Hedon Mixed Voice Choir will perform a special concert this Friday 23rd June to help raise money for a £1.5 million restoration of the town’s historic church.
St Augustine’s church, commonly known as ‘the King of Holderness’, has sat proudly on Market Hill since 1190 – and the church has hardly altered since then except for the addition of the crossing tower in 1428 and its first restoration between 1868 and 1876.
Gillian Hanslip, director of Hedon Mixed Voice Choir, formerly Holderness Grange Choir, is passionate about bringing the community together in order to help her local church. Gillian said:
“We are so excited to help raise much-needed funds for this beautiful Grade I listed church and we have invited Opera 17, founded in 2017 as part of the City of Culture year, to perform on the night too.
“We are celebrating our 15th anniversary this year, so what better way to celebrate than to help save our 800-year-old church? The choir is such a loving environment and it is precious to see not just how my own friendship circle has grown but many members making lifelong friendships, brought together by music.”
St. Augustine’s, which was granted status as a church of national importance in 1954, has many important furnishings and fittings including beautiful stained-glass windows by Wailes and Son, dating back to 1878, a fine brass eagle lectern from 1876, a black marble tomb cover, a baroque cartouche to Ann Watson and Royal Arms.
The Parochial Church Council for St Augustine’s are working hard along with other volunteers to host lots of events for the church restoration and to help raise the profile of this important 12th-century church. The church roof is their first priority because it is in desperate need of repair, but the whole building is in dire need of restoration.
“We are very grateful to Hedon Mixed Voice Choir for putting on their concert here at the church on Friday evening and we’re sure it’s going to be a great success. It’s going to cost a vast amount of money to restore, hence the need for lots of events and activities both to raise funds and to apply for grants. Indeed, we have an events calendar which is growing almost daily. We reinstated our coffee mornings this week and have already hosted lots of events including craft markets and tower tours. We also have the ever-popular Hedfest returning next month and we will be hosting the beer festival again in the summer.”
The ‘Summer Evening of Song’ charity concert is being held this Friday at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start at St. Augustine’s, Church Lane, Hedon. Tickets, which include refreshments, are £5 each and will be available on the door or by ringing Sheena Baylis on 01482 897645. Future events at St Augustine’s can be found at https://staugustineschurch0.wixsite.com/home
