Related Churches
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Maiden Newton: St Mary's & The Melbury Team Benefices
Welcome to the Melbury Team Ministry
News, services and events at any one of the Melbury Team benefices are featured here, on the St Mary's Maiden Newton page.
The Melbury Team operates as three clusters of villages each of which is pastored by a member of the ministry team. Our focus is on helping people of all ages to encounter God and to grow in a relationship with Him, through a variety of styles of worship both old and new.
The Melbury Team comes under the Sherborne Deanery which is part of the Diocese of Salisbury. Church of England Churches within the team include; Cattistock, East Chelborough, West Chelborough, Chilfrome, Corscombe, Evershot, Frome St Quintin, Frome Vauchurch, Halstock, Maiden Newton, Melbury Bubb, Melbury Osmond, Rampisham, Wraxall.
Each village is served by a Team Minister working alongside colleagues and ministers of other traditions within the Church.
St Mary's - Maiden Newton
The Church of Saint Mary's is believed to date back to Saxon times and sits on the bank of the River Frome.
St Mary's is part of the Melbury Team Ministry, which has 14 churches with regular services scattered across part of Dorset west of Dorchester.
Our worship at St Mary’s is relaxed and friendly with people of all ages coming together to worship God, learn more about living as Jesus taught, and to enjoy being with one another.
Our services are usually taken from Common Worship and contain a mix of traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs. There is a Sunday Club for children once a month.
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Cattistock: St Peter & St Paul
St Peter and St Paul, Cattistock
Cattistock is one of the larger villages in the team, with a thriving ‘Best Local Pub’, some rural industries and small businesses. There is a good mix of old local families and newcomers, with an increasing number of young families.
St Peter and St Paul Church is a truly magnificent Church building that is visible from miles around. It has a small and very supportive regular congregation; alongside a very large group of ‘Friends’ that greatly appreciate the building and help support it in many ways.
There are a good range of services throughout the year including; Patronal, Praise in the Park, Harvest Festival with lunch, Remembrance Day, Christingle, a Carol Service, as well as Carol Singing around the village. It is a popular wedding venue with 10 marriages in the last 18 months.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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West Chelborough: St Andrew
West Chelborough is a small village with about 20 adults and 5 children. The population is either retired or working locally. There is no village hall or pub or other social amenities. There is one working farm.</span>
The church has been rebuilt on various occasions. The two treble bells in the church were cast on site in 1275 and are considered to be the oldest in Dorset.
It attracts worshippers from surrounding villages who prefer the Book of Common Prayer.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Corscombe: St Mary
Corscombe parish (about 450 people) consists of the village of Corscombe and two hamlets, Weston and Benville. Corscombe is mentioned in the Doomsday book. There are still farms in Corscombe, but the population of Corscombe is nowadays mostly elderly or retired.
There are families with children, around 20 of school age at present. There is an excellent community spirit. The importance of the church in village life is recognised. There is a welcoming pub, a village hall with a wide range of social activities and a children’s playground. A preschool group of around 8 to 12 children meets most days in term time. There is a very well attended village fete, Corscombe Fest, in the summer. There is also a book club, walking group, a cricket club, line dancing and a keep fit group.
St Mary’s Church has had a named clergyman for 700 years and plays a key part in the local community. There is a pattern of Common Worship services sprinkled with special services throughout the year, both in the church and at other venues. These aim to use special times of the year to make the Christian faith accessible and engaging. One focus at the moment is refurbishing the church to make it "fit for purpose" for community use as well as worship.
St. Mary’s Church has had leaking Rainwater Goods, leading to damage to the plaster and woodwork. As a result of wonderful support by the Listed Places of Worship (LPOW) Roof Repair Fund, local donations and fundraising, we have been able to repair or replace the Rainwater Goods. We are enormously grateful, especially to LPOW, for their role in restoring our church.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Rampisham: St Michael and All Angels
According to F Treves in ‘Highways and Byeways Of Dorset’: Rampisham is one of the most beautiful villages in Dorset; sitting in a valley of trees through which runs a stream; it is a place of old thatched cottages.
The Church is important to all the people of the village, not just the few who attend on a Sunday. It is where they have been baptised, married and relatives buried. We have a willing team of volunteers who mow and strim, polish and dust to keep the Church in good heart.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Frome Vauchurch: St Francis
Frome Vauchurch is a small hamlet, close to the River Frome. It is almost a ’suburb’ of the much larger village of Maiden Newton.
