A new Churches Festival for the Wolds and Coast

The first ever Lincolnshire Wolds and Coast Churches Festival is on the horizon, with up to 200 churches preparing to open their doors to visitors over the weekends of 31st August and 1st September and also 7th and 8th September.

The National Churches Trust has just received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £7,700 to deliver this exciting new festival. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on revealing the stories hidden within Lincolnshire’s churches and the hidden treasures that are waiting to be discovered.

Over the past 12 months, the National Churches Trust has been working with 45 churches in the Horncastle Deanery, on a project that has helped and encouraged churches to promote their heritage to visitors.

Project Manager, Linda Patrick, has been overjoyed with how the year has gone. Linda has said: “We have seen such wonderful enthusiasm from all the churches who have embraced the project. We now have churches open at weekends inviting all to enter, where once they were locked. We have churches providing refreshments for travellers who happen to pass by on a much-loved walk. We have uncovered amazing stories waiting to be told and new interpretation material is being created to tell these tales.”

And all this enthusiasm is catching! So much so, that churches within the Lincolnshire Wolds and stretching to the coast are busy working together to create The Lincolnshire Wolds and Coast Churches Festival, spanning the first two weekends in September.

It is going to be a celebration that joins all the Wolds and coastal villages together. A celebration that invites holidaymakers to visit our rural hamlets and rolling hills. A celebration that shares the rich heritage with all, as families are encouraged to become treasure seekers. Using magnifying glasses and binoculars they will be invited to get close up in these mini museums and explore deeper into their history.

This is a wonderful community project that is seeing many partners come together to benefit the communities of the Lincolnshire Wolds and the coastal strip. The festival is being delivered through a partnership between National Churches Trust and National Churches Trust Heritage Services Ltd, in conjunction with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Lincolnshire County Council, East Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire Coastal BID and of course lots and lots of churches!

“All our partners believe this project is so right for Lincolnshire, not only for the people who live here, but also for the many visitors that come to our seaside resorts as well as the Wolds for their holidays and days outs,” says Linda. “It is definitely going to put our churches on the map.”

All churches in the area have now been contacted to take part, but if further information is needed about this festival please contact Linda Patrick, Church Development Officer, via email.

A website for the festival is being created at www.lincswoldsandcoastchurches.org/ and scheduled to be completed in June 2019.

Photo by Ashley Taylor for ExploreChurches.org