Church Recorders document our artistic heritage to be found in local churches. Our records include everything inside a church - memorials, metalwork, stonework, woodwork, textiles, paintings, library, windows and miscellaneous items such as organs, clocks, and floor tiles.

The items are described in detail and their history researched. All the material is then compiled into a book beautifully illustrated with photographs and drawings. This is presented to the church with electronic copies sent to national institutions such as the V&A Art Library and Church House as well as the Hampshire Record Office. Our records help churches to look after our heritage and provide a treasure trove of information for researchers and historians.

We have completed 11 churches since 1998. The latest is All Saints’ Long Sutton, finished in 2020 despite the Covid19 pandemic. This medieval church is on the 5,000-year-old Harrow Way between Devon and Canterbury, perhaps accounting for the prolific early graffiti in the porch as pilgrims passed on their way to Canterbury. Here’s a picture of an empty niche, high in the former Lady Chapel, which would surely have held a statue of the Virgin Mary. Perhaps this was destroyed by an iconoclast in the Reformation, while nicks on the arch could be from the sword of a zealous Cromwellian cavalryman.

Each church produces many treasures and fascinating stories about people who have been connected with our churches since medieval times. There is much more information in "Our Church Recording Story", which is to be found in our Documents section. Click here to go to Documents, and open "Our Church Recording Story".

We have also put together a small selection of representative photographs in the Gallery section. Click here to go to the Gallery, and open the Church Recording section.

Documents and Gallery can also be accessed directly from the Home page.

We are just starting St Mary’s Upton Grey which we hope to finish by 2023.  

If you are interested in joining us or just want more information, please contact our Group Organiser Sandy Gray at sandycgray@googlemail.com