A survey is being carried out by the Friends and the PCC to see how the local community would like the church to be developed. A public meeting is also being held at the Crown Lodge Hotel, Outwell on Wednesday 15 July at 7:00pm where people can discuss the available options.

For further information click on the Friends tab and scroll down to Documents. The QR code at the bottom of the page will link to a questionnaire where you can express your views on the future use of St Clement's.

 The 2023 Quinquennial Report, which reviewed the structural integrity of the Church, recommended that an inspection of the Church's internal roof structure be undertaken. This has now been carried out and the draft report reveals potentially serious structural issues with some of the roof timbers. This means that a large programme of essential repairs and restoration works will need to be implemented.

Meanwhile the report recommends that the Church should not be open to the public with immediate effect until further notice for safety reasons. Unfortunately this means that the usual services and events will not now be held at St Clement's with the exception of the monthly cake stall which will now take place in the Church porch on the first Saturday of the month from 9 -11 am. For further information about christenings, weddings or Church services please contact The Reverend Daphne Calvert on 01945 772171 or email dcalvert559@gmail.com. 

The next stage will involve further detailed investigations to determine the necessary works, followed by a campaign to raise the substantial funds involved. Funds will also be necessary to ensure the future of the famous carved angels on the roof beams, as well as proposals for additional community activities in the Church. The PCC and the Friends hope this ambitious programme will guarantee the structural stability of St Clement's for years to come and also ensure the Church's future as an important local community resource.

We will issue updates here on future developments.

The Friends AGM will take place at St Clement's at 10:30am on Thursday, 21 March.

Please note that the proposed Friends of St Clement's Church AGM scheduled for Thursday 11 January has been postponed. A new date will be announced in due course.

The Outwell Gilbert & Sullivan Society staged a very successful and much appreciated concert, raising £406 towards the repair and restoration programme.

The 2022 Friends of St Clement's Church AGM will be held in the church at 11:00am on Tuesday 15th November.

Due to ongoing building works inside the church St Clement's is closed until further notice. The website will be updated when it is safe for people to enter the church again.

 REPAIRS TO THE WEST WINDOW IN   THE TOWER OF  ST. CLEMENT’S   CHURCH OUTWELL

DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED TO THE LOWER LEFT PANELS OF GLASS IN THE WEST WINDOW OF THE TOWER IN ST. CLEMENT’S CHURCH.

THE DAMAGED SECTIONS HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND THE WINDOW IS NOW BOARDED UP.

AN APPLICATION HAS BEEN MADE TO THE REGISTRY FOR A FACULTY FOR THE NECESSARY ‘LIKE FOR LIKE’ REPAIRS TO BE MADE TO THE WINDOW.

IF YOU WISH TO OBTAIN MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE PROPOSAL CONTACT jacksonkate@live.co.uk

IF YOU HAVE ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE PROPOSED WORK YOU WILL NEED TO NOTIFY THE REGISTRY AT ely.registry@1thesanctuary.com BY 22ND MAY 2020.

14th May 2020

Historic England has now added St Clement's Church to their Buildings At Risk Register. This should strengthen future grant applications. Further information here: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/19950

A Conservation Cleaning Workshop organised by the Diocese of Ely will be held at St Clement's Church from 10am to 4pm on Tuesday 10 September. Attendance is free but places are limited so early application is advised. For booking and further information visit www.elydiocese.org or call 01353 652705.

A Press Release and further information on a similar workshop to be held in Soham is available in the Documents section of the Friends tab on our website.

Do come along to our Christmas Tree Festival at St Clement's from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Saturdar 15 December. There will be craft and gift stalls, refreshments and a Teddy Tombola. Fun for all the children and lots of Christmas present ideas too.

On 28 October Simon Judge, a passing visitor on a narrow-boat journey, posted an entry on his Scholar Gypsy Narrowboat blog.

The post is an interesting account of Simon's journey from March to Outwell, then on to Ely. In Outwell he moored up at Well Creek and visited St Clement's, where he took some very good photos of the Angels.

Simon's blog and the photos can be accessed from the link below:

https://nbsg.wordpress.com/2018/10/28/march-to-outwell-and-ely/

Friend and staunch supporter Dr Claire Daunton has written a fascinating article about St Clement's , recently published in A Special Report on Historic Churches. The paper starts with the important contribution to the church made by Sir Nicholas Beaupre in the early 16th century. There is comprehensive coverage of the history of the carvings and the stained glass windows, together with some excellent photographs.

