
Open Gardens Event, 12th June 2011
In all, seven gardens in the two communities were opened to the public for three hours on the afternoon of 12th June, tea being served in the garden at Ryders. In spite of an unrelenting downpour of rain in what had otherwise been a dry period, a surprising number of visitors supported the event. When questioned on why they had ventured out in such awful weather, it transpired that the majority were fellow gardeners who felt great sympathy for those who had laboured hard to prepare their gardens for the big day. As a result, another very satisfactory collection was made for church funds.
The Loss of the early Parish Records for Strethall
It had always been believed that it was Elizabeth Carr wife of Robert Carr, Lord of the Manor and Rector 1740 – 1743, who would not (or could not) give up the Records relating to the years before her husband’s incumbency. It is evident from later records that extreme damp had made many illegible and they were clearly not treated with the respect they deserved.
We now seem to have been doing her an injustice.
The Essex Record Office has digitised some of the Parish records and released them on line from November 7th 2011. It appears from the attached extract that random notes were recorded in amongst the Births, Marriages and Deaths.
