The Parish of Salisbury Plaln
ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st December 2025
Administrative infomiation
The Parish of Salisbury Plain was created on 1st January 2014 and is a one-parish benefice
comprising the histortc parishes of All Saints, & St Mary. ChFtteme' St Marls Orcheston" St
Mary's Shrewton. and St Thomas a Becket. Tilshead. It is part of the DI0￿Se of Salisbury
within the Church of England.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission {No.
1173846) RegistratFon was effective 18 July 2017. PCC members who have served from the
1 sl May 2024 until the date this re￿rt was approved are:
Incumbent unts"13rd Nov 25..
We have been in vacancy since.
The Revd Car￿n Eleanor Ran
Chaimian
Wardens."
Richard Essberger
Ewart Grant
Hilda Renshaw
lan Smith
Marcelle Stobie
RepTrsentatives on the Deanery Synod."
Sarah Gooch
Elected members."
Mike Badham-Thomhill
John Badgery
Gay Jennings-Bramly
Andrew Macdonald
Debby Potter
Vice Chairman & Secretsry
Ct)-OPted Member&.'
Sam Shepherd
Treasurer

Structure, governance and management
The method of ap￿intment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules.
All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to
the PCC.
Objectives and Activities
The Salisbury Plain Benefi￿ PCC has the responsibility of rxFoperating with the incumbent.
who was until the 3rd November 2025 the Revd Canon Eleanor Rance, in promoting in the
ecclesiastical parish the whole Mission of the Church, pastoral. evangelistic. social and
ecumenical. It also has oversight of the Maddington Chufth Room in the historic parish of
Maddingtonlshrewton.
Review of the year
The PCC met on 261h February for the APCM on 301h April, 181h June, and 6 November
2025. The PCC complied wtth its duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy
Discipline Measure 2016 by having due regard to the House of Bishops, guidan￿ on
safeguarding children and vulnerable adurts WFthin the parish. Those due for safeguarding
refresher training attended a course online as provided by the di0￿Se.
CHURCH ArrENDANCE & WORSHIP
On 1 $t May 2025 there were 96 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll.
The schedule for Sunday worship until November 2025 continued to include a range of
service forms including weekly mid-mming Communion Services. BCP Holy Communion,
BCP Evensong. Family Service. and Zoom Evening Prayer. After November when the
vacancy began. the Steering Committee worked hard to ensure that Holy Communion in each
church was maintained. Where a priest has not been available the LWL or Church Wardens
have stepped in. The average attendance across the parish settled at around 23 {23 in 2024)
for the main moming servi￿, and 13 (13 in 2024) children at the monthly Family ServicelTea
that has been temporarily suspended Sin￿ October. The attendan￿ at most regular ServI￿S
showed a gentle upward trend. While Servi￿ attendance at Easter were lower than in 2024,
ServI￿S during Advent were retuming to muth healthier levels however figures for Christrnas
Day varied across the Parish. Weekday worship figures have also fluctuated.
It has to be said that the Rev Jonathan Plows has been assiduous in his duties as Rural
Dean, and has regularty stepped in to assist us. He is to be commended.
The benefice choir has continued to offer SUPFK)rt in worship across the parish, and. along
with our regular organists we have beneffted from the support of visitors for a number of
weddings and funerals during the course of 2025. We also shared services in our 3 'closed'
churches.

Occasional Offices in the Benefice or at the crematorium (figures in brackets~ 2024):
Baptisms
(9) {Chrtteme O. Orcheston 1, Shrewton 6. Tilshead O)
Marriages I blessings
(6) {Chitteme O. Orcheston O, Shrewton O. Tilshead 1)
Funerals
{14) (Chitteme 3, Orcheston O. Shrewton 5. Tilshead 3)
11
In addition to this there were 7 {9) services to bury ashes {Chitteme O, Orcheston O,
ShrevrtonlRollestonelMaddington 3. Tilshead 4). Assistan￿ and support to bereaved families
was also offered to several families. The All Souls. Servi￿ was well received, with many who
attended taking gravelights or meTnorial candles away with them following the service.
MINISTRY. INCLUDING WORSHIP. WITH SCHOOLS & FAMILIES IN 2025
In both schools governan￿ continued to be an important strand of our church ministry.
Tilshead's school went successfully through its SIAMS and OFSTED inspections during 2024.
with a significant presence of Foundation Govemors at both. The events of Holy Week and
Easter were marked with pupils from both schools. Leavers servI￿s and activities were
supported by the church in both primary schools. Throughout the year provision of financial
and food support was coordinated between the clergy. Candlemas and the local schools. In
December local community members once again donated small gifts. gift wrap and tags to the
church. and we ran a very suc￿Ssful gifting scheme across 2 sites in the parish (see below).
This allowed every child to select a gift for a family member at no charge. Remaining gifts.
wrap and tags were placed into the new pantry so that the wider community could benefit
from a tempordry 'present drawerf. Family Service & Tea continued up to October and was a
popular and appreciated event durbng 2025. while Activity packs were distributed to families
across the parish during every school holiday. At the end of the summer holidays our. now
annual. Teddy Bears. Picnic drop in drew significant numbers from across the community.
The following reSoUr￿S were provided:
Weekly Collective worship
provided almost exclusively 'in person. for the year- for the
first time across a whole academic year. Rev Jonathan
Plows has continued worship with the schools.
Yr 6 Leavers
sessFons with Tilshead Yr 6 thinking about moving onl
moving up
Harvest Serrfices
In Shrewton & filshead Churches
'Christmas gifting,
Both Shrewton and filshead School held a gift wrapping
session for loved ones in the respective schools this year
assisted by Benefi￿ volunteers.

