At the heart of the village of Over in Cambridgeshire you will find St Mary's Church.
The present St Mary's dates from 1254, which makes it by far the oldest building in the village.

Like any old building St Mary's Church is in constant need of repair.
This applies not only to the stonework and roof, but also to the monuments, fittings, stained-glass windows and Churchyard.

Whilst it is right and proper that the active Church members should pay for the normal running costs of the Church,                              the cost of maintaining the building is beyond their reach.

So The Friends of St Mary’s (an independent registered charity), was set up to raise money to help support the upkeep of St Mary’s Church building.

Each year the charity contributes several thousand pounds towards the repair and maintenance of the Church.
This money can only be used for specific property expenditure, it cannot be used towards any religious activities which the Church community may carry out.

The Friends of St Mary’s organises several fundraising events each year and collects membership subscriptions from its supporters to ensure that funds are available to support work on the fabric of the Church.

 
Recent contributions to Church maintenance include;

Bi- Annual gutter & gulley cleaning
Conserving stone carving above west door
Painting exterior metalwork
Repairs to lead roof
Repairs to south boundary wall
Repairs to north wall rendering
Repairs to stone flooring and seats
Re glazing clerestory window
Repairs to bell trap in clock chamber

Repairs to Church roof (2024)

Drainage works (to reduce potential damp to Church walls)

In September 2016 the Friends of St Mary's paid £30,000.00 for the replacement of the Church lighting system

 

2025 is our silver jubilee year.

Yes, it is now 25 years since 'The Friends of St Mary's' was formed, and we are delighted to say that during that time, our charity has contributed almost £55,000 to the upkeep of St Mary's Church building.
In addition, we currently have further funds in our accounts in readiness for the next funding requests and we continue to work hard to increase the available funds, as we know only too well that the costs of carrying out any work on the grade 1 listed Church building are always terrifically high and ever increasing.

Chairman - Colin Smith

Secretary - Carolyn Redmayne

Treasurer -Cynthia Bidwell

Committee members -

Janet Nightingale, Linda Wayman, Gwen Piggott, Linda Smith, Nicola Reid.