To mark the church of St. Mary the Virgin at Bathwick's celebrations for the bicentenary of its foundation The Arts Society Bath presented to the church a splendid two-volume Church Record.
The team of 12 volunteers took four years to prepare one of the largest church records in the Wessex Area. The 500-page Record details all the items in this lovely city church dating from the early 1820's. The record was digitally produced from the beginning and includes over 450 photos.
The team met regularly every two weeks forging good friendships whilst recording the large number of objects on display and in dusty corners.
We rediscovered a very rare and valuable Coverdale ‘Trayacle’ (Treacle) Bible published in 1541 (now sold), appreciated the rector scaling scaffolding to take photos of high up windows no one could reach, explored the extensive collection of church vestments and discovered there were no bats in the belfry.
Working as part of the team on this project was fascinating, a chance to make new friends and a great example of how society members can get together and contribute to our community. Few of us had experience of church recording, we learnt much, and now appreciate much more what we see in churches!