ALL SAINTS AND ST CHRISTOPHER'S, BOUGHTON ALUPH
SERVICE SCHEDULE
Holy Communion or Morning Prayer is offered every Sunday at 9:30am. On the 5th Sunday a United Benefice Service is held at 10:30am at one of the 8 churches in the Wye Group. Services are held at All Saints from late May to early October, and at St Christopher's during the rest of the year. The pattern of services may change to accommodate holidays and other special events. These will be shown on the homepage. Visit the Boughton Aluph website for more details. All Saints is open to visitors on request. Please call the Churchwarden ahead of your visit: 01233 627117
MODERN COMMUNION
2nd and 4th Sunday at 9:30am
Said service using the modern Common Worship communion (eucharist) liturgy, lasting about an hour.
MORNING PRAYER
1st and 3rd Sunday at 9:30am
Said service using the modern Common Worship morning prayer liturgy (no communion/eucharist), lasting about an hour. This is a church warden led service.
UNITED BENEFICE SERVICE
5th Sunday at 10:30am
When there is a fifth Sunday in the month a 10.30am United Benefice Service will be held at one of the eight churches - please see the Calendar for details. The form of the service is typically either Modern Communion or Morning Prayer.
HISTORY
The parish of Boughton Aluph & Eastwell was originally blessed with three churches: St Mary's, Eastwell, sadly collapsed in 1951 after suffering vibration from military equipment in Eastwell Park during WWII and it was abandoned until it was taken over by Friends of Friendless Churches. It is in a beautiful location by Eastwell Lake and is accessible from Lenacre Street.
All Saints, Boughton Aluph, is a 13th century pilgrims church, on the Pilgrims Way and some distance from the centre of the village. Over the last 20 years it has been extensively renovated, thanks to the hard work of the restoration committee and with funds from many different sources but chiefly English Heritage. The beautiful South Transept window is a 21st century work of art and replaces the one damaged by a bomb and blocked up for many years. It was paid for with money raised by the Stour Music Festival Appeal Fund, in memory of Alfred Deller. The south porch and the pilgrims´ kitchen have also been opened up and restored to provide disabled access. All the windows have been cleaned and restored in 2009 and several contain mediaeval glass. Lack of heating means it is the "summer church"and from May to October there are regular Sunday services, weddings and events of many different kinds. A highlight of every year is the Stour Music Festival at the end of June. All Saints is usually open every weekend during the summer. Visitors to the church may use an information carry board (available here and in the church) as they look around.
St Christopher´s, Boughton Lees, is the "winter church". Originally a mediaeval hall house, then a barn, then the village school, it was adopted as a Chapel of Ease in the 1950s and is used for weekly services from October to May.
The village of Boughton Aluph has a beautiful village green, the Lees, at its centre, home to its flourishing cricket club and used every year in June for the Boughton Lees Pleasure Fayre. There are many active clubs in the village, mostly meeting in the iron Room, beside the Lees, originally constructed of corrugated iron but recently beautifully rebuilt.