To see the article, click on the Friends tab and select the Documents option.

At the concert last week in St Clement's we had the opportunity to admire the Poppy cascade marking the Centenary of the end of the First World War. 

For further information and some great photos of the Cascade please click on the Documents section of the Friends tab.
 

Time to fire up those neurons and join our fundraising quiz night. Tickets are £2.50 per person, maximum 4 people per team. Tickets available from Edna Hollands on 01945 772723 or on the door. There will be a raffle and the bar is available. Your quizmeister will be the ineffably entertaining Mr John Hollands. 7:30pm at the Crown Lodge Hotel. Make it a date!

The Friends are launching an appeal for funds to restore the wonderful medieval painted glass in St Clement's windows.

For further details click on the Friends tab and then the Documents option at the bottom of the menu.

The brass effigy and plate celebrating the life and death of Richard Quadryng, which has hung on the North Wall of St Clement's since the early 19th century, has been returned to the church in Lenton, near Grantham, Lincs, where it was originally located.

It had been moved to St Clement's for reasons unknown by The Rev William Hardwicke, who was Vicar of Lenton and also Rector of Outwell at the time.

A photo of the handover ceremony and further information is available from the following link:

https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/stolen-brass-leaves-outwell-church-200-years-on-1-8389227

There will be a Morning Service on Sunday 10 December at 11:00am, after which the Christmas raffle will be drawn. Mulled wine and mince pies will be available.

Our Christmas Tree Festival will be held in St Clement's Church, including a Christmas Fayre. 10am - 4pm.

POhotographic exhibtion continued. 1 - 4pm.

Photographic exhibition and launch of Bill Smith's updated 'Outwell in a Nutshell'. 10am - 4pm.

Come and join our fundraising quiz night. Everybody welcome for another great evening of fundraising and mental stimulation. Raffle and bar. Tickets are £2.50 per person, maximum 4 people per team, tickets from Edna on 01945 772723 or on the door. Your quiz-master will be the wonderfully witty Mr John Hollands, you have been warned! 7.30pm. Crown Lodge Hotel.

At 7:00 pm on Friday 20 October at St Clement's Church there will be a book signing by renowned American author Joel Gordonson. His latest detective novel, 'The Atwelle Confession', is a fictional work based on historical facts with references to St Clement's Church, and covers both the 16th and 21st centuries. Music from both these periods will accompany the presentations.

Bishop David of Ely will open the event and Claire Daunton will give a talk on the St Clement's carvings and how they influenced the writing of this detecive novel.

Light refreshments will be available during the evening and there is no charge for admission.

Poster with more information is available under Documents in the Friends tab.

For information about the author visit www.joelgordonson.com.

Come and join us for an evening's fun and fundraising at the Crown Lodge Hotel, starting 7:30pm. Raffle and bar.

Tickets are £2.50 per person, maximum 4 people per team. Tickets from Edna Hollands on 01945 772723 or on the door.

The 2017 AGM of the Friends of St Clement's Church will be held at 2:00pm on Tuesday 13 June in St Clement's Church.

The Coffee Shop will be open as usual from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

Come and help us put the fun into fundraising and win terrific prizes! 

Wednesday 14 September at 7:30pm at the Crown Lodge Hotel, Outwell.

Tickets are £2.50 per person, maximum 4 people per team, available from Edna Hollands on 772723 or on the door.

Your quizmaster will be the tantalisingly teasing Mr John Hollands - you have been warned!

Come along for another great evening of fundraising and mental stimulation: Wednesday 18 May at 7:30pm at the Crown Lodge Hotel, Outwell.

Tickets are £2.50 per person, maximum 4 people per team, tickets from Edna on 772723 or on the door.

Your quizmaster will be the earnestly enigmatic Mr John Hollands, so beware!

Dr John Lee has sent us a paper published in the Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society based on the talk he gave at our Study Day in April last year.

Some of the many fascinating subjects covered include Beaupré Hall, Welle Manor Hall, and the churches in Outwell and Upwell.

The article can be accessed here.

Come along for another great fundraising evening of cerebral stimulation. Wednesday 25 November, 7:30pm at the Crown Lodge Hotel, Outwell.

Tickets are £2.50 per person, maximum 4 people per team, available from Edna on 772723 or on the door.

Your host will be the majestically mystifying Mr John Hollands - you have been warned!

We are thrilled to announce that the wonderful Marham Military Wives Choir will be performing a Christmas Concert at St Clements on Friday 11 December at 7:30pm.

