Page 71

NEWICK & DISTRICTRecording the contents of St Peter’s Church in Chailey, East Sussex, has been completed by volunteers from Newick & District DFAS – the church now has an accurate overview of the building (dating from 1265) and its historic contents. Valerie Thwaites, leader of the volunteers, received a letter from the rector thanking “all those who provided such a beautiful account of the church and everything in it. It was a mammoth task to undertake and the end result is fabulous”.SIDMOUTH Sidmouth DFAS has been delighted by the response to an exhibition of children’s artwork it organised, which was inspired by The Long Picture in Sidmouth Museum, and depicts the esplanade in 1814. After a year of planning, The Long Picture Reimagined exhibition was held in March. Two local schools were involved; between them, scenes were produced on 16 canvases showing people, places and events in Sidmouth, such as the Great Storm of 1824 and the Sidmouth Folk Festival. Sidmouth Amateur Dramatic Society created narratives and sound effects that were added to the presentation that accompanied the exhibition.RUNNYMEDEThe small Victorian chapel in Windsor Great Park is a Royal Peculiar. It belongs to HM The Queen and she allows the community of the park to worship there. When in 2014 the new Domestic Chaplain said that it would be interesting to know more about the Chapel, Runnymede DFAS church recording team became involved. It was the first project that the team had been involved with and its success is in no small part due to Barbara Naylor, West Surrey’s church recording organiser, who worked with them during the three-year project. 9 Gill Whitney, President of Runneymede DFAS, presents the Church Record to HM The QueenSOUTH DEVONWhat have the Rajas of Sarawak in common with a small 15th-century church on Dartmoor? The answers lie within St Leonard’s Church in the village of Sheepstor – the location of the eighth Children’s Trail created by South Devon DFAS.In March, a group of children walked for 50 minutes across the moor to take part in the launch of the Trail, which is designed to bring the wonders of the church to a wider audience. There are several references to the Brooke family, who for three generations from 1841 held the post of Rajah of Sarawak. The first Rajah, James Brooke, retired to the parish in 1863 and began the long association with the church. Three Rajahs are buried in the churchyard.10 Children completing the TrailBENAHAVIS Benahavis DFAS has been delighted with the response to its annual exhibition of work by local artists. This year there were 400 visitors. Among the helpers was Tom Kmiecek, who joined the society two years ago aged just 16 after deciding to accompany his mother. He commented about the society’s lectures: “I studied art for a few years at school and it’s nice to sometimes see a more detailed view of the artists and their works.”TAYSIDEA Church Record of Fowlis Wester Parish Kirk, Perthshire, was presented to the Rev David Denniston by the church recording team of Tayside DFAS at the Harvest Festival last autumn. escribed as a “harvest of knowledge”, it provides full details of the church and its contents. 109Please send all your stories to review@theartssociety.orgImages should be sent as .jpg or .tiff files at 1MB or more.COPY DEADLINESAUTUMN 2017: 26 June 2017WINTER 2017: 4 September 2017SPRING 2018: 2 January 2018SUMMER 2018: 19 March 2018SOCIETIES NEWS71The Arts Society ReviewSummer 2017