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Diptford Parish Church

CHURCH BELLS - NEW RINGERS........details


Window over the font
Timetable of Services 
Weekday Communions
Mothers' Union
Benefice Fellowship Group

 

Gift Day Thurs 10th July
Visit to Harberton by Julia Lewis, wife of Bishop of Cyprus
Additional Services and activities - July
Additional Events for August
 
Ride the Wave Benefice Holiday Club
The Broach Spire

Major repairs to Diptford Church Spire

........including Simon Walton's video of the renovation

As you approach the village from the river valley the skyline is dominated by the silhouette of the Church spire.

St Mary's Church, Diptford dates from the 13th century. Services are now shared between 5 churches in the district ie The Benefice of Diptford and North Huish, Harberton, Harbertonford, Halwell and Moreleigh.
A timetable of Services is given below.

Like many churches of its period, St. Mary's, Diptford, has a broach spire - a construction where an octagonal spire sits directly on to a square tower.

The church plays an important part in the life of the local school and just before Christmas you will find the church full, not only with parents, but with other members of the community too who have come to enjoy the school's Christmas celebration.

spire now finished

Click the picture to enlarge in a new window.

 

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Services for July 2008

The Benefice of Diptford, North Huish, Harberton, Harbertonford, Halwell & Moreleigh
July 2008 6th 7th after Trinity 13th 8th after Trinity 20th 9th after Trinity 27th 10th after Trinity 3rd Aug 11th after Trinity
St. Mary's Diptford & North Huish 10.30am Holy Communion 10.30am Pet Service & Baptism at Cross Farm.
In the church if wet.
8.30am Holy Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 10.30am Holy Communion
  10.30am Matins    
St. Andrew's Harberton 10.30am Holy Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 9.15am Holy Communion 9.15am Holy Communion 10.30am Holy Communion
St Peter's Harbertonford 9.15am Holy Communion 9.15am Holy Communion 10.30am Family Service 10.30am Holy Communion 9.15am Holy Communion
St. Leonard's Halwell 9.15am Holy Communion at Moreleigh 6.30pm Evensong 10.30am Family Service 9.15am Matins 9.15am Holy Communion
All Saints Moreleigh 9.15am Holy Communion 9.15am Matins 10.30am Family Service at Halwell 6.30pm Evensong 9.15am Holy Communion at Halwell



Additional Services & Events for July











2nd July  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Diptford 
2nd July  6.30pm  "Blitz" on All Saints, Moreleigh 
5th July  3.00pm  Blessing at St Mary's, Diptford 
9th July  10.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Harberton 
10th July  9.00am - 6.00pm  Gift Day at Diptford 
10th July  7.30pm  PCC Diptford 
15th July  10.30am  Coffee Morning at Harbertonford 
16th July  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Diptford 
19th July  9.30am  Wedding at St Peter's Church, Harbertonford 
23rd July  2.00pm  Mid-week Holy Communion at Harberton 
23rd July  9.30pm  Leaders' Assembly at St Mary's Church, Diptford 
23rd July  1.30pm  Leaders' Service at St Peter's, Harbertonford 
24th July  6.00pm  Wedding Rehearsal at St Andrew's 
26th July  3.00pm  Wedding at St Andrew's, Harberton 
28th - 29th July    Children's Holiday "Ride the Wave" Club at Diptford 
30th July  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Diptford 
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Additional Services & Events for August









1st August  6.00pm  Wedding Rehearsal at St Mary's, Diptford 
2nd August  3.00pm  Wedding at St Mary's, Diptford 
3rd August  3.00pm  Memorial Service for Simon Gallyer at St Andrew's 
6th August  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Harberton 
13th August  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Diptford 
19th August  10.30am  Coffee Morning at Harbertonford 
20th August  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Harberton 
24th August  12 noon  Baptism at St Andrew's Church, Harberton 
27th August  9.30am  Mid-week Holy Communion at Diptford 
30th August  3.00pm  Wedding at St Andrew's, Harberton 


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Communion service Wednesdays 10.30am


There will be a simple Communion service every Wednesday at 10.30am, alternating between St Andrew's and St Mary's.

We should love to build up a regular congregation and to welcome occasional attenders as well. It could prove to be a wonderful way of building up the spiritual life of the benefice.

