Ledbury & District

Churches Visiting Group

Church Visiting Group was formed way back in 2003. The first visit was in November of that year to the two very interesting, yet very different churches in the local village of Kempley. We still have members who were present at that first visit. Since then, the group has visited well over 200 different churches and chapels.

We usually limit our explorations to a radius from Ledbury of about 40 miles. It is amazing how many churches there are in this area. We usually visit two Churches (just one if it is large or of particular interest). We work in pairs to organise the visits and each pair is expected to organise one visit per year. The organisers arrange which churches we visit and, if possible, obtain the services of a speaker at each church. We don't limit ourselves to churches and have also included a synagogue and a Mormon chapel in our visits. Lunch at a nearby hostelry is regarded as an essential part of the day - (some members have mischievously suggested that it is the highlight of the day!).

It’s not necessary to be a Christian or even to have an interest in religion to enjoy the visits and you certainly don’t need to be able to distinguish a chancel from a chantry, or a finial from a flying buttress. One of the most fascinating aspects is the connection most churches seem to have with local and national history. Amongst others, we have visited churches with strong links to Edward Elgar, Stanley Baldwin and Dick Whittington. It's also interesting to learn how each church links with its local community.

By virtue of the way the Group operates, access to a computer is pretty well essential and members need a good level of commitment. It's also helpful if you can drive, but we do car-share in order to minimise our environmental impact and many small country churches have very limited parking.