Winchelsea Church’s beautiful stained glass will be illuminated from Sunday 6th December
Sixty or more households will also be gradually decorating and lighting up their windows between then and 20th. Windows will stay lit from 5pm to 10pm until New Year’s Eve.
In November we asked residents to support our appeal for funds to light the church windows as part of the Advent Window Trail. The response was amazing, it took just two weeks to reach our target and we would like to thank all the residents and local tradespeople who contributed so generously.
Lighting the windows from the inside has provided us with some technical challenges. But over a series of trials these have been overcome, thanks to our wonderful team of technicians and our lighting consultant – and new Winchelsea resident – Graham Large.
We have some beautiful stained-glass windows whose luminous intensity became really self-evident during the trial lighting. It’s going to be a real treat to see them all lit in such a way together.
Although the church windows are the centrepiece of our trail there is a lot more to see with over sixty households creating a window or display.
There is no particular theme except “Christmas” and there promises to be plenty of variety in style, size, colour and lighting.
The church windows will be lit from Sunday 6th and from that date onwards other windows will be gradually lit, until the whole trail will be complete on the 20th and continue through to New Year’s Eve. The lights should be shining brightly from 5pm to around 10pm.
Trail maps are available from Winchelsea Farm Kitchen, The New Inn and from the Church porch. Houses are numbered and each window named, so you can either follow the numbers or walk around Winchelsea at your leisure. Don’t forget to bring a torch. Please stop and enjoy everyone’s handiwork, as a lot of effort has gone into this event to make it special and to lift the spirits.
To comply with Government guidelines, we do ask you to make sure that you walk in family groups and ensure that social distancing is followed at all times. Do not enter into people’s gardens unless instructed to do so and make sure you stay safe by looking out for uneven pathways and roads and making sure that all children are accompanied at all times.
Our charity this year is St Thomas’ Church, so if you enjoyed this year’s trail please make a donation, using our Just Giving site. All monies raised go directly to the church and there is opportunity to add Gift Aid if eligible.
You will find a QR code around town and the URL is: justgiving.com/fundraising/winchelsea-windows
Don’t forget to support the New Inn, perhaps by starting or finishing with a meal. Please make sure you book ahead to avoid disappointment. While in the Farm Kitchen you will also find a range of Christmas gifts and cards created by our talented team of crafters to raise further funds towards the event.
Thank you for your support – and we wish everyone a very Happy Christmas.
The Winchelsea Christmas Windows Group
