Lincolnshire Trust Open Gardens Day

Monday 2nd May

 

The Lincolnshire Churches Trust Open Gardens

 

After a two-year absence, due to Covid restrictions, we are pleased to announce the Lincolnshire Churches Trust Open Gardens Day is back!

 

Visit Grimsthorpe Park & Gardens on Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May, and we will donate your entry cost to the Lincolnshire Churches Trust. All money raised will go towards supporting the Trust with financial grants to assist the Lincolnshire Churches with maintenance and repair, to protect and preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

 

Join us on this lovely spring day to celebrate Lincolnshire’s grandest house!

 

Gardens open 10.30am-6pm

Adult £9
Child £4
Family (3+2) £22

 

Castle open 12pm-4pm (last entry 3.15pm)

Adult £15
Child £6
Family (2+3) £36

 

Our tea tent will be open all day serving light lunches, delicious cakes, and tea, coffee and cold drinks.

 

As well as this we have the Woodland Adventure Playground, and 3000 acres of parkland to explore!

 

Top your day off with a visit to our Gift Shop where we sell locally sourced gifts and ice cream.

 

Why not take a trip to nearby Edenham Church, which houses our eighteen century family monuments!

 

“Nowhere else in the world are there so many magnificent churches in so small an area.”

“But somebody has to maintain them. Most parishes do their best, but many, especially the small ones, need encouragement and financial help. Lincolnshire Churches Trust was founded in 1952 by Lord Ancaster and Bishop Harland to preserve and protect our churches, it was then given the title of Lincolnshire Old Churches Trust and remained so until Autumn 2008. It is non-denominational, and will help any church or chapel which is over 100 years old. But we need more friends, more subscribers, more help, more support. In its first 50 years, the Trust made 1,157 grants to 495 different places of worship, totalling £1.5 million.”

History of The Lincolnshire Churches Trust

 

The Lincolnshire Churches Trust was set up in the wake of the Archbishops’ Commission on Historic Churches. Following preliminary meetings The Lincolnshire Old Churches Trust was formally inaugurated on 10 October 1953 under the active presidency of the Earl of Ancaster, Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, who took the chair at all but one of the trustees’ meetings from then until his retirement thirty years later. The other founding trustees were drawn from leaders in the church and community and from the start they worked hard to arouse local interest by public meetings and publications. In 2008 the Trust name was formally changed to Lincolnshire Churches Trust as it was felt that the inclusion of the word “old” was confusing to supporters as LCT does not support redundant churches. The Trust is non-denominational and assists Christian churches or other buildings used for public worship for the time being, so long as the aid requested meets the Charity’s criteria.

 

Historic Lincolnshire is more than 100 miles in length and contains over 700 churches. This means the area for which Lincolnshire Churches Trust is responsible remains as it was before the local government changes in 1973, i.e. churches and places of worship in North and North East Lincolnshire (formerly South Humberside) are part of its remit.

 

Before the Trust Deed was completed the founders were discussing the opening of country house gardens as a means of raising money for grants. Since then thanks to the kindness of landowners, gardeners and plants-people this has remained a popular addition to Sundays throughout the county and is now widely copied by other local and national charities.

 

Another important source of both fundraising and publicity for the Trust was the inauguration of the annual Sponsored Cycle ride in 1984. During its first year it raised £29,000 to be divided between the Trust and the riders’ own churches. Since then it has continued to be a valuable source of revenue for both the Trust and riders’ churches and has now been re-named “Ride and Stride” to include walkers, runners, those using wheelchairs or mobility scooters and horse riders as well as cycle riders.

 

Since its inception the Trust has given grants of more than £1,750,000 (in today’s money) for the preservation, and repair of Churches in Lincolnshire in order to keep them open as places of active worship. Grant giving during the first decade of the new millennium was greatly enhanced by generous block donations from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental) totalling around £800,000.

 

LCT Trustees are drawn from the length and breadth of Lincolnshire and encompass many different areas of expertise. The Trust is honoured and proud that HRH The Prince of Wales is its Patron.