Historic Princetown Church Hosts Community Fun Day
- Free community event to celebrate church conservation project
- Visitors can enjoy a unique, ‘bird’s eye’ view of Dartmoor from the top of the tower
- Free activities include church tours, family art workshop, and craft skills demonstration
A landmark CCT Dartmoor church will host a special community open day on Saturday 5 October to share the results of an on-going conservation project to save a local piece of historic art.
St Michael and All Angels’ Church in Princetown is undergoing over £90,000 of specialist conservation work to repair its rare stained and painted East Window.
Activities throughout the day include demonstrations of glass conservation techniques, church tours, arts and crafts workshops, apple-bobbing and, weather-permitting, trips up the tower to enjoy the uninterrupted ‘bird’s eye’ view of the moor. Entry is free and refreshments will be available.
Dr. Neil Rushton, Conservation Project Manager at CCT, explains: “The ‘Window In Time’ conservation project has been a real community effort, with fantastic support from local people, church volunteers and Princetown Primary School. To say ‘thank you’ and to share the wonderful conservation work that’s taking place we’ve planned a free day of fun activities on Saturday 5th October for everyone to take part in and enjoy.”
St. Michael and All Angels’ is a Grade II* listed church, built to serve nearby Dartmoor Prison, which held over 3,000 prisoners of war during the American War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars with France. The church’s delicate, intricately painted East Window, which depicts the life of Christ, was donated in 1910 as a memorial to the US soldiers who perished while incarcerated in the prison.
Dr. Rushton continues, “The church’s East Window is a rare example of painted and stained glass. Thanks to local fundraising efforts and the generosity of bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, a team of experts is now repairing damage caused to the glass and surrounding metal and stone by the harsh Dartmoor weather, ensuring that the window can continue to be enjoyed by future generations.”
The window has been removed from the church for ten weeks to allow careful and detailed work to take place. In the meantime a temporary window designed and decorated by Princetown Primary School pupils has been installed in its place. A special 'Grand Reveal' event will take place in the church in spring 2014, following the reinstallment of the repaired window and new interpretation to tell the story of the churches.