From Ann Meakin
Sir, - Is there any wonderful person out there who could tell
me how to rescue Martham Parsonage?
Martham Parsonage is probably the only surviving parsonage house
in the whole country built when priests were first allowed to
marry. It has been the much loved home of the Vicars of Martham and
their families for more than four centuries. It has been the place
where the clergy have ministered to their parishioners and prepared
their sermons and prayed for their flock for 450 years; and yet the
diocese of Norwich wishes to put a stop to all that.
Having been built in the 1560s and modernised in the 1830s,
Martham Parsonage has the appearance of a small Georgian house.
Nevertheless, it still retains some of the original features. This
house stands proudly beside the tower of its magnificent neighbour,
proclaiming to the village: "This is where you will find the people
of God in this community."
The house does need further updating and maintenance to bring it
up to the standards expected nowadays, but it provides the sort of
facilities and opportunities needed by the parish and benefice that
the smaller new replacement house will not provide. We have no
church hall to use. We are asked to be "committed to growth", but
the diocese wishes to take away our resources for doing just
that.
Once, on holiday, I heard a brilliant sermon on the theme "This
generation has dropped it." Must Martham Parsonage be another very
usable treasure to be added to that list?
ANN MEAKIN
6 Marsh Close, Martham
Great Yarmouth NR29 4UF