St. Nicholas Church - Leeds |
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August Message from the Clergy Team NORMAN TO RETIRE Amazingly Norman Dabbs is now in his 74th year. Having served faithfully at Leeds Church in one office or another since 1977, he has decided that it is time to retire. For the last seven years, following his ordination in Canterbury Cathedral, he has been a much-valued colleague in the Clergy Team to Nigel and myself. I know that David Brookes also strongly valued his earlier work as a Reader. Speaking personally (and I know that I speak for Nigel as well) I am going to miss his role as pastor and priest enormously. Not only does he take at least one Sunday service a week, he also presides at many baptisms, weddings and funerals. For some years he has been Chaplain to the local Royal British Legion and, most recently, was the Mayor of Maidstone's Chaplain as well. For someone approaching his mid-70s he is an inspiration to many others much younger than himself. He deserves a restful retirement at long last. Norman has decided very sensibly that the only way to retire properly is to make it clear that he really is retiring and not 'half retiring'. So the final public service that he will take is the Remembrance Day Service on November 14. With all his lengthy local contacts and friends he is very conscious that 'half retirement' could soon lead to many 'special' requests to take baptisms, marriages and funerals. So Norman is insisting that after November 14 he really will be retiring fully and will not be taking any more public services. It is very much our loss, but he deserves nothing less after such long and dedicated service. I am sure that many of you will wish to contribute to a special presentation for Norman. Could you please give this to Nigel or myself. We will be having a special service at Leeds Church for Norman and Jenny at 11am on Sunday October 24th (there will be no service at Hollingbourne that morning) and we will make the presentation afterwards over a glass of wine. I do hope that you will be able to be there for that very special occasion. Norman thank you for all that you have done for many years. And I hope that you have a splendid and well-earned retirement. ROBIN Back to Top |
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A Brief History of the Church - The Church of Saint Nicholas at Leeds was already well-established in Anglo-Saxon times, the current nave being just a little larger than the entire Saxon church. When the Normans arrived they made major changes, including the massive twelfth century tower, one of the county's best half-dozen examples. The Normans' Doomsday Survey of 1086 recorded nearby one of only three vineyards then in the whole of Kent. In 1492 John Brandon bequeathed money for reparation of the church steeple and 260 years later Edward Harrison the Curate wrote peevishly that -the steeple was till'd, the church adorned, the chancel enriched and the curate impoverish't. Inside the tower the ringing chamber has seen regular strenuous activity for centuries. The ten bells are housed in an ancient oak frame, one of the earliest surviving ten-bell frames in the UK. The youngest six bells are 256 years old; three are dated 1751; the biggest and oldest, the tenor, was made in 1617 by Joseph Hatch, a local bellfounder of great fame. The tower houses a 277 year-old clock, also made locally. The church organ is a young instrument by comparison, built and installed in 1833 and paid for by public subscription at £399. The nave's crown-post roof dates from the fifteenth century; let into the nave's floor are two brasses, one commemorating William Merden who died in 1509, the other Katherine Lambe who died in 1514. The chandelier was donated by John Saxby, who died in 1778. Saint Nicholas boasts a most impressive rood screen. This is a finely carved wooden wall, separating nave from chancel and extending across the entire width of the church. It contains eleven bays and three entranceways. Some of the church's silver plate is on display in the chapel at Leeds Castle, one flagon weighing 1340 grams and dated 1750. The ancient registers and other records can be seen at the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone. The churchyard is extensive, running to four acres. Its natural meadow grasses are attractive at any time but excel in spring when naturalised bulbs of snowdrop and narcissus produce spectacular, successive swathes of colour. Back to TopCafé In The Porch - Free tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks have been available at a café in Leeds for over three years now. Parents and carers of schoolchildren at Leeds Primary School often arrive early to collect pupils. There is now a haven from the winter cold and the summer heat during their wait. Just across from the school, a hearty welcome awaits them in the porch of Saint Nicholas' Church. Café in the Porch is run by the Parochial Church Council and is open at 2.30pm every Thursday during school terms and stays open until about 4.00pm. After school, around fifty children will be seen dragging their carers into the free café for a cake, a biscuit, a drink and an enthusiastic exploration of their very own parish church, before they have to return home. Back to Top |
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