Annual Report and Accounts of the Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society. (CI0 1204853)
2023 – 2025.
Introduction.
The Master, Trustees and Wardens, (collectively and hereafter the “Chapter”) of the Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society (SKPS) (CIO 1204853) have pleasure in presenting their Report and Accounts for the period 2023 -2025.
Those who served on the Chapter in the roles indicated during the period of the Report are:
Valerie Glynn (Treasurer) * Byron Hadley (Master) * Revd .Fr. Capt. David Penny. CA. Rector of Winchcome, Gloucester. (Chaplain) Richard Norton (Secretary) * Jacinta Norton (Churches Liason- Resigned October 2024) Chris Seaton – Smith (Master of Ceremonies) Frank Thomas (Lore Keeper) Revd. Brian Woolaston. (Guest Master)
Each of the roles noted above have job description drawn up by the Executive Standing Committee and discussed with the member of Chapter whose role it is.
- The Master, Secretary and Treasurer constitute the Executive (Standing) Committee).
The Executive Committee is empowered to make immediate decisions on behalf of the entire Chapter in cases where such decisions are necessary, but during the period of the report this has not been put into practice. All policy decisions are collectively discussed by the whole Chapter.
The Society is governed by a Constitution agreed by the Chapter in 2022 and formed part of its application for CIC status in 2023. By this constitution all members of Chapter have both corporate and individual responsibility to be aware of all previous and current legislation regarding inter alia due process and charity law, financial responsibility, equality, disability. On-line safety and Safeguarding. Training in these areas and the specific responsibilities of what it is to be a charitable Trustee from time-to-time. All members of Chapter are encouraged to update their knowledge and skills on at least an annual basis.
No member of Chapter has received financial benefit from the Society or its activities. The Society has no paid staff. All its activities are conducted by members of Chapter on a voluntary basis.
Contd...
The Society.
The Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society has two objects in accordance with current Charitable Law currently pertaining in England and Wales:
1 The advancement of education for the public benefit in the heritage of and devotion to Saint Kenelm of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire.
- The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation for the public benefit by the provision of resources and assistance to those making a journey to Winchcombe, Gloucestershire along historical pilgrimage routes.
Both objects have been practised during the period of the Report and the Society has no plans to amend or change these objects in the foreseeable future.
As a Christian Organisation, the Society has an agreed Statement of Faith placing it in the tradition of the Church of England. All its activities are, however, fully ecumenical and open to people of all faiths or none at all.
The Society has a designated website, www.saintkenelm.org detailing its activities and through which visitors are encouraged to donate to those activities, howbeit that those donations are not, at present, directed to restricted funds.
The Society publishes a Newsletter from time-to-time and, in 2025-2026, expects to do so on a quarterly basis.
Saint Kenelm.
The historicity of the life and work of Saint Kenelm is widely disputed because few, if any, reliable sources survived the passage of time and the active destruction of hagiographical materials when the monasteries in England and Wales were dissolved during the Protestant Reformation. In any event Anglo-Saxon culture, the period during which Kenelm lived, was not adept at keeping written records. Perhaps the most reliable source of information on Kenelm is found in The Southern English Legendary ( Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS 145).
We know that Kenelm was heir-apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Mercia. He was martyred for his Christian faith in or near Romsey in the Clent Hills in what is now the West Midlands. His age at the time of his martyrdom and the perpetrator of his murder is unknown. The traditional legend of Saint Kenelm suggests he may have been only a child of eight and that he was murdered on the instruction of his sister who wanted the throne for herself and to impose an oppressive regime. A few charters signed by Kenelm or in his name do exist and if they are indeed at the hand of Kenelm himself then he was much older, a mature man in his early twenties.
Nevertheless, it was Bishop Oswald of Worcester, in whose diocese Winchcombe then sat, who first promoted the cause of Kenelm as a saintly figure in the late tenth century. The then Pope canonised Kenelm sometime later, declaring that his festal day be 17[th] July each year. The Society holds its annual pilgrimage day on the Saturday nearest to the 17[th] July each year as a result of this decree.
Contd...
As a result of Bishop Oswald’s efforts and Kenlem’s canonisation, and as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales points out, many people began to revere Kenelm for his faithfulness and his apparent ability to take a stand against potential political oppression.
Pilgrimage to sites associated with Kenelm – particularly Winchcombe and a nearby Holy Well at Sudley - rapidly grew. Since parts of Northern France were then under English control veneration of Kenelm took root there too.
Winchcombe Abbey, already well-know as a place of theological learning and innovations in health and medicine, became the focal point of Kenelmic pilgrimages and became at least as popular as pilgrimages to Walshingham and Hailes Abbey and this continued almost without interruption until the Reformation.
The Society regards itself as the heirs to that legacy and endeavours to bring knowledge of Kenelm and pilgrimage to sites associated with him to at least the same level as that in the High Middle Ages.
The Activities of the Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society 2023-2025
1. Contact With Other Organisations and Churches.
1.1 The Francis Brett Young Society
During the period of the Report the above society donated a number goods they no required to the Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Trust. These included manikins and costumes formerly used in the Francis Young Society’s musical performance of The Legend of St Kenelm . These were displayed in St Peter’s Church Winchcombe for several days before and after the St Kenelm Pilgrimage Society Annual Pilgrimage in July 2024. These generated widespread interest and played an important part in informing visitors about the work of SKPS. The costumes are now stored in a designated place at St Peter’s Church and are ready to use at any time.