MINISTRY IN THE WIDER COMMUNrrY IN 2025
Across the year each church collected items of food or gifts of money in support of local
organisations. such as the Community panty based in Shrewton. the Wamiinster F¢Jodbank
and Alabarè.
Support to individuals and families struggling with the cost of living crisis was also made
possible. in part, by the provision of a grant by the Church of England. Throughout the year
the church community were instrumental in developing the reach and resources of the
Community Pantry. 'Pop up, shelves in the Panty are still welcomed. among these were
those for Easter decorations. 'Back to School., games for the school hdidays, cookery and
kitchen. and the Christmas Gift & Wrap shelf.
September and October saw Harvest Festtvals and meals throughout the Parish. viith
Produ￿ donations to Alabare and the Wamiinster Food Bank.
Working ecumenically is a signrficant part of lrfe within the parish, and in 2025 we continued to
work with our Methodist friends to prepare and distribute Activity packs. and we also
continued to work with GUL. especially with regard to the Communty Pantries (there is a
second panty at The Bustard), and visiting. Likewise members of the Plain Church
community worshipped with us on a number of occasions.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Total Receipts for the financial year induding the redemption of investment funds and a
generous legacy were £100,781 {2024 £127.534}. Regular income fell from £96.000 to
£80.000.
Giving to the church through regular planned donations. one off donations and the collection
plate over the year reduced to £38.000 from £48,300. This total amount is only equal to 56°
of our Parish Share that we paid over to the DicKw.
We received one generous legacy of £20.000 to be spent on the church fabric of St Mary's
Church. Orcheston.
We continue to receive a number of generous grants from local organisations. For these we
are most grateful to Tilshead Parish Council for a grant towards grass cutting costs at St
Thomas churchyard. and also Shrewton Parish Council for a similar gant for grass cutting at
St Mary Maddington churchyard.
Gift Aid receipts were reduced to £8,9tMJ reflecting the reduced nom￿1 In￿)Me. Re￿Ipts from
Parochial fees fell to £7.500 refiecting a reduction in the number of funerals and only one
wedding in the Benefice.

Receipts from fvnd raising events were similar to the previous year at £5,300 but historically
this is low.
Income from Bank Deposits and Trusts reduced slightly to £12.800 as a Consequen￿ of
cashing in some investment funds in 2024.
Maddington Church Hall fee income has fallen to £1.700 from £2,300.
Total expenditure was £102.991 (2024 £114.343) to enable the Benefi￿ in Ministry
throughout our four villages.
Our contribution to the Parish Share remained level at £68,000. There was no apparent
increase as we now benefit from a partial refund of parochial fees from the Diocese being
credited to our Share. However Share will now rise each year by at least £2,500 until 2028.
Clergy expenses V￿re £1,500 up from £1.100. The Salisbury DBF share of parochial fees
rose slightly to £3.450.
General running costs of insuran￿. heating. electricity fell slightly to £14.250 from£14,950.
Fortunately expenditure on building works was historically Jow at £4.250. Maintenance of our
eight churchyards was lower at £2.700.
We have continued to make grants from funds raised earlier from fabric and craft sales. We
paid out all funds raised for the community Panty to GUL, a Shrewton based charity who
have taken over responsibility for the Pantry following the departure of our incumbent. In
addition we made donations to other causes including The Royal British Legion, CRESS,
Alabare, the Stroke association, the Children's Society. Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust and
the Churches Conservation Trust.
The overall financial result is an excess of expendtture over re￿Ipts of £2,200. However the
income includes the legacy re￿ived. The underlying figures show an income deficit of
£22,000 for the year after a similar underlying deficit of £11.000 in 2024.
Our financial assets held in investment funds have increased over the year by £8,500 to
£526,500. This illustrates that although we are in deficit on our running costs. we possess
considerable assets.

