Facilities and features
Accessibility
Modern accessible toilets are now available at the north door.
In the accessible toilet.
One of the toilets is fully wheelchair-accessible.
Bays for drivers who need to be able to park near the church entrance are on the right immediately inside the car park gate.
Use the north door (on the far side from the car park) for a level entrance.
Available throughout the church.
Please ask the sidesmen if you prefer large print service books and hymn books.
Always welcome.
Our Building
The oldest parts of our Grade I listed church building, the tower (most of it!) and chancel date from the 13th century but it is likely that an older Saxon or Norman building stood where the nave is now. Additions and improvements have been made in most centuries including a sensitive restoration by Sir Thomas Jackson in 1901-3 who was one of the most distinguished English architects of his generation. The pews, pulpit and other internal fillings date from this restoration.
We are registered as an Eco Church and we are working towards our Bronze Award.
Music and Worship
We have a ring of 6 bells vary in age from 1717 to 1856, though there are records of bells in this tower back to 1552. The bells are hung in their original oak frame. The weight of the bells varies from just over 3 hundredweight for the number 2 to just over 8 hundredweight for the tenor. The treble, normally the lightest bell, is heavier than the 2 at just over 4 hundredweight. This is because the 2 had to be recast in 1856 after it fell out of the tower. That is why our tower is part brick and part flint.
Our band of bell ringers hold practice sessions on Saturday mornings between 9am and 11am. These are very informal drop-in style sessions and anybody is welcome to come along and have a go. We also have a group called the 'Silver Ringers' who meet on Tuesdays at 10:30am, ring for about an hour and half then adjourn to the pub for lunch. The main emphasis is on the fun of ringing. As the name implies, the group is orientated to the more mature person although anybody available at that time is welcome to come along.
13th century Regular concerts are held in the church - see our website calendar for details - often organised by the Friends of Ash Church to raise funds for the upkeep and enhancement of the building.
In 2018 we had to replace our elderly and ailing Baldwin electronic organ with a new Viscount Envoy 23-S two-manual model which offers a much-enhanced modern sound to accompany our singing.
8:00am services every Sunday are usually from the Book of Common Prayer with Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
Choir Practice is usually in the church every Friday evening. New members afre always welcome.
Groups, Courses and Activities
Visitors are welcome to take careful rubbings of the ancient brasses in the church.
Contact us for details of occasional courses.
Ash Saplings meets in the church every Thursday morning from 10:30am.
Help for Visitors
Our church guidebook is being reprinted but much of its content is on our website.
The church is nearly always open during the day but please give us a call if you are making a special trip from a long distance.
Other Features
The Community Cupboard is supported by the church. It is much more than a foodbank, offering support and friendship to many people with a wide variety of needs.
A modern sound system, with a hearing loop, ensures everyone can participate fully in services, whilst overhead projection is used when appropriate to enhance our worship.
Ash Village Hall is owned by the church but run on our behalf as a community facility by a separate charitable trust.
See www.ash-hall.org.uk for details.