Friends of the
Church of St Mary Magdalene Huntshaw
A hidden gem in rural North Devon
Thank you to Simon Jessop for the photograph
About us
The Friends of the Church of St Mary Magdalene Huntshaw was established on 16th February 2018. Our aims are to raise funds for the maintenance and preservation of the church and to encourage appreciation of it by the people of Huntshaw and the wider community.
The church is open from 10am to 4 pm each day.
Information on other local services: https://www.tworiversmissioncommunity.org/
Our projects
Wild life friendly churchyard
An area at the rear of the church has been
set aside to grow wild and many grasses and flowers took have taken hold. The butterflies love it and our bug hotel hosts many guests.
The Huntshaw Graveyard Survey
See it on this website. The Huntshaw Graveyard Survey is the culmination of seven years of intensive research by Richard Sears. Richard was born and grew up at Huntshaw Mill and has maintained strong links with the village. He has written two books on the history of Huntshaw. The survey has attracted global interest with inquiries from as far as Australia and North America. Feedback has been very good.
The survey consists of six sections including a 240 page record of each headstone, ledger and memorial complete with photographs, inscriptions and background history. There are records of 800 people buried in the churchyard over the past 400 years but there will have been many more than this as records have been lost. The survey makes fascinating reading.
Two files containing photographs of all the headstones with their inscriptions are now available in the church. One copy can be loaned out if you would like time to study the information. Contact rsears2017@gmail.com if you wish to do this.
Thank you for your hard work and commitment Richard.
HUNTSHAW PARISH HALL
The Friends work closely with the parish hall management committee and we are now putting on joint events
We are also great supporters of the Alverdiscott and Huntshaw Community Facebook page where you can keep up to speed with all that is going on locally.
Support Us
Get involved: Keeping the church clean and tidy, maintaining the churchyard, organising fundraising events, contributing to research of the fascinating heritage or simply making the tea. Get involved and do your bit to keep your local church a special place. And have fun along the way! There is something for everyone. See the Events Page to keep up to date with the latest events, news and stories
Making a donation is your opportunity to support and help us raise funds to keep the Church of St Mary Magdalene open for the enjoyment and appreciation of the whole community.
Safeguarding
If you have a concern about the safety of someone or the actions of someone working with children or vulnerable adults, please speak to someone. Our Safeguarding Representatives are:
Rev Gary Owen
01769 560792
Mr Derek Birch
07970 865423
The Diocesan Safeguarding Team can be contacted via:
https://exeter.anglican.org/resources/safeguarding/safeguarding-team/
If you are a young person and you feel unhappy about something happening to you, call Childline on 0800 11 11
We have implemented a policy of no single use plastics
Grant awards
The repair work would not have been possible without the generosity of a number of organisations.
At the end of 2020 we were awarded a lifeline grant from the Culture Recovery Fund.
We are #HereForCulture
We are also grateful to:
The Coastal Recycling Community Fund
The Devon Historic Churches Trust Devon Historic Churches Trust
The Allchurches Trust Allchurches Trust
The Wolfson Foundation in conjunction with ChurchCare
The Bideford Bridge Trust
See our Bell Restoration page for details of grants given to the Bell Appeal
Thank you to all organisations for their generosity
We are working to make this website more accessible to all. See our Accessibility Statement