The church

Last updated: 9 May 2005

The parish church stands above the green, a small building of the colliery years, with a bellcote and a gravel path. It is open when the key is at the Heritage Centre, and at other times as announced on the board. Services are as announced. There is no regular Sunday hour in winter, which is the custom of a small parish; the building is still the church, and visitors are welcome in it.

In the chancel is the Green Man: a stone face set in leaf, looking a little aside, as such faces do. It is the figure from which the trail and the summer gathering take their name, and it is one of the reasons people come. A longer note is under the carving. Visitors are asked not to touch it, and not to make rubbings; the stone is old enough. A card is sold at the centre when the centre is open, and it is a good card.

The churchyard is reached by the gravel path. The lower gate is not always unbolted; the gravel from the green is the usual way. Please keep to it. Several of the older stones lean, and they have leaned for a long time. The committee does not arrange searches of the registers by electronic mail; written enquiries may be left at the centre and are dealt with when they can be.