Origins

The origins of the Friends

There has been an informal Friends of Hailes Church ever since c. 2000. Annual fund-raising events – mostly summer concerts in the church, organised by Janet Cooper – were held in most years, until the outbreak of coronavirus (in late 2019) put an abrupt end to them.

Below is a brief account of how and why the Friends came into being and of its chief fund-raising activities between 2001and 2019.

Medieval wall paintings were revealed in the chancel at Hailes’s church during restoration work early in the 20th century. It appears that they were treated with a wax preservative. Further conservation, undertaken by Eve Baker (1906-1990) in the 1970s, involved removal of this wax coating, since it was damaging the paintings. She also found further wall paintings in the chancel and those in the nave. The restoration work in the early 20th century was funded by Hugh Andrews of Toddington Manor, but it is not known who funded Eve Baker’s work.

At the request of local residents who were concerned about the deterioration of the wall paintings, English Heritage agreed to conduct a condition survey free of charge. This was done in August 2000 by Robert Gowing of English Heritage’s Building and Conservation Research Team. In his report, dated 20 October 2000, he made recommendations for remedial conservation of the wall paintings and for their future maintenance.

The Friends of Hailes Church, largely made up of Hailes residents, appears to have been established quickly with the aim of raising the funds required for the recommended works. The exact date of formation of the Friends of Hailes Church is unknown, but the minutes of a meeting of the Friends held on 1 March 2001 (the only formal minutes which appear to have survived) refer to an earlier meeting, the minutes of which were read and accepted. It is likely that the Friends were in formal existence by late 2000.

The minutes of the March 2001 meeting report on the receipt of a quotation from the conservation firm Paine & Stewart of London for undertaking the treatment works. They also identify the actions needed for applications for a faculty and for grants, and include ideas for local fund-raising activities. In addition, they refer to the possibility of applying for charitable status for the Friends, but it seems that this was never acted upon. It is understood that successful applications for grants were made to the Historic Churches Preservation Trust and the Gloucester Environmental Trust.

One of the fund-raising activities referred to in these minutes comprised an offer by Simon Pickard to give a concert in the church in aid of the restoration of the wall paintings. It was held on 16 June 2001, with medieval and renaissance music being played on period instruments by Simon Pickard and Fenella Spiers, members of the Early Music Fora, and with a performance of Elizabethan love songs by Anne Dawson. This was the first of many annual concerts, usually held in June, which were organised by the Friends so as to raise funds for the upkeep of the church and its wall paintings. They were normally held in the church; but the tenth concert, a larger celebratory event featuring the English String Orchestra, was held in Stanway Tithe Barn. (It also included an art auction in aid of funds.) Some of the later concerts included dramatic performances as well as music.
The fourth summer concert was given on 19 June 2004 by Duo Alva and students from the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Early Music Performance and Research. An article about the event in the newpaper The Journal (10 June 2004) refers to recently completed restoration work on the wall paintings undertaken (by Paine & Stewart) at a cost of nearly £8000.
Although the immediate restoration needs had thus been met and fully funded by the Friends, their fund raising has continued in order to meet future needs.