There has been a church building here for over 1,300 years

The first Saxon settlement of Thorne began on the 6th century. The original settlers were pagans, but many of the Saxon tribes were converted to Christianity by the missionary monks of St Augustine. It is likely that the original church at Thorne was Saxon built and was only a chapel of ease, meaning that it was a small place of worship. At that time, the worshippers had to travel by boat crossing the Mere to Hatfield. Following a boating disaster where dozens of mourners were killed in a storm as they crossed to Hatfield for a funeral, the locals petitioned for a parish church in Thorne. So the rebuilding and converting of the original building started in 1326.

Over century's there have been many changes and rebuilding of the church as the locals endeavoured to keep and maintain their beautiful church. The oldest part of the church is the Chancel (near the high altar), dating back to the 6th century and there is evidence of Norman stone in entrance and Norman glass in the window of the Chancel.
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There are 15 marvellous stained-glass windows in the church, depicting Christ and stories of his life and that of other Old and New Testament characters. In the west corner there is a window with three lights, one of which is depicting St Nicholas, our patron saint, whose feast day we celebrate on 6th December. 20220801 112703

There is so much more we could tell about the buildings history and explain the architecture and windows, but why not pay us a visit to find out more.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Hello!

It's great that you have found our website and are interested in St Nicholas, Thorne. The following information is aimed to help you found out a bit more about us before your visit.

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Where and When

We meet at the Church building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 9am and then at 10:30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There is a toilet at the back of the church.

Our Service

The 9am service alternates each week from a short Service of the Word led by one of our lay team, and a Book of Common Prayer service with Holy Communion, led by Reverend Tim. This is held in the Chancel.

The main service begins at 10:30am with a warm welcome from one of our team members. The service varies each week, but will consist of a time of sung worship, prayer, reading from the Bible and a talk/sermon. The sermon is based on a passage from the Bible which we can apply to our everyday lives. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. There is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service and time to speak to the leader or other members of the church who are there to help you. We also love to meet together at the back of the church to share fellowship over a cuppa!

There is also a mid-week service on a Wednesday at 10am. This is a Holy Communion service which takes place in the Chancel.

Getting Connected

Small Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We aim to have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Do contact us to find out more.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays (and other events) run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. Just speak to one of the team about how to get involved.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.