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Our project began in November 1999 when the Parish Council and the Parochial Church Council invited everyone from the village to a meeting to discuss the conifers surrounding the church, which had grown very tall and wide and obstructed visibility on the crossroads.
It was agreed that safety on the crossroads was our main concern and it was decided to remove the conifers and hopefully restore the churchyard wall, which only extended a few feet either side of the gates. A group was formed to pursue this project and church records researched to find more information about the wall.
The meeting was held in our church as it is the focal point of our village, we do not have a village hall, shop or any other amenities.

The conifers were removed in December 1999. Feed back from villagers was excellent, everyone was pleased to see the church again and found visibility on the corner very much improved.As a result of the interest in the wall further activities were proposed, such as research into the history of the village and its inhabitants. The PCC wanted to involve the children, they had undertaken a project the previous summer and were keen to do more.
A committee was formed and a red rose adopted as our emblem, a red rose because this was the price for a house in Horningtoft in the 1600s. A note in the First Parish Register dated 1598 was made by Elizabeth Forth the Lady of the manor, she provided a house on the common for poor people and as a token the village had to pay a Red Rose on Midsummer Day to the Church Curate.
We then set about requesting applications from as many grant schemes as possible to find one that covered both the wall, the research and other ideas. We found the Local Heritage Initiative grants covered our type of projects arranged through The Countryside Agency. We put in our application for just over £13,000 in November 2000. We heard in January we had been successful and had also received a grant from the Nationwide Building Society for £2000. The agreements were signed in January 2001.

Select here to see the progress on the restoration of the churchyard wall.

Other areas of our project included a Heritage Weekend in June 2001, a Model Saxon Village, a St. Edmund Evening and the collation of information, photogaphs and maps of the village and its residents, more information was collected and displayed at our event in 2003.

 

 

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