The Reeve's Tale
magazine MAY 2005
page 13
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Our
church is now certified “electrically safe”! Which is a great relief to us
all and it is thanks to the expertise of Mr. Ray Lake and Paul. We now have proper
modern wiring and smart new power points with square holes – no more need for
adaptors to fit modern plugs into round holes! The pendant light fittings
have been refurbished and look as good as new. We all agree, slightly curious
though they may be, that they are more in keeping with the church than modern replacements, which would
also have been very costly. A fee of £3-3–0 (three guineas) was paid to the
church architect, Mr. J.B.L.Tolhurst of
Walsingham for designing them in 1949. It has
been interesting to research in old papers and the Sparham Deanery Magazine
of those days, the exciting moment when electricity arrived in Foxley church.
The Eastern Electricity Board installed the power supply “free of all cost”
and Messrs. Barnhams of Fakenham charged £83-11-8 for the wiring. The light
fittings cost £50. The Rector was the Rev. H.J.B.Folland, who reported
everything in detail in the magazine. By all accounts he was a very erudite
and scholarly man, who rode everywhere on a bicycle. Idiosyncratic he may
have been, but in the first years of his Ministry in the newly joined
parishes of Bawdeswell and Foxley he had to contend with a Mosquito plane
crashing on All Saints and to organise the restoration of St.Thomas’, which
was in a decrepit state. To help raise the large sum required for Foxley he
appealed for donations in The Times newspaper! Who can say whether, without
his determined leadership, we would still have our two churches, one a
mediaeval treasure and the other wonderfully elegant in the Colonial style? At Foxley we now look forward to
the renovation of some of our ancient pews, the screen and the 13th.Century
main door by Mr.J.Daws of Reepham, an acknowledged expert in church
furnishings. We hope that this will be completed in time for our mini flower
festival on “ Foxley in Flower” day, 19th.June. If anyone would
like to join our flower arranging team, do contact me on 688650. We would be
happy to recruit some new talent. Diana Harvey, Hon Sec.
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