Quaint Historic Churches in the UK

Hi All,

Is there any one out there in UKY Land familiar with historic churches in or near Surrey? I'm getting married in '09 and would really like to find a church to have a very, very small ceremony in. 

Not interested in castles and the like -- something really old and on the small side.  My fiance already made inquiries at two (forgot the names) and sent an email to another -- but haven't gotten a response yet.

Thanks for any and all replies.  

You might find it difficult to find a church that will agree if you don't live in the parish.  I would start with your local church first.

I love old historic churches!  For christmas last year my MIL got me a historic photograph book called "British Churches". It contains b/w photographs from the Francis Frith collection. According to the book there is Shere Church on the Tillingbourne, Wotton church near Dorking, St. Peter's church in Newdigate, St. Andrew's church in Farnham, St. Peter's church in Chertsey. It might be worth googling each of them. The book contains little snippets of historical events about each but that would be too much for me to type, I'm afraid! 

I agree with Mindy, they can be quite strict about that.  The vicar that lives just a couple doors down from me refuses many requests for weddings because the couple is from outside of the parish.

Thanks so much for your responses.

Surrey is a large county.  As Mindy has said, most parish churches will marry parishoners, so this is the best place to start.  If you are not keen, look at other churches in the diocese and see if they will allow you to marry there.  If you find a church which you want to marry in which is not in your local area the vicar may require that you start attending regularly before he allows you to marry there.  If you are still in the US then this will be up to your fiance.

Vicky

The regulations regarding whether or not you can marry in a particular parish church are about to (or may just have) changed.  The link you need with a church is much more tenuous than it was before.  You can now marry in a church where you were baptised, confirmed or previously attended even if you don't have a current connection.  The connection could be through your parents or grandparents.

Of course this won't help if you're coming from abroad.  Why not visit the Church of England's website which gives all the relevant information?

Thank you all so very much -- and I will check out the Church of England's website.   Great information as usual -- thanks again.

It's been in the works for a while, but they are changing alot of the strict regulations regarding marrying in a COE. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7643884.stm

Hope this is good news for you

We shot a wedding at the church mentioned in the article, St. Mary's at Orcharldeigh earlier this month, and it's typical of many quaint old churches here. But this one is particularly small, really only allows for about 30 guests in the church, very tight. They will squeeze in more, but from a photographic standpoint, it was very difficult to photograph with so many having to stand, some literally in the aisle. Eek.

Heh. Pretty little Lullington Church is the smallest in the CofE, I think. If you're willing to go as far as Alfriston. I don't know if they do weddings, let alone for people outside the parish, but "small" and "quaint" made me think of this lovely building.

Trivia: the lyrics to the Cat Stevens song "Morning has Broken" are from a hymn inspired by a morning in Alfriston. One of my favorite areas.

Trivia: the lyrics to the Cat Stevens song "Morning has Broken" are from a hymn inspired by a morning in Alfriston. One of my favorite areas.

Cat Stevens recorded a song called 'Morning Has Broken'? I didn't know that (learn something new every day!). To be honest, I've never actually known of the song being anything other than a Christian hymn - I grew up singing 'Morning Has Broken' in school assemblies (I went to a CofE primary school) .

It was his signature song in the early '70s. His biggest hit, I think. Google tells me it's on YouTube, but I can't access YouTube from work.

I have no idea if he preserved the original tune. I was raised Presbyterian 

It was his signature song in the early '70s. His biggest hit, I think. Google tells me it's on YouTube, but I can't access YouTube from work.

I have no idea if he preserved the original tune. I was raised Presbyterian 

I just found it on YouTube - it's the same tune that we used to sing in school/church (brings back memories, lol) .