The Church That Moved - author invited to visit Prince Charles
Diocesan Priest Fr Paul Zielinski is the author of a new book entitled, The Church That Moved. This is an illustrated local history book, priced at £5, which describes the world and the Church toward the end of the 19th century, particularly the Prudhoe-Tynedale Mission, and recounts the development of the town and parish up to 2005.
Fr Paul became interested in the local history of Prudhoe, when he became Parish Priest of Prudhoe in September 2000, and realised that a major conservation and restoration project needed to be started in the church, in time for the centenary (5th October 2005) of the second opening of the church. In 1904 the astonishing decision had been made to move the church stone by stone and re-erect it a mile from its original site at Prudhoe Hall. "The history of the Church in Prudhoe,” Fr Paul said, “is intimately linked to the Liddell family, the period when coal was king, and Prudhoe was changing from rural village to industrial town.”
Fr Paul received a surprise invitation to join Prince Charles for lunch at Clarence House on Thursday 26th April at 12.30pm. The event was hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales on behalf of The Historic Churches Preservation Trust, whose Patron is the Queen, to honour "Unsung Church Heroes - those who have made contributions of time and effort towards the upkeep and day-to-day running of their local church, and those who have tirelessly raised funds to this end with no financial or wider recognition." Fr Paul was accompanied by a parishioner, Mr Paul Neumann.
HRH The Prince of Wales talks to Fr Paul Zielinski and Mr Paul Neumann
Fr Paul and Prince Charles chatted about the fact that the same architect, Napper of Newcastle, was used for the Prudhoe Project as the Duchess of Northumberland used for the Tree House in Alnwick Castle Gardens. Father Paul says he warmly invited Prince Charles to visit Our Lady and St Cuthbert in Prudhoe, when he is next in Northumberland, and supplied him with his recently published book, The Church that Moved. Fr Paul has recently received a ‘thank you’ letter from Clarence House for the book.
Fr Paul recounts the rest of the visit:
"After drinks, a light lunch of cottage pie, followed by pear crumble and cream was enjoyed by the guests. At 2pm Prince Charles gave his speech, in which he thanked the guests for their generosity in volunteering their time to their various restoration projects, without which much conservation of historic buildings would not take place. He also thanked us for our fund raising efforts. He told us about the previous evening, when plans had been made over dinner with church people to set up, beginning in Gloucestershire, a flying squad of vans and ladders to go around churches clearing out leaves from gutters. He remarked that this simple maintenance job could save huge repair bills down the line. He hoped this scheme would be rolled out nationwide.
"There followed a reply to the speech by Very Reverend Henry Stapleton of Carlisle, a trustee of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, in which he thanked His Royal Highness for his generosity in inviting us into his home for lunch.
"After this the guests left Clarence House, and they were given a guided tour of the Chapel Royal of St James’ Palace by the chaplain to the Royal family."
Fr Paul Zielinski’s Book The Church That Moved was launched at Prudhoe Public Library on Saturday 21st April, selling 64 copies in the first two hours. Since then the book has been selling steadily in Newcastle and Tynedale. Copies have been sent by parishioners to friends and family and also abroad. About 400 copies in total have been sold to date.
The Church That Moved retails at £5 and is available from Pauline Books and Media and the CTS Bookshop in Newcastle, or can be sent by post for £6 including p+p from Fr Paul Zielinski, Our Lady and St Cuthbert, Highfield Lane, Prudhoe, Northumberland, NE42 6EY. Telephone: 01661 832298