St Mary's church is mentioned in the Domesday Book, and was built on the original site of Forncett. The nave is probably 13th or 14th Century, while the tower is 15th Century. The church was restored in the late 19th century. In 1980 a decision was taken to close St. Mary's, due to falling numbers in the congregation.
Over twenty five years later, a successful Friends group was formed, and fund-raising began to restore electricity, replace rotten floors and side panelling, and some of the stained glass windows. In June 2012 the church was taken out of redundancy.
Habitats
The churchyard has some lovely wildflowers, including meadow saxifrage, germander speedwell, moschatel, field woodrush and star of Bethlehem; it has an old hawthorn hedgerow and mature trees.
Best time to visit
A springtime visit would give you a chance to see the snowdrops, moschatel and primroses; early to midsummer will be best for the pignut, field woodrush, germander speedwell and meadow saxifrage.
Associated Groups
There is local Friends of group – for more details, see village website. (
forncett.info)
Can people get involved in managing the site?
To find out more about how to help with practical work, please contact the churchwarden.
www.achurchnearyou.com/forncett-st-mary
Website
There is a local village website, with some information on St Mary’s church:
forncett.info