Until the early 20th century, the lighting in the church was by candlelight. The building would have been a very dark place in the winter months, and candles shone out of the porch windows to light the way for visitors, and keep away evil spirits! There were no lights in the churchyard and visitors would have brought along their own lanterns.
There is no evidence that the church ever had gas lighting, so the earliest fixed lights in the church were very small electric lights, suspended from the roof and archways. In the early 1960s, these lights were replaced by larger lamps, but lighting has always been a problem in the church, especially for older eyes trying to read the service and hymn books.
The Transformation gave us the opportunity to make a significant difference to the lighting of the building and the churchyard, and we have made the decision to take a giant step; choosing very modern lights that we can control around the whole of the church, and we feel have a very special “wow” factor that perfectly complements the age and heritage of the ancient church.
The lights have been manufactured by Fagerhult, a German company, and light levels are completely flexible. We have the ability to alter the lighting levels in all areas of the church, and the LED lamps are guaranteed to last for around 50 years.
On the outside of the church, we have installed bollards that cast light across all of the pathways, making entry to and exit from the churchyard a far safer journey than previously when torchlight was the only means of finding your way.
