New church loo is a ‘blessed relief’

For some 20 years, the congregation of Holy Trinity Church, Dilton Marsh has waited to have a toilet installed in the village church.  Finally, it has happened.

Following the morning service on Sunday 29th November, Mary Hardwidge of Community First and also representing The Hills Group, presented a commemorative plaque to Reverend Steve Jarvis, team vicar of the White Horse Team Ministry as part of the official opening of the new toilet.

Church warden, Garth Brocksopp said, “In the past, every time that we held a baptism, a wedding or a funeral in the church, the first question that a visitor would ask was whether we had a loo. These visitors often came from afar and were in a hurry to arrive, often slightly late. Imagine their disappointment upon being told, ‘no, sorry we don’t.’

“Holding events for children has always been limited by time; children can only wait for so long!

“Similarly, we have been restricted in staging events for adults.  For example, before a visiting choir or a musical group are ready to perform, someone would require a loo.  Hence, such events were alas rare.

“Despite having excellent acoustics in the church, we have seldom been able to make the most of their quality and enjoy their benefit.  Now all that can change.

“Furthermore, we can now offer the church to village groups to use for their own events.  The installation of this loo will be of great value to the village community.”

To complete the project, in addition to the grant received from the Hills Group, the project officer and treasurer of Holy Trinity Church also received grants from the Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust, the Beatrice Laing Trust and the Allchurches Trust.