Heritage Weekend is from Thursday 8th September to Sunday 11th September this year when many buildings around the country open their doors to visitors. Many of these buildings are not normally open to visitors and it is a great opportunity to see inside them.
This year St Lawrence Church, Effingham and All Saints Church, Little Bookham are working together to open their doors from 9am to 5pm on Saturday 10th September in conjunction with other buildings in both villages. The Methodist Chapel in Effingham and the Tithe Barn and Manor House School in Little Bookham will also be open.
Last year the Effingham Residents Association published a Heritage Trail for Effingham with a walk around the village, mainly in the Conservation Area giving information about properties of interest (many of which are listed) which are passed on the walk. Visitors and residents will be encouraged to walk the Trail and visit the open buildings on it and then take the Bishop’s Walk (weather permitting) to Little Bookham and visit the buildings open there. Bishop’s Walks were the routes taken by early medieval bishops when they visited their churches and tended to be the shortest routes between them. The old footpath between St Lawrence, Effingham which passes through the King George V Recreation Ground on the way to All Saints Church, Little Bookham is an example of such a walk.
There will be displays in St Lawrence Church about its history and about some of the better known residents who are buried in its graveyard, including Sir Barnes Wallis. Also on display will be the recently acquired Bible and other writings of Effingham’s 17th century vicar, the Reverend John Miller, who is better known for his time in New York as the first Anglican Chaplin there after the accession of King William III. There will also be displays in All Saints Church and refreshments will be available in both villages. In Little Bookham the refreshments will be in the magnificent Tithe Barn where if the weather is good they can be enjoyed in its recreated 1920s courtyard garden. There will also be displays there of the history of the barn and Little Bookham
We hope that residents and visitors to the villages alike will come out and walk around our Conservation Areas and enjoy the historic buildings especially open for Heritage Weekend on Saturday 10th September