The Parish of Bemerton embraces a community of over 15,000 people, most of whom live in the Bemerton Heath area to the north of the A36 Wilton Road. However, the locality of Lower Bemerton bordering on the River Nadder still retains the character of a village community, and many of its residents are conscious of their famous predecessor George Herbert.

Annual George Herbert Celebrations

This year's celebration service took place on Sunday 26th February in St. Peter's, Fugglestone, which was the parish church when he was Rector of Bemerton. Over 30 people from Bemerton and Wilton attended, and Rev'd Jennifer Totney from Westbury preached a sermon on the theme of George Herbert's poem 'The Altar'. The service was followed by refreshments in the church.

Monthly Services at St. Andrew's

With the cessation of regular services at St. John's, evening prayer services with hymns are being held in St. Andrew's on the first Sunday of every month. The 2012 dates are:

• 6th May at 6.00 p.m.
• 3rd June at 6.00 p.m.
• 1st July at 6.00 p.m.
• 5th August at 6.00 p.m.
• 3rd September at 6.00 p.m.
• 8th October at 4.00 p.m.

The traditional form of service from the prayer book is used. It lasts for about half an hour (no sermon).

Local Group Activities

The George Herbert in Bemerton Group meets regularly and organises a number of events each year. The 2012 Summer Programme of Events has now been finalised. The Group is active in other ways: last October members took part in in an International George Herbert Conference, and the Group has recently commissioned a new CD of hymn settings of some of George Herbert's poems.

The Bemerton Local History Society is also active in organising a programme of events throughout the year, many of which have a connection with the older buildings in Lower Bemerton such as St.Andrew's and the Old Rectory, or with past residents including George Herbert.

Bemerton Community, which operates as a registered charity, was formed to secure a future for St. John's church by converting part of the building into a community centre. Over the past nine months the group has raised enough money to start examining the feasibility of its conversion project and drawing up outline plans.

Bemerton Film Society was formed in December 2010 and has just completed its first year of operation. The monthly film screenings are normally on a Tuesday evening, and are currently taking place in Bemerton St. John Primary School.

From the Rector

Click here to see the latest message from George Herbert's current successor as Rector of Bemerton, Rev'd Simon Woodley.

Parish Website

The Bemerton parish website is at www.bemertonparish.org.uk., and covers the three parish churches of St. Andrew's, St. Michael's & St. John's. Here you can find out more about the ministry team, about weddings and baptisms, and about supported charities. The site includes a calendar of events for all parish activities.

This website also gives you all the latest news about the parish, and lets you catch up on missed sermons. You can also see a map of the parish, the area of which is very much the same as it was in George Herbert's day, but it includes about 100 times as many parishioners

Church Repairs and Maintenance

Repairs have been carried out recently to St. Andrew's, rectifying the three most urgent areas of concern: the repointing of flints on the western wall of the church, cutting out and refacing the greensand stones and quoins, and replacing inappropriate hard render in the interior former North door area of the church. Click here for details.