The Friends of Great Bradley Church
Our Church
Our Goal
The Friends of Great Bradley Church aim to develop and maintain this wonderful building as a key part of the heritage and community of the Upper Stour Valley, securing it for future generations. As well as continuing as a place of worship and a focus for the community, we hope that it will become a destination or waypoint for walkers, cyclists and visitors interested in the local area and the countryside.
Past and Future Events
Forthcoming - details available soon
19 September 2026 (TBC): Open Day at the Church to include a display of work by the Photo Club, fascinating C19 daguerreotypes, images from the village archive, and more (details to be confirmed)
Past events
28 June 2026: Village Fete - with tours of the Church and an opportunity to climb the tower
27 June 2026: Midsummer Party (drinks, nibbles and auction supporting purchase of new chairs) see the review
8/9 May 2026: Art Exhibition. See the review of the event and the poster with the list of artists
23 December 2025: Carol Service and dedication of the new chairs. 6:30 pm. Details of the new chairs
29 June 2025: Village Fete – with tours of the Church and opportunities to climb the tower
28 June 2025: Garden Party and Auction (supporting the purchase of new chairs) - see the review of the event
9/10 May 2025: Art Exhibition - see the review of the event, the list of artists and the poster
30 June 2024: Village Fete – with tours of the Church and an opportunity to climb the tower
29 June 2024: Great Bradley Art and Photography Exhibition
15 Mar 2024: Celebration of the new lighting - an opportunity to see the transformation
1 July 2023: Pimms & Rose Party - Open House and auction in support of projects undertaken by The Friends
10 Sept 2022: Relaunch of the Friends: An open-house party celebrating a gathering of Friends, old and new
Aerial views of the Church in the Stour Valley
The sequence begins as the drone flies northward up the Stour Valley to the east of Great Bradley Church.
The drone turns west with a view over the church
The drone flies anti-clockwise round the church rounding the North East and the South West corners
The a view towards the east showing the church and the graveyard and, finally, the drone continues northward, finally turning back to look south to a view of the church and the Stour Valley beyond.
And the whole video can be found HERE
With many thanks to Paul Hart for his creation of this.
Information about the Church
Church Services and Contacts
A guide to the Church
The interior lighting project
A description of the new lighting system in the church
With specific thanks to the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and for the generosity of many Friends
Chairs replacing some pews for flexible use of space
We plan to purchase chairs to replace pews at the back of the church, ordering 2-3 tranches over the next few years. You can read about the chairs and the first tranche here.
The Friends' Strategy and Project Pipeline for the development of the Church
The Friends of Great Bradley Church aim to develop and maintain this wonderful building as a key part of the heritage and community of the Upper Stour Valley, securing it for future generations. To ensure the financial sustainability of the church we are developing
- The aspects of the church that make it suitable and flexible as a venue for a variety of events
- A growing number of visitors who become people with an attachment to or appreciation of the church and its environs
- A group of committed supporters; the Friends of Great Bradley, many drawn from past visitors.
Hence we aim to make the church building a focus for people to use as a place for worship, to use as a venue for events that bring together the local community and visitors, and for people to admire as functional heritage of the finest kind.
We have a long-term programme to make the church building and its environs more attractive and flexible as a venue for services and events such as art and sculpture displays, concerts and performances.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
The interior lighting project: a major project installing new lights and lighting control system, thereby significantly enhancing the ambiance and flexibility of the building, allowing it to be used for concerts and exhibitions as well as services of all kinds throughout the year. See the details here.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Replacing all the remaining pews with chairs: We aim to do so in three tranches over the next 12 months, allowing us to exploit the internal space, varying layouts for different occasions, and to plan new events that were impossible before. The first tranche has been acquired and are in use (https://fogtb.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/chair-project-first-tranche-251124.pdf) and we are pursuing the second and further tranches now.
FUTURE PROJECTS
We have a portfolio of projects we plan to undertake in future. We prioritise these according to need and opportunity. Current candidates include:
- Cleaning and refurbishment of the glass in the church
- Refurbishment and enhancement of the floor and floor surfaces
- Refurbishment of the Vestry and development to make it more useful and convenient
- Increase accessibility to the Tower
- Work on the Bell Chamber to make it easier to see the bells and understand their history
- Replacing the concrete render of the last century with a lime render – better for the structure and more in keeping with the original stone
We welcome thoughts from our visitors about further development that people would value.
We continue to seek resources and advice to make our marketing more effective and to extend the geographical scope of our pool of Friends and visitors. Thanks are due to Emma Denton and others at the Diocese for their help to date with these.
Friendship and Donations
We invite you to join us as a Friend of Gt Bradley Church. There is no obligation to donate and we will keep you in touch with forthcoming events and news about the church . Simply email us at friendsofgbchurch@gmail.com and we’ll be delighted to add you to our community.
If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here - and thank you!
You can also boost your donation with Gift Aid. Doing so is free for you, but we will receive an extra 25p for every £1 that you donate. If you'd like to use Gift Aid, please email us at friendsofgbchurch@gmail.com and we will send you a simple form.
