On Sunday 5 September there will be a special community celebration in Cirencester to officially unveil and bless three new statues. Statues of St John the Baptist and the Virgin and Child have been installed in the vacant niches on the Parish Church Tower, and a statue of an Abbot & Canon placed in the Abbey Grounds.
These activities will celebrate over 900 years of Cirencester’s heritage as a thriving community stemming from the foundation of St Mary’s Abbey and The Parish Church and create a positive legacy for the faith and future of our town.
The day marks the culmination of two community-led projects, Abbey 900 and Project Black Jack, which have brought together many Cirencester residents and groups in recent years.
The Abbey 900 Festival’s patron, the Rt. Revd. Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, will be joining us for the whole day and we hope you will too.
The plan for the day is as follows. Please join us for any or all of these – they are all FREE:
Civic church service (10am)
Blessing of tower statues
Picnic in the Pews – bring your own picnic and eat alongside others in the church*
Procession & blessing of Abbot & Canon and garden
Game of statues, treasure trail & other family activities in Abbey Grounds & Parish churchyard
Choral Evensong (4pm)
* to help us keep track of numbers, please book your free Picnic in the Pews tickets online via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/picnic-in-the-pews-tickets-163965139145 or by using the contact details below.
We hope to have a cherry picker in place for the Blessings so that we can take a small number of people up to see one of the statues face to face! If you would like to nominate someone in our community who might enjoy this, please let Alison or Ailsa know. It can be an individual or someone representing a local group who has made a difference to our town.
For more details about the day please contact Alison Horrocks on info@projectblackjack.org.uk or Ailsa O’Connor 07962 124035
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