Tickets are available from the Coffee Shop, a Friends Committee member, or Edna on 01945 772723. This is sure to be a sell-out performance so buy your tickets soon to guarantee your seats. 

Refreshments available during the interval. For more details and a splendid photograph of the Choir see here. 

Preparations have begun for our annual Christmas Fayre, to be held at St Clements from 3 - 6pm on Friday 27 November.

For more details see the poster in the Documents section of the Friends tab.

A Special General Meeting has been arranged at 7pm on Monday 28 September at St Clements to present the following proposals to change the voting rules for general meetings of the Friends. These require approval by a general meeting attended by at least 20 members.

                           Proposals

To amend clause 4(e) to read:

(e) The officers and members of the Committee shall hold office until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting next after their election and shall be eligible for re-election.

To amend clause 7(a) to read:

(a) There shall be a quorum at Annual and Special General Meetings of the Friends when at least 10 members of the total actual membership of the Friends at the time are present.

If you are unable to attend and wish to vote please contact the Membership Secretary at info@stclementsoutwell.org.uk for a postal ballot form (pdf) which can be printed and returned.

You may have submitted a postal vote for the AGM in June, but because the meeting was not quorate the resolution could not be passed. New voting papers are required for this Special General Meeting.

I hope that you are able to attend the meeting and look forward to seeing you there.

Kate Jackson

Chair

Elizabeth Truss MP visited St Clement's on Tuesday 25 August. She met with Richard Waite (the architect advising on restoration plans), Revd Paul Skillings, Kate Jackson (Chair, Friends Committee), Janet Edgson and others.

Speaking about the carvings Ms Truss said "These carvings are of national interest" and that she supported the Friends' bid for additional funds for the roof restoration.

To view the press coverage go to the Friends section of the website and click on the Documents tab.

A reminder that our AGM will be held in the church at 7:00pm on Monday 15 June. There will also be an opportunity to see progress on the restoration work completed to date.

More details under Documents in the Friends tab.

Come along to St Clement's Church at 7:30pm on Saturday 11 July for a delightful evening of Renaissance Music performed by the legendary Cambridgeshire singing group Divers Voyces. Tickets are £8.00 available now from 01945 772364.

See poster in Documents in the Friends tab.

The next Annual General Meeting of the Friends will take place at St Clement's at 7:00pm on Monday 15th June. All welcome.

To see the agenda and the minutes of the 2014 AGM please click on the Documents section in the Friends tab.

Wednesday 20th May, quiz night at the Crown Lodge Hotel. Starts at 7:30pm, £2.50 per person, maximum of 4 per team. Please phone John or Edna on 01945 772723 to reserve your table. 

Fame at last. A short film on YouTube shows the Bishop of Huntingdon and others inspecting progress on work to preserve the wood carvings. You can see the clip here.

The Bishop of Ely, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, will take the 9:00am service at St Clement's on Sunday, 1 March.

Wednesday 25th March, quiz night at the Crown Lodge hotel. Starts at 7:30pm, £2.50 per person, maximum of 4 people to a team. Please phone John or Edna on 01945 772723 to reserve your table.

Wednesday 21st January, quiz night at the Crown Lodge hotel. Starts at 7:30pm, £2.50 per person, maximum of 4 people to a team. Please phone John or Edna on 01945 772723 to reserve your table.

The Winter 2014 issue of the Gazette has a fine illustrated article about our famous carvings. Jason Townsend remarks that "Ecclesiastical woodcarvings that remain from before the 16th century are few and far between..." but there are "some wonderful remnants of medieval woodcarvings" surviving in St Clement's.

For more information about this fascinating magazine go to http://www.thewoodcarversgazette.co.uk

Meanwhile the article is reproduced in the Publications tab of the Church Guide by kind permission of Jason Townsend.

Work commenced on the roof and castellations at the end of August when scaffolding was erected. St Clement's architect, Richard Waite, reports that work has progressed steadily and we have had some luck with the weather, being so mild until very recently! The loose stonework on the parapets has been taken down and the reconstruction is almost complete, with just some elements of the very eastern gable to finish. The contractor will then be moving on to re-slating the North Transept roof and importantly cleaning out the hopper heads and rainwater gutters and downpipes.

Membership leaflets are available from the church - why not come and pick one up at the Tuesday Coffee Shop, and enjoy a chat and some refreshment. The church is open every Tuesday and at other times as announced; a key may be obtained from the Costcutters shop opposite the church.