Bishop’s letters to Constable sold at auction
A COLLECTION of etchings, drawings, and ephemera relating to the artist John Constable and a former Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd John Fisher (1803-1825), and his family have been sold at auction for £3780. The items, which include letters from Fisher to the artist, family trees, and diaries, were recently found together in storage in a loft. The Bishop, an important patron and close friend, commissioned Constable’s famous landscape Salisbury Cathedral, which is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The lot was in a sale of Old Masters and 19th-century art at Chiswick Auctions, in London, on Wednesday of last week.
Medaille Trust addresses asylum-seekers’ exploitation
THE Roman Catholic charity the Medaille Trust, which supports more than 600 survivors of modern slavery in the UK, is to launch a three-year pilot project to provide one-to-one casework support and drop-in services for 215 victims of modern slavery who are also in the asylum system. The programme, which has a budget of £150,000, including a pledge of £49,500 from the Benefact Trust, is to provide “clear advice, better survivor-focused work, and more dedicated and expert assistance to a particularly vulnerable group”, the charity says. It will also campaign for reform of the system. It is to be launched on the World Day for Migrants and Refugees, this Sunday.
C of E Pensions Board wins stewardship award
THE Church of England Pensions Board has won the “Engagement and Stewardship Champion” category at the inaugural Institutional Investor Recognition Awards. It was nominated for its approach to stewardship in addressing climate change, including its recently released Climate Action Plan to encourage companies and policymakers to reshape the demand and financing for fossil fuels. The Institutional Investor Recognition Awards celebrate excellence among European asset-owners.
Suffolk church survives to reach 550 years
ST NICHOLAS’s, Denston, in Suffolk, saved from closure in the 1980s by the village community, has reached its 550th birthday; and the Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, the Rt Revd Martin Seeley, attended a special choral evensong at the Grade I listed church, near Newmarket, earlier this month. After the service, at which members of Cambridge Renaissance Voices sang, Bishop Seeley said: ‘‘It was humbling to hear how the spirit and determination of parishioners saved the day when the church was in danger of collapse and redundancy. It was featured in The Sunday Times in 1988 as a church that refused to die, and, after an extensive restoration, the church was saved for future generations.” The celebration also included a historical exhibition; a flower festival on the theme “Music Through the Ages”; and an online auction. The church is one of seven in the Bansfield Benefice.