Church Lane Hethel Norwich
01508 571167
http://mulbchurch.org.uk/church/3

Hethel Church is a bit off the beaten track, up a cul-de-sac from the west end of Bracon Ash, where School Road meets Cranes Lane. The building is old (the cornered flint tower is Norman, and has been dated to 1110AD by dendrochronology - just a little older than Norwich Cathedral!) but in excellent condition, with an unusual 17th century alabaster monument at one end - the splendid carved effigies of the members of the Branthwaite family. The church is unusually light - not a piece of stained glass in sight - and beautifully kept.

It's a place of peace where many come to rest, relax, pray, sit and think, or listen for the voice of God. There are a number of footpaths nearby as well as Hethel Old Thorn (Norfolk Wildlife Trust), so it's a good place to mix indoor and outdoor 'space'.

On the second Sunday of each month at 8.30am, the people of Hethel Church meet to worship the living God and to share bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus. On the fourth Sunday of the month at 4pm, there is usually a 40-minute, interactive family service called, unsurprisingly, 4th Sunday@4. 

Recognising that we are all different, we also put on a number of occasional activities, which offer alternative ways of exploring faith or worshipping God. These have ranged from a quiet afternoon to alternative forms of short service to brainstorming Christian approaches to thinking about windfarms.

We believe that God is worshipped in many ways, not just in one-hour slots on a Sunday. So we celebrate and enjoy creation and run events connected with the countryside around us. In recent years, South Norfolk Council Rangers helped us make bumble bee nestboxes and their ecologist led a walk in the area. Norfolk Wildlife Trust volunteers help us manage the churchyard so that orchids and other wildflowers flourish in summer - we won a biodiversity award in 2014. NWT also led a walk to the ancient wood half a mile away, and on another occasion BTO met us at 4am for a dawn chorus walk.
 
Likewise we value the arts and all things that are beautiful, for example our unusual chamber organ has recently been refurbished and we have participated in the Art Alive in Norfolk Churches festival. History (and what we can learn from it) we judge to be important, so ran a "Hethel in the Great War" weekend event in August 2014.
 
And we believe that following Jesus means finding God's way in all areas of living. So we are concerned to protect the environment, try to engage fully with local/community issues and are working through both personal and church responses to climate care. Our Sustainability Weekend in 2015 explored most areas of this vital issue.

We take the line that strangers are friends we have not yet met and we go out of our way to make newcomers welcome (whilst respecting their possible need to be 'let be'). Please join us at any of our events, or just enjoy the church building on your own in whatever way blesses you. There are prayer cards and a book in which to write requests, displays, and books to borrow. Our Disability Access Statement can be viewed or downloaded from the News area in the right-hand sidebar.

School Road Bracon Ash Norwich
01508 571167
http://www.mulbchurch.org.uk/Churches/Bracon_Ash/

A Welcome to St Nicholas Church. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Our church is an active Christian community where all are welcome. Everyone is welcome to join us for our services, to to experience the peace and tranquility of our beautiful building, or to explore its history.</span><div>

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<span style="font-size: 1rem;">The Church of St Nicholas is one of the oldest and most interesting churches in East Anglia. It is not the first one to stand on the site as the Doomsday Book of 1085 records a church and a rectory. It is belived to be  medieval and later, of rendered flint with ashlars dressings and plain tiled roofs.</span>

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An early 19th century drawing by Ladbrooke shows the church as having a small castellated tower or turret which housed the bell, and some of our older residents recalled that a wooded turret was taken down as  unsafe early in the 20th century. The bell frame was repaired and rehoused in memory of Jim Gurney of Bracon Lodge in 2004.

The approach to St Nicholas is via a long sweeping driveway flanked by cherry trees, a real treat in springtime. From the outside the church looks quite ordinary but step inside and many surprises await the visitor.

The first thing the visitor sees is the 14th century font and, as you look down the length of the nave you become aware of a very calm church, of beauty and brightness, with pale walls and brick floors. To the right of the nave is the south aisle and as you go forward , down the middle of the church, you can see the winding short staircase (to the left of the pulpit) which led to a rood screen not  now in existance. Traces of a 14th century east window remain - the stonework being more ornate. The nave was refurbished by the Berney family in 1914 (further details can be found in the church).

Onward into the chancel flanked by the choir stalls - it is many years since St Nicholas had a choir!. The embroidery on the altar frontal was made by Miss de Caux, head teacher of Bracon Ash School in the early 1950s.  Details of this are displayed on a framed card in the chancel. Miss de Caux was also responsible for supervising the making of the two banners on either side of the altar; the cushions were made by village members more recently.

St Nicholas has a number of hatchments and the George 3rd Royal Arms can be seen  above the chancel arch in pediment frames.

The Berney Mausoleum was added onto the the chancel north wall during the 18th century. The entrance to the mausoleum is through the doorway of an older mausoleum ( dating from the 16th century) within the church and, unusually is not sealed. The interior of the mausoleum  can be seen through the locked wrought iron gate. The doorway to the  mausoleum is surrounded by a  terracotta monument,

This monument was the subject of a great deal of work which was completed in early 2013, under the scrutiny of English Heritage. It was discovered, during this most important work which entailed the cleaning and preservation of the then exposed  area of the  Renaissance terracotta monument, that a considerable amount of intact monument was still in place, albeit  hidden from view. Two sections of the monument have now been exposed, each side at the top, revealing the beautiful terracotta monument. This is the work of the craftsman who was responsible for the monuments at Bedingfield and Oxburgh. It is hoped in the future to be able to carry out work to reveal the remainder of the monument which is expected to attract considerable national interest.

The Church is open every day and we do trust you enjoy looking around our ancient parish church where so many have worshipped the risen Christ over many centuries.

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