SWLSnelson – by Chris Bishop and Faye Mayern
The church where Lord Nelson was baptised has been saved after a ‘mini miracle’ saw money left to them in a will.
All Saints’ Church, in the small hamlet of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, where the sailor was born, was in deep financial trouble, it was revealed earlier this month.
The church disclosed it had an “entirely unsustainable” gap between expenditure and income because of costly repairs to its tower.
However, salvation seems to have arrived, with a new priest announcing a miraculous and dramatic reversal in the church’s fortunes.
The total amount given in the will has not been disclosed.
But the news was announced by Rev Canon Malcolm Rogers, who was appointed to the Burnhams Benefice of five churches, which includes All Saints, just over a week ago.
He said: “Clearly someone at Burnham Thorpe has been praying.
“At my first wardens’ meeting we were told that a significant bequest had been left to Burnham Thorpe church.
“We have an astonishing God, and there are mini miracles.”
Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe on September 29, 1758. He was baptised at All Saints Church, where his father Edmund was the rector.
The parish council was told the church was in “a dire situation” with income for the year expected to be £20k while total expenditure was forecast are £27k.
The maintenance cost of the Grade I listed church’s tower was expected to be £14,800 alone.
All Saints’ has also struggled to pay around its ‘parish share’ – the contribution levied on all churches by the Diocese of Norwich in recent years.
In 2022, it paid £6,000 of its £14,000 share, in 2023 it paid £7,550 of its £15,477 share and in 2024 it paid £137 of the £16,252 requested.
The Diocese of Norwich declined to reveal the size of the bequest.
It said in a statement: “Recently members of the parish support team met with the parochial church council at Burnham Thorpe to support them with other works they wished to carry out in the churchyard.
“We would welcome a conversation with the PCC about the repairs to the tower and how we can support them with this work and the grants available.”
Nelson learned to sail in the nearby creeks before joining the Royal Navy in his teens and taking over his first command at the age of 20.
He captained warships which fought the Spanish, French and Danes before the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, where he was fatally wounded.
Today the church contains a number of memorials including an oak lectern donated by the Lords of the Admiralty in the 1880s made of wood from HMS Victory.
The graves of Nelson’s mother and father are situated in the church at Burnham Thorpe, while a brother and sister are buried in the churchyard.
Financial woes are not the only threat to the tranquillity of the church.
A six-bed luxury barn conversion is planned for next door Church Farm, including a guest annexe, swimming pool and changing rooms.
But locals are up in arms, with Lady Anne Glenconner, who lives nearby, leading the charge.
Some 73 objections have been received.
Burnham Thorpe Parish Council says many people make pilgrimages to the church because of its association with Nelson.
It fears the development could threaten the peaceful setting of “one of the few parts of the country where it is often entirely quiet”.
