St Nicholas Church

Alcester in Bloom continues to maintain a close relationship with the care of St Nicholas churchyard garden in the centre of the town.

• In 1996, the entrance to the grounds of St. Nicholas Church underwent a major transformation with a new drive of York Stone and a new notice board.

• A south nave window contains the gift to the church of a memorial window by the family of a much-loved former Rector, John Emrys-Jones and his wife Marise. The window was designed by Alan Younger and dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Coventry on 1st June 1997.

• During 2017-2019 major stonemasonry work took place to repair the walls of the church, with all 10 nave window surrounds on both south and north side being fully replaced with new harder stone to prevent eventual collapse due to poor weathering of the original 18th Century stone.

• The church wall repairs provided an opportunity in 2021 to rework the churchyard garden for easier maintenance, clearing excess shrubbery that impeded wall ventilation, returfing parts of the south green, and on the north green providing more seating for those many folk who enjoy the tranquillity of the churchyard within its busy town centre.

• The church doors are regularly repainted to keep them tidy. In 2022 the south west nave doors nearest the High Street had to be replaced with a new pair, the originals having deteriorated beyond further maintenance.

• Frequent repairs are made to the church boundary wall including replacement of perished bricks and stone and repointing joints. The north foot-gate by the town hall has had both its piers rebuilt in 2014 and 2019, one fitted with a new cap stone.

• The floodlights provided by the churchyard team in 2002 to enhance the view of the church from the town at night were replaced in 2022 by low energy LED units, substantially reducing church electricity costs.

The churchyard team continue meet on a monthly basis, with individual volunteers spending many hours keeping the beautiful garden tidy.

More information about the church can be found on the Alcester Minster Churches website www.alcesterminster.org