The Francis Brett Young Society also donated several paintings in watercolour depicting scenes, buildings and landscapes associated with St Kenelm and devotion to him.
The Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society is grateful for these gifts and for the opportunity of formally thanking them again here.
1.2. The Knights Templar of Albion and the Continuing Church of England
The Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society is small and it seeks additional help in the smooth running of its Annual Pilgrimage day in July. Contact was made with both of the above organisation to attempt to find ways in their members might provide additional volunteers at that event. Both organisations gave presentations to Chapter but it was decided not to develop relationships with them in the immediate and medium term.
1.3. The British Pilgrimage Trust
SKPS enjoys active and informal links with the British Pilgrimage Trust through Richard Norton. He attended the AGM of the British Pilgrimage Trust in late 2023 and was able to strengthen relationships on a personal basis at that time. In its well known book of traditional pilgrimage sites and routes in the UK, the British Pilgrimage Trust included two “Kenelm Ways.”
Contd...
The British Pilgrimage Trust estimate that 8 million people will make a pilgrimage in the UK or northern Europe in 2025 – 2026. By partnership working the SKPS will find ways to promote ST Kenelm and Winchcombe Abbey as part of thier journeys.
1.4 Archaeological Surveys.
A local professional archaeologist and her team offered to conduct, pro bono, a non-invasive geophysical survey of the land surrounding the Holy Well of Saint Kenelm. The site lies on the traditional pilgrimage route between Winchcombe and Hailes Abbey some 2 miles away. The intention of the survey would be to discover whether anything of historical interest remains at the site; artefacts dropped by pilgrims and perhaps secondary relics associated with St Kenelm.
It is, obviously, first necessary to obtain the landowners permission to conduct such a survey but to date no such permission has been granted. It is hoped that it will be given soon so that the survey can begin in either 2025 or 2026, depending also on the then work load of the archaeologist concerned.
1.5 Television Documentary Press Coverage
During the summer of 2024 the Master of SKPS was invited to take part in a television documentary concerning medieval pilgrimage. It focussed on Winchcombe as a major place of pilgrimage during the middle ages and veneration to St Kenelm. The documentary attempted to discover the original placing of St Kenelm’s shrine in or around what is now St Peter’s Church and this gave rise to some speculation as to whether the guardians of the shrine, the monks of Winchcombe, managed to safely hide the remains of St Kenlem elsewhere in the face of approaching iconoclasm and the destruction of their abbey.
The documentary may be viewed on You Tube and will soon appear on the Society’s website.
As a result of this documentary the Master was interviewed by journalist and these appeared twice in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. As a result of this coverage the SKPS has received enquiries about the date of SKPS pilgrimage Day 2025 and its other activities.
1.6 The Local Community
SKPS has expanded its presence in the local communities of Winchcombe, Northleach and the North Cotswold area more generally. Members of the SKPS held an information stall with family friendly games at the annual Winchcombe fete. SKPS held a series of talks in Northleach promoting the Society, St Kenelm and the important benefits in pilgrimage today.
Similarly members have attended a number of talks, lectures and given by other organisations on relevant topics such as local archaeology, the history of Winchcombe Abbey and St Kenelm.
1.7 Churches
SKPS has visited Churches in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire dedicated to St Kenelm. It is hoped that by broadening and deepening these relationships a St Kenelm Prayer Network, resourced by SKPS can be formed thus increasing knowledge of, interest in devotion to St Kenelm. It may also form the basis of the expansion of the work of SKPS into working with youth.
Contd...
1.8 Pilgrimage Day.
SKPS holds its annual Pilgrimage Day in honour of St Kenlem on the nearest Saturday to the 17[th] July each year. All its other activities come to a climax and are celebrated at that time
Pilgrims are invited to meet at St Peter’s Church Winchcombe (on the site of the original Abbey) and walk to the Holy Well of St Kenelm not far away. The route, using both public roads and footpaths is both risk assessed and guided by stewards from the Society.
On their return, a series of services and blessings are held both in the morning and the afternoon. The SKPS, though not a re-enactment society, endeavours to ensure that one of these services follows the liturgical form, in translation, which would have been familiar to pilgrims in former years.
Short talks on St Kenelm and the importance of Pilgrimage today are given by members of the Society during the lunch break.
The day ends with a procession around as much of the original site of Winchcombe Abbey as possible that is included in the grounds and Church yard of the current Parish Church.
Signed
Byron Hadley
Byron Hadley Master (Chair) of SKPS.
| The Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society |
The Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society |
The Saint Kenelm Pilgrimage Society |
1204853 | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
4/1/2024 | To | 4/2/2025 | ||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
| A1 Receipts 174 - - - - - - - 174 - - Sub total - Total receipts 174 A3 Payments 19 - - - - - - - - Sub total 19 - - Sub total - Total payments 19 Net of receipts/(payments) 155 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end - Cash funds this year end 155 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ Sub total(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 174 - - - - - - - 174 - - - 174 19 - - - - - - - - 19 - - - 19 155 - - 155 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| - | 174 | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 174 | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 174 | - | |||
| - | 19 | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
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| - | - | - | |||
| - | 19 | - | |||
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| - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 19 | - | |||
| - | - | 155 | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | 155 | - |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
Details Details Details Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ - - - - Agreement Error to nearest £ - - - - - - 0 0 0 Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates |
to nearest £ - - - - OK to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restricted funds Restricted funds Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| - | ||||
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| OK | ||||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| - | ||||
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| When due (optional) |
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| 0 | - | |||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Signature
Print Name
Date of approval