Moggerhanger Church

The Anglican Church - St John the Evangelist
St John's Church was built for Mrs Elizabeth Dawkins as a memorial to her husband, the Rev'd Edward Henry Dawkins who died in 1859. They had bought Moggerhanger House two years previously and lived there with their son and two daughters. The Consecration of the Church took place on Tuesday 31st July 1860.

Weddings at St John the Evangelist
If you are thinking of getting married now or in the future have a look at our wedding page

The Church Today
Nowadays St John's Church serves both Moggerhanger and Chalton. The Parish is in a group with the villages of Cople and Willington, our vicar, the Rev Lynda Klimas cares for all three.

There are services every Sunday and the Church building itself is used by the community as a meeting place and shop.
The shop is run by volunteers and is open Monday to Saturday mornings (10:00 - 12:00am). Other events such as craft fairs and coffee mornings are held here too.

New bench for St John's Church in late evening Sun April 2011

An extract from the Bedford Times (7.8.1860) reads:
'This beautiful little church does great credit to the architect, Mr Slater of London and to Mr Coquest of Kempston, the builder. It is in the early Norman style, of Kempston stone elegantly varied with red sandstone from the quarries at Silsoe. The carving of the capitals and the font are exquisite and the marble floor and the painted windows in the chancel are very rich.

Mrs Dawkins has given a large burial ground fenced by a handsome stone wall and is building an excellent parsonage adjoining and she has endowed the living with £60 a year to which £40 a year is added from the revenues from the mother church at Blunham. The internal fittings and decorations are all in excellent taste. The vestry, belfry and tower are thoroughly handsome and substantial'.

Points of Interest
The ROOF is open and constructed from oak grown on the Moggerhanger Estate. The PILLARS are of Ancaster stone with carved capitals; and arcades are of the same material intermixed with Harlestone stone.

Beautiful view of our church to the altar

The APSE is more highly decorated than the rest of the Church and contains the mausoleum where Rev'd Dawkins and his wife (who died in 1863) are buried. In front of the ALTAR is a slab of Derbyshire marble inlaid with a floriated cross of brass. The space within the altar rails is inlaid with different coloured marbles.

The three east WINDOWS (above the altar) are filled with stained glass by Clayton & Bell of London and are of the Crucifixion, Resurection and Ascension.

Other stained glass windows, added at a later date, are to the memory of Lucy Emma Thornton (1860), Caroline Margret Thornton (1881), Harry Thornton (1885), Jerimiah Titmas (1888), Gertrude Emily Duberly (1898), Louisa M Dawkins (1907 and 1909), Edward Henry Frederick Dawkins (1912), Arthur Stephen Thornton (1913), Charles Stuart Thornton and Harry Godfrey Thornton.

The handsome circular FONT is situated near the South Door. The ORGAN was built by Messrs Bevington and was the gift of Colonel William Thornton. Above the organ is a screen that was fitted to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra bearing the inscription 'ER 1902 AR'.



	A scheme started in 2002 to support the work of keeping St John's Church building and churchyard in good order. All money raised by "The Friends" is used for this purpose.

BREAKING NEWS

Songs of Praise
We are calling for a favourite hymn from anyone who would like to tell us about it and why it is important to them. This popular service will generally be held on the 3rd Sunday of the month, the next will be on 19th February. However, Sunday 18th March we are hosting the Deanery Evensong with Alistair Burt talking on the Role Government.
There was a lot of interest in the personal story of each hymn so we are have created a page with the Songs of Praise 15th January 2012 hymn outlines on.

Lunch Club
Our next lunch club will be on Tursday 8th March 2012. We are thinking - Step Comments?
We do apologise for the intermittant lunches this year and as soon as the new heating system is introduced intend to have lunches right through the cold bits of the year.

Safari Supper
Have a look at our biggest ever Safari Supper 2011 pictures.
Spot yourself or a friend?
If so, great. If not, join us next year!
News Flash
Date for your diary
Safari Supper 2012
Saturday 23rd June

Junior Choir and Drama
We have a weekly practice and activity session at 18:00 for an hour every Wednesday (during school term). Any youngster age 7 upwards can come to join us. The group performs during our Monthly Family Services (second Sunday of the month at 10:00). If interested contact Ali 640647

Senior Choir
The Senior choir is now meetiing at 19:15 (after Junior choir) and practicing to support our Songs of Praise Services. If you would like to have some singing therapy come and join us. (Singing expertise/quality NOT AT ALL REQUIRED). If interested contact Ali 640647.

There are several PLAQUES commemorating people who lived in the village - look out for those to Annie Maria Housden who was both postmistress and Parish Clerk; also Arthur H Jacobs and Reginal W Hall who died whilst being prisoners of the Japanese during the Second World War.
Moggerhanger Methodist Church The Methodist church in Moggerhanger is very well appointed, with, a nice warm building and toilet facilities. There are services every Sunday at 10:45am. The minister is the Rev. M Dawes contact tel: 01 767 312156 and Senior Steward and Treasurer, Miss F Matthews contact tel: 01 767 640264.



	A scheme started in 2002 to support the work of keeping St John's Church building and churchyard in good order. All money raised by "The Friends" is used for this purpose.

Moggerhanger Village
The earliest recorded name of Mokehangre dates back to 1242 but more recently it has been known as Morehanger, Muggerhanger and finally, Moggerhanger. The name has many possible meanings one being ‘Gypsy Wood’, ‘Bog on a Hill’, or could be reffering to the settlement of the Dane ‘MogHair’.

As well as the Methodist and Anglican churches and the Sue Ryder Care Centre (which like the Anglican church is also known locally as St John's), the village is home to a thriving community served by its churches and its Village Hall. We are also fortunate to have the lovely and historic Grade I listed building of Moggerhanger Park House, remodelled in 1792-1798 by the architect Sir John Soane for Sir Godfrey Thornton, then Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Moggerhanger Village Hall
Serving the local community, this hall is available for hire for parties, weddings & local groups.
Facilities include modern toilets plus disabled toilet equipped with a baby changing station. There are access ramps for wheel chairs at both main entrance door and the rear kitchen door.
Equipped kitchen with drinks cooler cabinet, fridge, freezer, basic cooker, tea urn, hot-water immersion heater, plentiful supply of cups, saucers, plates and cutlery.
Use of these services are free with hiring

Moggerhanger Park
Moggerhanger Park is in use as a Conference Centre and restaurant. The gardens are soon to be restored to their former splendour under the auspices of the Moggerhanger House Preservation Trust with funding from the National Heritage Fund, Landfill Tax and other trusts. Tours of the historic rooms are available on Sundays and Mondays at 14:30hrs throughout the year, with the tea rooms open every day all year round (apart from Christmas and Easter). For more information please look at their extensive web site (link above)


Site Designed and written by Gavin Hills Maintained by A G Cross Pages last Updated 18th February 2012