The emphases for this month's communions are as follows:



2nd April 10.30am St Andrew's Eastertide 
9th April 10.30am St Mary's Eastertide/Dietrich Bonhoeffer 
16th April 10.30am St Andrew's Eastertide 
23rd April 10.30am St Mary's Eastertide/St George 
30th April 10.30am St Andrew's Rogation Day 

 



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Mothers' Union

Christian Care for Families

If you live in the area of:

  • Diptford
  • North Huish
  • Harberton
  • Harbertonford
  • Halwell
  • Moreleigh
  • Ugborough
  • Ermington
and you are a mother.. father.. grandparent.. sister.. brother.. auntie.. niece.. uncle.. nephew.. cousin..

then come along for fun and fellowship:

Fri  11th January, 10.30am  8 Moreleigh Green
Moreleigh 
Coffee morning Knit-In 
Sat  9th February  Diptford  Celebration of Marriage 
Fri  7th March  Harbertonford  Women's World Day of Prayer 
Sat  17th May  Harberton  The First Decade of Life 
Tues  17th June  Exeter  Day Trip to MU and Lunch 
 
There will be a modest charge for MU Charities (240531) at these meetings but you don't have to be a member of MU to come along. 

Further information from Rev'd Caroline Luff: 01803 868 445


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Benefice Fellowship Group

We would love to welcome new or old members to the group.

We meet on Tuesdays at 8pm at Trimswell Farm during term time.

This term we are doing a six week study of the Psalms which usually lasts about an hour, followed by coffee and biscuits, and finishing around 9.30pm.

Plenty of space available for parking .... but a torch is a good idea!

For more details, please ring Sheena McCready - phone number in the Parish Mag

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Gift Day

St Mary's Church Diptford Gift Day on Thursday 10th July

On Thursday 10th July a team from the PCC will be in the square ready to receive your gifts. We hope you will give as generously as you are able. The cost of insuring, running and keeping our church in a good state of repair is considerable.

Donation envelopes are included in the Parish Magazine and Gift Aid envelopes will be available on the day.



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Visit to Harberton from Cyprus - Mrs. Julia Lewis, wife of the Bishop of Cyprus

We are going to have our own link with the Lambeth Conference.
Mrs Julia Lewis, the wife of the new Bishop of Cyprus and The Gulf, will be visiting the Diocese.

On Sunday, 13th of July she will speak at the Communion service in St Andrew's, Harberton at 10.30 am and hopefully will be able to stay to lunch at the Vicarage.
Anybody from the diocese is welcome to lunch - a cold buffet; contributions to lunch will be welcome.

More details are available in the Parish Mag.



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Ride the Wave
Benefice Holiday Club

Diptford Parish Hall

28th - 29th July, 10.30 - 3.00pm

Letters with details are in the back of the churches

ALL WELCOME



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The Broach Spire

broachspire

Diptford Church has a broach spire typical of churches of the 13th and 14th centuries.
Britannia History has the following to say:

"Earliest type of spire, where the tower rises direct into the spire without parapet or pinnacles; the broach' is the sloping triangular piece of masonry connecting the angle of the square tower with the adjacent face of the octagonal spire."

And an explanation of "Architectural Terms" gives the following:

Broach spire : Octagonal spire rising from a square tower without a parapet, with pyramidal forms at the angles.

Some pictures of other churches with broach spires

Christchurch with St. Mary's, Swindon

Kirkham, Lancashire

All Saints, Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire

St. Thomas a Beckett, Aunsby, Lincolnshire

Foxearth, Suffolk

St Mary's Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire

S. George the Martyr, Queen Square, London WC1

Bradmore

St Mary the Virgin, Ketton, Leicestershire

All Saints' Church, Nottingham

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Major repairs to Diptford Church Spire

From this.... spire-before-work

to this.... spire-work-in-progress

to this.... spire now finished

Work was needed to repair and renovate Diptford's church spire. The spire was constructed of local stone in the 13th century and is one of the finest examples of a broach spire in the country.

The work involved removing the cement render which was cracked and in a dangerous state, making repairs to the stonework as necessary and then rendering with lime mortar.

Simon Walton has made a video about the work involved and has kindly offered us the chance to see it here. If you have broadband you can run it by clicking on the picture below. Unfortunately, it is not practical to run it on dial-up as the download time would be too long; if you are on dial-up, I am sure that in Diptford you will find a friend who would be willing to run it for you.

SIMON'S VIDEO OF DIPTFORD'S STEEPLE RENOVATION

click here to run steeple renovation video

Click on the picture to run the video

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