JUNE        27th Market house , Chiz Harward Discover the rich history of the Church of the Holy Trinity Minchinhampton

MLHG Talk by Chiz Harward on 27 June 2025

Most of you will have seen that Chiz Harward is giving a talk at the Market House next Friday on the history of Holy Trinity. Some of you will have attended a talk on the same subject in the church and may have therefore concluded that you don’t need to attend Friday’s meeting in the Market House.

This would be a mistake as Chiz says that although some of the material will be similar to his earlier talk, there will be much additional information on the beautiful but poignant Baynham Memorial which, thanks to the efforts of MLHG members, was moved to its prominent new position in the narthex in January this year.

 

Since then, further research into the family, the monument and the possible sculptor, has revealed fascinating insights into early 17th Century attitudes to death, loss and memorial and while definitive answers are still hard to come by, Chiz feels that his new expanded talk will be at the very least thought-provoking!

 

Copies of Chiz’s book on Holy Trinity, ‘Your Church Newly Built’, (£20) will be available on the night.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Best wishes,

Gary Atkinson

 

BAYNHAM MEMORIAL FUND 

  APPEAL    

       

THE MOVE THE MEMORIAL APPEAL FUND launched by Minchinhampton Local History Group When the organ in Holy Trinity was dismantled in December last year prior to its restoration, a wonderful hidden treasure was revealed – an elaborate seventeenth-century memorial to a child, Anne Baynham, who died in infancy in 1632 having ‘not spun out thirty days’. While memorial monuments of this type can be found in many churches, it is extremely unusual – perhaps unique – to find such a memorial to a single infant. One can only surmise that little Anne must have held some special significance for her bereaved parents and one can imagine their pain as they ordered this elaborate monument to the memory of their dead baby. The effigy of Anne on the memorial shows her as a small child dressed in a nightgown with a ruff and with her hand resting on a skull, a type of memento mori much favoured by artists of the time. When the restored organ returns to the church in December, the Baynham Memorial, which has been covered up for over 125 years, will disappear from view again, possibly forever. Minchinhampton Local History Group has taken up the challenge of raising the necessary funds to enable this beautiful and historically important memorial to be removed from the wall and repositioned in the body of the church where both worshippers and visitors can see it and enjoy it in perpetuity. Can you help? To undertake the necessary work, we need to raise around £4,000. This sum has to be raised before September because alterations to the fabric of a church need diocesan Faculty Approval, a process which can take some time. We shall be organising various fund-raising events between now and then, but if you think you’d like to help financially straightaway, please contact MLHG President, Gary Atkinson on gamlhg@outlook.com or the contact us button with a note of how much you’d like to contribute (any contribution, large or small very warmly welcomed). Payments by Cash /Card / Cheque can be made by arrangement by Contacts us button.  Receipts will be issued for all funds received. With your help, the MLHG Move the Memorial Appeal Fund can ensure that this lovely monument is moved and given its proper place elsewhere in the church. Thank you! John Mounsey (MLHG committee member) and Minchinhampton Local History Team. 

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