St Michael and All Angels, Aston Sandford
Aston Sandford is reputed to be the smallest village in England, comprising The Manor, its farm and business units, just ten other houses, the Church and a letterbox. It sits about a mile from Haddenham, astride a single track, no through road, leading off the road from Haddenham to Longwick and Princes Risborough/Thame. The outlying parish has a further two farms, eight houses and a couple of business units.
The Congregation
There is a monthly service with a congregation of around 35 adults, most of whom take Communion, and several children. About 20% are village residents and the remainder come from neighbouring villages. The other special services tend to attract extra people and numbers have been known to increase to around 100 for the Christmas Eve service. Those attending from surrounding villages say they prefer to come to the quiet, traditional, reflective style of service rather than attending the Church in their own village where the main service is often a more modern style of worship.
Whilst the average age of the congregation is high its size remains fairly constant as new members come to the Church.
There are now 17 people on the Electoral Roll of whom 6 are resident in the village. The PCC meets formally once a year at the Annual Vestry Meeting but any matters arising during other times of the year are dealt with at informal meetings after services or ad hoc, as necessary.
Services and Community Outreach
Aston Sandford holds a Communion service on the third Sunday of each month and services on Easter Sunday, for Harvest Festival, a Remembrance service and a Carol Service on Christmas Eve. The services are based on Common Worship Order 1, which closely follows the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) service and includes four hymns from Hymns, Ancient and Modern New Standard, with organ accompaniment. We very much welcome everyone, including children and young people, to attend from across the Benefice and beyond. After services the congregation is invited to coffee usually in one of the houses in the village. There is no village hall or equivalent building. On average there is a wedding and baptism every couple of years and one or two funerals a year.
The Church Building
The Church dates back to the 13th Century and can accommodate only about 50 seated people. It was extensively remodelled in the 1870s to its current form. The roof tiles and bell-cot shingles were completely refurbished in the mid-1990s. There are three bells hanging in the bell-cot which were renovated in 1983.
Presence on the Internet
Aston Sandford has no website however, more information about Aston Sandford church is available via the following three hyperlinks:
https://www.achurchnearyou.com/aston-sandford/
http://www.wychertvale.org/aston-sandford-st-michael-and-all-angels/ .
Aston Sandford Church information & Gallery If this link does not give you immediate access to the folders, copy and paste the link below into your internet browser and press the entry key:
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