Reserves Pollcy
At the PCC meeting on 6th June 2018 a Financial Management Policy paper was presented to
and approved by the PCC, including the following °Salisbury Plain Benefice Reserves Policf.
The Reserves of Salisbury Plain Benefice are those unrestricted funds required to
ensure prudent financial managemenL
The ReseNes do not indude funds that were raised for designated purposes. or are
restricted in terms of their donation. or are endowments or propety assets.
They will ensure that the PCC will meet all the normal costs of running the Benefice,
induding the ability to pay our Parish Share. our fees to the Diocesan Board of Finan￿.
building insuran￿. utility bills. costs of service. administrab'on and day to day repairs.
The reserves should also meet minor unexpected repair costs induding minor works
identified in Quinquennial reports.
The Reserves Policy recognises that through the Benefice. the four constwtuent villages
will be able to support each other when necessary.
The expected running costs for 2026 will be around £100,000. Given recent experience
of the pandemic it is prudent to increase the reserrfes above Church of England guidance of
three months reserves to six months would give an appropriate reserve of £50.000.
In the event that our reserves are consistently below the target sum or are consistently
above the target. the PCC will take responsibilty to remedy the situation. When reserves drop
too low funds should be allocated from a designated fund where that fund is not immediately
required for the designated purpose. Where reserves are too high funds could, with the
approval of the PCC. be used either supporting a project in the communty or being
designated to an underfunded fabric fund or similar.
This Policy slK)uld be reviewed annually.
Approved by the PCC on 1$1 May 2026 and slgned on their behalf by Richard Essberger
(per pro PCC Chair)

INDEPENDEiYT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH
cour4CIL OF THE SALISBURY PLAIN BEYL EFICF.
Thi5 retx)rt on the financial #ate4ll￿ olth¢ PCC forthc Ye￿a￿led 31 Dffembtr2025.
which are set out on pages 2 kn 5. Is In rtsp￿t of au examination ￿ried out in
a¢co[da￿e with the Church Accouniing Re￿atIo￿* 2(Mkn {'the R£guj￿￿On*.j a￿1 segii
43 of the Charities Att IW3 {"the Art").
Respective re4bDnsibilities ofthe PCC and the
As manbers of the PCC you are resFwsible forthe preparation of the financial
statements. You o)nsidtr that the audit requiTeEJJcnt of ihc Regulations a[￿ section 43 121
of the Act do not apply. li is my r¢sw￿bilIty io issue this re￿)rt ￿ those finawial
a¢anents in accordance with the teEms of the regulatsons.
B&si5 of tbis report
My examination was Carri￿ otsi in ￿?￿lanCe with ihe General Direciions given by the
Charity CoD]mi%ion utxler section 43(7Xb) of the A¢1 and to be found in the Chun
Gitidithce. 2(X>6 ￿lti0￿ issKd by the Finamcc Division olthe Archbishops Council.
Th* exami]xation includts a review of the acc(xttttsng rttords kept by the PCC and a
compariwn of the accounts with ttsose rttords. I( also iDcludGs ¢onsiderÈng aDy uDusuaL
items or disclosuros im the fina￿181 staternthts and seekin8 eXpla￿￿tIonS from you L5
In￿¢¢¢$¢0￿ernIng any such mattets. The pr{*￿ureS undertaken Ib) not provide ihe
e¥[denceth￿ would be requitEd an audii. atwj conwuaily l (*) not exrrfess an audit
opinÈon (Trn the view given by the ￿cOunts.
dePeTrde￿t eLqmiwer's st*tement
which giv￿ me ￿&9)rtable tause to bdieve that in 8ny maerial rewt the
require¥nents
to keep accoun1￿8 rwords in with seciion 41 of ihe Act: and
to prepare rjr4gnc1￿ staternen￿ which ￿tsTd wtth the *CQYnts"￿ rtrords and
comply with the rquitrrnents of the Act ar￿ the Regulations
have niA been mth: or
to which. In Tlly opiniotL atientiott slKxdd bc thawn in order to tnabie a prop
understatxling ofthe ￿OL￿tS io Ir rexhtsL
12)
SigTratsre:
Position:

olun
pLInn￿ ¢Mfi9. GfftAMI
00￿P￿￿ne4 Gh
9.439(K
7.117.DD
&410.C4J
27.02e
29.649
1216.C17
1.988.26
384.(h7 20.1w.e
15.fy)
119&S5 ZI05
1242.31
1.870.83
310.
.10
6.4ZF.30
74.391.75
1.610.iW)
8M99.70
6.622
GrftAA1 RBfuThJ
1613.79
184.84
4115)
9.650
Par(Wth￿ F￿S
1.529.WJ
1870.0)
12.103
1043.35
4.70 12&J23
.*y 28z.
5289.41
5.628
2&07
1,627.32
1.134.54
11.o87.95
2B9.W 9.3T3.06
12.267
1.7￿
2.3ts
1347
17
VAT tsranl ILPelGSI
141.
372.¢Jl
3n.cwj
t.¥31.(WJ
7fj0.(Y)
1.44153
IW 781.75
1.951.fyJ
CBF Inve51rrthtFth)J
21000
673.57
42
Toial
127
PAYMEFif5
hu
34105 12
IZ314.rJ 1272014 ￿).10
311.64
67.999 99
1.510.79
3.4S3.C¥)
67.981
D8F Shavrffee
1062
17.iX)
l.C67.ty)
3.11
Insuran
Z99&20 1239.77 3203.07 I￿.65
248.13
470.03
&12
10.2W2n
2.867 26
1.01S29
276.01
4248.48
t.DD7.3#
2.875.00
10.08B
3.253
1.018
583
15.23
1.658
3.24D
>￿0
1.01S29
96.61
_11
838.61
1.929.94
d.07
1215.r
54279
24fj 5T
913.23
91323
5.18S.91
fj75.
Hrrfne
474.50
4.492.54
675.1x7
8.47T
31218
371.18
149
Admintstsa
107.20
119.95
234 38
107.19
0.91
62989
¢20JOg.7•) 1&111A4
1.n&12
A1

¢1th•)
c¢

M2r24
£1.529.40
3111V24
3lt1¥23
£5.553.39
£WO.97
31112124
£IB.9UI.57
1.328.21
£7.￿.38
-£1￿13
£10.913 96
£4,451.5B
£9.511.13
31112r24
31M
E2,DS3.n
231.42
31112r24
3111
£1*1.
£17.fyJ
£?71KI
£4B 33
£124.
£18.CWJ
Shrewkn L•xIFWx2.55T.9￿Il￿ 31n2r2
ES9.146.86
JIM￿ £SQ039
31112Q4
3111
2.217.(
EI5.029.76
É1442&
£1.109.89
£1
650 Shar£¥ in ¢eF COE InVestr￿F￿R1
JV12n5
31112r24
48 Share5 in CBF f•E kn4*siFr*rtFwwJ
3111W24
31M
£19.797.96
£l&t6&12
CBF 1re•Wbl￿Fund85I
31112r24
31M212S
el0.4￿.29
£6Z7tr2.20
T115head EmplreBurHJak)wFurKI
14.342 fj4 Sha￿s In C8F hihF*￿Fur
31112r24
31M212S
31n2r24
3111
£331.640.56
£318.3&123
168Shares in CBF CDE ￿leStrrtt￿FWby
f1729Jl
31112r24
31M
£1.fts).ty)
3111*24
31n2r25
£1.ThK).00

oles io tbe 20?4 Accounts
Salisbun. Plai￿ Benefice PCC
l. The Benefice of Salssbury Plain %vas ￿8allY constituted at the end of 2013.
2. The accounts have been prèpared on a Receipts & Payments meth￿.
3. The Staiement of Aicouot lists geparately the accounts for eaih of the four
former paii5hes, for Maddin8ton Church Rooms. and a 8eneral account,
which are then consolidated.
4. The Statement of Asset5 5hoY4s all cash holdings and other investment funds
held.
S. The invèstTnent funds ale at market value as at 31 December 2025. These
funds are invested 4n the (BF Investment Fund by CCLA on behalf of the
Parish.
6. The Shrewton èllotment land continues to be included at a rkominal value of
£1,000.
7. The Maddington Church R00rn5 in Shrev4ton continue to be intluded at
nominal value of £1.￿0.
8. Outstandin8 Gift Aid É5 the sum due to be reclaimed from qualifyin8
donations in 2025.
9. Liabilities afe those knthvn o%ved to Salisbury Diocesan Board of Finance
for fèès incurred in ihe fourth quarter of 2025 but dlte for payment in
January 2026.
ftA- PLAIfy
eKnrFRNF. CfftCHESTON
SHR£WIOP4.TILSHEAD
Chv4 it)" Niu]kber I1-3S46