St Francis is a charming Norman Church with Pews and an impressive sundial plus a Jacobean Pulpit and a Victorian Chancel.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Evershot: St Osmund
Evershot village has about 200 inhabitants and is the second-highest village in Dorset. It has Stickland's Primary School, a shop with a post office, an active church, several small businesses, Little Acorns children’s playgroup and Village Hall. There are 19 families with children in the village; more children than in 2009!
St. Osmond’s Church dates back to C12th and was restored by the Victorians in 1864. It is involved in the Summer Country Fair (fete), provides a Harvest Supper for the whole community attended by about 60 and runs a Christmas party for the local community. Carol singing takes place around the village helped by members of the Yeovil Town Band.
Prayer takes place in church once a month with up to 6 of the congregation attending. There is a soup lunch and Bible study on the fourth Sunday of each month held jointly with Halstock and about 8 people usually attend. The Church provides two services a month alternating with Melbury Osmond. It provides a Christingle service in early December and a very well attended Carol Service on Christmas Eve.
A Re-ordering Project has commenced with a view to installing a toilet, improving the lighting and heating, and making the serving of refreshments easier at the end of a service.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Chilfrome: Holy Trinity
Chilfrome is a delightful hamlet set amidst water meadows. Holy Trinity Church dates back to the C13th. The Victorians restored it in 1852.
There is a small, dedicated congregation, who value traditional Prayer Book services.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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East Chelborough: St James
East Chelborough is a farm-based community, with little valleys lined with oak trees, and two historic hill sites that were Saxon baileys. One of these provides a wonderful setting for our Good Friday service, with prayers and hymns in the lee halfway up, and more prayers and planting the cross at the summit. There are 50 residents. The church is also situated on the edge of the Melbury estate.
There has been a church at Lewcombe since 1218. The present building was built in the 16th or 17th century. There is a wonderful outsize window with glorious colours. We are a tiny but thriving church. Our core congregation welcomes a wide range of visitors; usually, we have some refugees wanting the old prayer book service. The church has two regular services per month; sung Matins and an evening Holy Communion service.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Wraxall: St Mary
St Mary’s Church is a small simple country church, sited at the confluence of 2 watercourses. Wraxall is divided into Higher and Lower Wraxall, comprising 17 households in all. Congregations vary between 3 and 10, but we have an average of 100 at Christmas! The church is always open. Sheep eat the grass down over the uneven terrain.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Melbury Bubb: St Mary
Melbury Bubb is a small village, with a population of approximately 40 people. It is situated 7 miles south of Sherborne.
The parish church of St Mary has a C15th tower but the rest of the building was largely rebuilt in a C19th restoration. In the winter the church is heated by a log burning stove.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Halstock: St Juthware and St Mary’s
The village of Halstock has a population of about 420. It is a popular retirement village but many younger people have moved here in recent years and commute to Yeovil for employment. There are also many holiday cottages. There are a few working farms in and around the village.
Our community shop/post office is flourishing. There is a gardening club, a lively WI, a youth club and other clubs meet in the village Hall. A “pot luck lunch” is held every month in the village Hall.
The church is mainly Victorian, with a 15th-century bell tower and a peal of five bells. There is a range of services and attendance is around 10 to 15, with over 60 attending special services and more at Christmas. The name of the church was amended to include St Juthware to reflect the life of St Juthware, who was martyred in the village in Saxon times. She is included in the Sherborne Missal and is celebrated at the St Juthware festival each year. A “Friends of the Church” raises funds for maintenance and repair of the fabric of the church building and is well supported.
Meals are provided for those facing family emergencies such as bereavement, sudden illness or the arrival of a new baby. We have an active house group, which links with the house group at Evershot.
We also host a family-friendly "Breakfast Church", which meets at 9.30 am on the last Sunday of every month.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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Frome Saint Quintin: St Mary
The parish of St. Mary’s Church serves a population of approximately 150 and is set in a designated area of natural beauty. The small C14th church stands apart from the village, probably as a result of the plague. It is accessed across an open field and provides a focus for drawing village folk together through village social events. During the vacancy, we have reduced our monthly service from 2 to 1. Our annual Pet Service and Mothering Sunday, Harvest Thanksgiving and Carol Service are also well attended by families, not only from the village but also from Holywell.
This Church part of the Melbury team benefice. For further information about our church services, news and events, please visit Maiden Newton Church:
Maiden Newton: St Mary - A Church Near You
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