Litchfield Flower Festival 2019

Over the weekend of 28th - 30th June 2019 a remarkable Flower Festival was held at St James the Less, Litchfield that included tableaux of the history of the church and its congregation. On entering the porch one saw that it had been filled with small displays showing the church's links with the surrounding estate while the cool inside had been beautifully decorated with flowers by members of the congregation, and looked and smelled wonderful. Sylvia Haymes, who was the prime mover of the Festival, has written a guide to the church and the floral displays as one walked arond the church.

The principal decoration was of the Saxon font, while below were photographs of various people known to have been baptized in it including members of the Wills family, and Herry shortly after his birth in Litchfield in 1945.

The Saxon font decorated by Katie Wills. 

In addition to the floral decorations, there was a tableau of historical photographs and cuttings and displays of photographs of the estate from the air as well as of the railway station when it was still in use, as well as its later restoration.

The photo tableau

The altar and chancel were given over to a display of photos of weddings known to have taken place at the church, including Herry's mother's wedding to her first husband, Arthur Luxmoore in 1935 and Hazel and John Kay's wedding in 2018. Sylvia Haymes's wedding dress was also on display.

A further tableau and an explanatory monograph were given over to the Book of Common Prayer, as all services at St James the Less are taken from it.

The Book of Common Prater

Mark Christian, the vicar, wrote a brief history of the church, drawing on the work of Hamilton Lloyd, the previous vicar, who had organised a Flower Festival in 1991 and had published a short monograph to go with it. Sylvia also drew on her musical connections to organise short concerts in the church on Saturday and Sunday afternoons as well as gathering the choir for Sunday's Evensong.

Outside the churchyard had been close-cropped under its sheltering trees.

The Festival closed on Sunday evening with a beautiful Evensong taken by the vicar, Mark Christian, before a full congregation.

Flower arranging credits: Liz Lyne (porch)  Katie Wills (font) Joyce Mills (Cottage Garden) Jenny Lister (lectern) Jane Woolnough (altar pedestal, windowsills and screen,) Jean Sharpe (War Memorial plaque and pew ends). The Book of Common Prayer window, hanging wreaths and Advent Crowns (and anything else) - Sylvia Haymes, (the crowns with help from Sarah Acworth). 

For more photos, click here

For the family's links with Litchfield, click here