‘The power of social media’

St Mary’s Church’s Votive Candle Holder was stolen last weekend (April 15 to 16), with an appeal for information relating to the theft of the black-coloured, wrought iron,1m high candle holder shared on Wednesday (April 19) on social media and on our website.

But just hours after the appeal went out, at lunchtime, the church received a call to say that the candle holder had been spotted in some bushes around the back of Horncastle Pool & Fitness Suite on Coronation Walk.

Unfortunately, the candle holder has been damaged as it also has a built-in coin box for donations, which had been prised open and an unknown quantity of money had been taken.

A spokesman for the church said: “We’re so grateful to the person who saw it and was looking out for it, it just goes to show the power of social media.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said: “Anyone with any information can call us on on 101 quoting crime number 23000229162, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/”

This comes just months after donation money was stolen from the church in September, which saw the church install CCTV cameras in a bid to deter thieves.

The cameras were made possible after NCS students in Horncastle from Banovallum and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School fundraised for the church by tidying up the grounds of St Mary’s church with a GoFundMe page, and they raised £315, which covered the cost of the CCTV and this week, the CCTV was installed.

Reverend Charles Patrick has extended his thanks to the people of Horncastle for their help in getting their candle holder back so quickly:

"The community has always been lovely in so many ways and taken us to their hearts,” he said, “It’s a great community with people looking out for each other, and that’s the best part of social media is that people will want to help.”

Rev Charles said they have now installed the CCTV in a bid to not only prevent these thefts from happening again, but so they can continue to keep the church open during the day for people to drop in.

"We can now monitor the flow of people in and out of the church, because we really want to keep the church open," he said, “People appreciate being able to pop in and look around not only because they appreciate the church’s history, but so they can say a prayer if they want to.

"We always remove all of our valuables before we open, and now hopefully this will knock it on the head because even if people are in a desperate situation and need to get their hands on some money quickly, it causes trouble for other people.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Lincoln said: “Incidents like this, though relatively rare, are always shocking.

"We provide parishes with crime prevention advice, working closely with the insurers. A church that is open can be less at risk, as there is more of a chance of people popping in, whereas a church that is locked will sustain more damage if someone wants to get in for the wrong reasons.

"There is helpful guidance produced by the Church Buildings Council which can be found on the Church of England website: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare/advice-and-guidance-church-buildings/security-and-crime-prevention”

Ecclesiastical Insurance, a specialist insurer of the faith, charity, heritage, education, real estate, schemes and art and private client sectors, has issued advice for churches to prevent thefts, as high demand for copper and lead, driven by an increase in metal prices, has seen several churches already affected by theft in the first quarter of 2023.

Ecclesiastical is urging churches across the country to carry out reviews of their security arrangements, and recommends measures including the use of security lights, roof alarms, installing additional lighting to increase surveillance levels, use of anti-climb paint and CCTV to help deter thefts.

Churches can also make life difficult for metal thieves by removing easy means of access onto roofs, such as waters butts, benches, bins and ladders, and using security marking systems such as SmartWater, which has been proven to help with successful prosecution of metal thieves.

St Mary’s church is now gearing up for the Coronation of King Charles II with Horncastle Arts & Music Festival returning once again, with a special Coronation Concert on the eve of the big day to get everyone in the mood for the weekend’s festivities.

The Banovallum Singers Concert will be held on Friday May 5 at 7.30pm, which will kickstart the weekend with an eclectic mixture of old and new songs, as well as medley of showstoppers from the musical Les Miserables.

Entry is free, the audience will be invited to join in for a few favourite tunes and a toast to the new King is also included.

This year’s Arts & Music Festival theme is Kings & Queens, and more than 600 pieces of artwork will include hundreds of crowns created by students from all four schools in the town, which will adorn the inside of St Mary’s church from Monday (May 1) to Monday May 8, turning it into a colourful coronation spectacular.

Concerts from Queen Elizabeth Grammar School will take place on Wednesday May 3 at 2.15pm, and St Lawrence School on Thursday May 4 at 1pm will showcase the talent of our young people and pupils.

The Coronation of King Charles III will be live streamed from St Mary’s church on Saturday May 6.