I’m pleased to say that the renovation works at St John’s Church, Little Gidding have now been completed and the church is now open as previously.
The church is open between the hours of 10.00am and 5.00pm everyday of the week. There is parking in the car park adjacent to the Church. We look forward to welcoming you.
Rev Canon Fiona Brampton – Chaplain to Little Gidding
We are to have a stone ramp leading to the West Door of the church, and a wider step at the front of the church to enable people to turn their wheelchairs properly. None of this will alter the Georgian front of the church which people know and love.
The Oratory floor will be made level with the church floor, so that there is no step between the two.
There will be a new door on the west wall of the Oratory, so that we will now have two ways to leave the building.
As the panelling in the Oratory will be removed temporarily, the builders will take the opportunity to put some insulation between the panels and the walls.
The Oratory will have electricity, heating and lighting, so that it becomes a useable space for one to one conversations and for Quiet Day leaders. It will also have resources for those making a pilgrimage to Little Gidding.
There will be no heating or lighting in St John’s Church. There will be some sockets so that the organ and other small electrical items can be plugged in (all must be PAT tested). There is no intention to plug in heaters, as these may overload the system with little effect on the warmth of the worshippers.
The building works will start on January 8th and will last until further notice.
The service on Saturday 2nd December to celebrate Nicholas Ferrar will be the last service in the church before the alterations. (the work had originally been planned to start in November, and therefore we moved or cancelled the December services).
The church will be closed to visitors from early January until the completion of the work and the clearing of the site.
For Service information please visit the Little Gidding Church website
St. John’s Church Little Gidding will be closed for visitors and services from January 8th 2024 with the hope of completing before March 28th for building work and access improvements.
This is to enable large scale restoration work to take place at the east end of the north aisle. It is anticipated that this work will last until early March. Access to the church will be for authorized personnel only. The scale of the work does not permit us to set aside a limited space in the church for private prayer and quiet.
However, please note that St John’s Church, Little Gidding is open seven days a week between the hours of 10am and 4pm.
The Baptist Church has very kindly offered the use of their building during this period. Therefore on Sunday 16th January, there will be a service of Evensong in the chapel, taken by our churchwarden John De Val and starting at 4pm.
If you have any enquiries regarding the closure or services, please contact John De Val, telephone number: 01832 293417
A few aerial images of Little Gidding and St John’s Church taken on January 26th 2021
St Michael’s Church, Great Gidding
The Parochial Church Council explored the viability of a short Carol Service at St Michael’s, accepting the congregation would not be able to sing etc. We even found four people from outside the village to sing, socially distanced in the chancel. However, with the new COVID rules and Tier regulations, it was felt there were too many associated problems to ensure compliance with COVID rules, and keeping everyone (congregation and singers) safe.
There will be a Benefice Carol Service ‘online’ at 7pm on Christmas Eve. To join online please click on the benefice website: www.norleigh.org.uk
There will be no Midnight Communion on Christmas Eve this year. However there will be a short service of Holy Communion (no longer than thirty minutes) on Christmas Eve, to which you are all invited to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This service will start at the earlier time of 6.00pm.
If you wish to come to this service, can you please help us by informing John De Val of your intention to attend – this will be much appreciated.
You may either telephone him on 01832/293417 or email him
COVID requirements of masks, sanitizations, self distancing etc. will be followed.
Finally, the church will be CLOSED on Thursday morning (24th December) in order to meet the necessary safety regulations for our Christmas Eve service later in the day.
St John’s Church, Little Gidding
There will be no Carol Service at Little Gidding this year.
However it is planned to hold a service of Holy Communion on Sunday 27th December at 11am. However this is subject to completion of restoration work, and the appropriate Risk Assessment being carried out. Please check with the Gidding website nearer the time. Alternatively you can contact the churchwarden, John De Val (tel: 01832/293417).
As part of a self-intiated project (and to bump us up Google rankings!) we are making videos of various aspects of the Giddings. To start with here are videos of St Michael’s Church in Great Gidding, St John’s Church in Little Gidding and St Andrew’s Church in Steeple Gidding. If any one has any ideas or suggestions of other subjects suitable for videoing and related to the Giddings (keep it clean!) please email Paul.
Paul Crank
