Welcome to the web site of the Friends of St Mary’s, Bacton. The Friends of St Mary’s, Bacton is a voluntary, completely secular, group set up to assist in the maintenance of the fabric of St Mary’s Church to safeguard it for future generations and to promote its use as a village asset. St Mary’s, Bacton, near Stowmarket in the heart of Suffolk, is an historically important building having a rare medieval Doom Painting as well as an unusual false double hammer beam roof and some fine wood carvings. The greatest challenge is the maintenance of the building itself. As any householder will know this is an ongoing and expensive business, even more so when that building is a fourteenth century traditional flint and mortar parish church. Our aim is to assist with funding of projects directed at maintaining or improving the building and to promote the church as an asset for the use of the local community. Why is it important? Because all of us, in our own ways, value St Mary’s: as a place of worship in some cases; because we were married there, perhaps, or have family buried there; for its beauty and the craftsmanship which went into it, or for what it records of the history of Bacton. And because if we - the people living in Bacton today - won't pay to keep the church in good repair, no-one else will.

Mission Statement The preservation, maintenance, repair and improvement of St Mary's Church, Bacton, its monuments, fixtures, fittings and furnishings and to promote public interest in it as a building of historic and architectural merit and in its use as a community asset for the village and surrounding district.

Friends meetings in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst it is tempting to think that the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, there is currently something of a resurgence presenting very real dangers for many people so that, having re-started our regular meetings, we ask that attendees continue to observe sensible precautions, including taking a lateral flow test if necessary, particularly if they are showing any cold or flu-like symptoms or wearing a mask. Thank you.

Christmas Concert On 10th December St Mary’s resonated to the glorious sound of the Stowmarket Concert Band as they played a varied programme of seasonal music. The 80 strong audience enjoyed an afternoon of classic favourites refreshed with wine and mince pies. The event raised over £1,000 for the Friends’ funds and was a great way to end the year. The money raised from this event, as with all others, adds to the impressive total that the Friends have raised so far which now exceeds £130,000 and allows us to make further funds available to the church to build on the £102,000 already granted since the Friends were formed. In that time we have supported numerous small projects as well as some more ambitious ones. The very first project supported entirely by funds from the Friends was to carry out repairs to the clerestory windows with further work carried out the following year. Another was to provide cushions for the pews to make the hard pews rather more comfortable and inviting. From these small beginnings, a number of projects have been partly or entirely funded by the Friends to repair or improve the fabric of the building. Perhaps one of the more glamorous and ambitious projects was the c onservation of the Doom painting on the chancel wall. This important Doom is now preserved for future generations. Subsidence affecting the north aisle continues to be a challenging problem for which the Friends have been involved in funding investigatory work and expect to be able to assist with such works as may be necessary to halt any further damage.