Open Sunday with tours and refreshments available. Or just pop in for a chat. Reflective music and a warm welcome to all.
Remember them. We invite all to attend including ex-services men and women too. The U3A choir will be singing a selection of tunes at 3pm. WW1 pre recorded music and poetry to mark the anniversary of the end of the war. £2.00 minimum donation. Refreshments available.
The wonderfully talented actors from thisismytheatre.com are back again at St Mary’s on the 16th August to perform Oscar Wild’s comedy ‘The Importance of Being Earnest“.
For anyone not familiar with the plot, The Importance of Being Earnest is the most renowned of Oscar Wilde’s comedies. It’s the story of two bachelors, John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Algernon ‘Algy’ Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives. They attempt to win the hearts of two women who, conveniently, claim to only love men called Ernest. The pair struggle to keep up with their own stories and become tangled in a tale of deception, disguise and misadventure. The elaborate plot ridicules Victorian sensibilities with some of the best loved, and indeed bizarre, characters to be found on the modern stage.
Tickets £10 and concessions £8 available from the thisismytheatre website, or call 07732 253311. Tickets also available at the door.
The Friends of St Mary’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Friday 23rd March at 7.00pm at the Stansted Day Centre.
The meeting will be followed at 7.30pm by the popular quiz evening with a half-time break for a fish and chip supper. To help with the catering, could we please have your food orders by the 18th March. Choices are:
Please bring your own drinks and glasses.
Cost of the supper and quiz evening is £8.50, payable at the door. You can order supper by contacting:
We hope you will attend and make up a table. May the best brains win – there will be a prize for the winners. There will also be a raffle and lots of exciting news!
A wonderful weekend at St Mary’s, with a live performance of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” from thisismytheatre.com , a Christmas Festival of trees and ‘all things Christmasy’, mulled wine, mince pies and lots of other goodies. All rounded off by some seasonal snow!
Thanks to everyone who provided the beautifully decorated trees and other exhibits, thanks to the Friends Committee for their help in making the church look so beautiful, thanks to the choir, the organist and the vicar, and thanks to Lynda Dale (Chairman Friends Committee) for organising all of this.
We’re sorry we had to cancel the Sunday events – due to the snow – but we’re hoping that the Stansted Strummers Ukulele Band will come and perform for us sometime in the New Year.
Some photos taken over the weekend:
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Download a poster with details of all these events and put it in your window or share with your friends. 
6th December – Forest Hall School Carol Concert at 7pm
8th December – 
‘thisismytheatre‘ performing A Christmas Carol at 6.30 (for 7pm). Get tickets early for this show, it’s sure to be fully booked on the day. Tickets available from
thisismytheatre.com or Goldings Fruit & Veg, 6 Chapel Hill, Stansted. 01279 814270
9th December– Christmas Festival 11am to 5pm
– Carols for all at 3pm.
– Raffle prizes
– Mince pies & mulled wine
10th December– Christmas Festival 11am to 5pm
– Stansted Strummers at 3pm. Back by popular demand to entertain us and get us in the festive spirit!
– Raffle prizes
– Mince pies & mulled wine
15th December – St Mary’s School Carol Concert at 2pm
As always we will have a bedecked church full of beautiful displays and twinkling lights, transforming our church into a winter wonderland !
If you would like to exhibit a ‘family tree’ for the Christmas Festival, 9th & 10th December, please let Lynda Dale know (Telephone: 07716 099474) and she will reserve a space for you.
We do hope that you will come and share in our Christmas events.
Please come and support us on our Heritage Open Days, 9th and 10th September in St Mary’s Church, Stansted, in support of the Churches Conservation Trust.
Open 12.30pm to 5pm on the 9th September (free entry)
Open 12.30pm to 6pm on the 10th September (free entry up until 4pm)
On the 10th September from 4pm to 6pm we are delighted to have the Blue Skies Big Band in the church, who will play a selection of swing music from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, including some well known tunes by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and many others. Come and have a sing-along, a dance, or just listen to some great music, played by a full swing band ensemble. Tickets from:
A bit of culture coming to St Mary’s Church on Friday 28th July, when the cast of This Is My Theatre present a one act adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a tragedy about power, ambition, deceit, and murder. Far more entertaining and blood-curdling than the Brexit negotiations! Not to be missed. Tickets on sale now from www.thisismytheatre.com or ‘phone 07732 253311, or from Golding’s Fruit & Veg, 6 Chapel Hill, Stansted, CM24 8AG.
Also, don’t miss our Tea Party Weekend on the 29th and 30th July. Lots of entertainment for all the family, with games for the children, a ukulele band, a singalong to some memorable tunes from 20cvox, plus some special guest presentations. Free entry, but any donations will go towards the upkeep of our beautiful church.
Macbeth and Tea Party Weekend
Proceeds from ticket sales to the St Mary’s Church organ fund.
An opportunity to grab a bargain, or maybe make a bit of money from all that clutter you’ve been hoarding! Free entry or £5 if your selling. Pew-tops (tables) will be provided.
More details from Lynda on 07716 099474
Please contact the Committee if you have ideas for other events you would like us to run.
The Friends of St Mary’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday 31st March at the Stansted Day Centre, starting at 6.45pm. On completion of the meeting there will be a general knowledge quiz and chicken/fish & chip supper.
6.45pm AGM
7.15pm Quiz, followed by chicken/fish & chip supper.
All are welcome to attend. Tickets are £8.50 to include supper and must be ordered by 27th March from Keith Ayres (01279 814471) or Lynda Dale (07716 099474). Bring your own drinks and glasses.
Many of you will, I am sure have seen the film “Zulu”, starring Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. On the 22nd January 2017, the anniversary date of the Battle of Islandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, St Mary’s Church hosted a memorial service and presentation for Captain Alan Gardner.
Captain Gardner was one of only 5 out of 67 officers to survive the 1879 Anglo-Zulu war in South Africa. He served with the 14th Hussars. The memorial service followed the original funeral for Captain Gardner, who went on to become a member of Parliament and died in 1907, with the same hymns and readings.
We are grateful to Kate, a local historian, who found Captain Gardner’s grave in our churchyard as part of her research, and has paid for the restoration of the gravestone at her own expense!
Kate is very knowledgeable on the period of history and her passion for the topic was clear. She gave an excellent slideshow presentation, telling the story of Captain Gardner’s early life and the part he played in the Anglo-Zulu war. She used original historical artefacts, which included a Zulu shield, an ‘ikwala’ (stabbing spear) and a ‘iwisa’, (a cudgel fashioned from dense hardwood). British Army weapons included a Martini-Henry rifle, bayonet, spent bullets and even a used rocket casing! The red British Army tunic and uniform was also on display. Keith Ayres provided a sound track of Zulu chanting, which added to the atmosphere.
It was a very moving, informative and interesting afternoon. Special thanks to Kate for donating all the takings on the day to the church. Thanks to all for helping make this a successful event.
Lynda Dale
Vice Chair, Friends of St Mary’s Church.
 Captain Alan Gardner |  Original headstone |  Restored headstone |
 |  Some of the weapons |  |
