1930 The consecration of new Church at Fairseat

I managed to pick up the Kent Messenger, dated August 30, 1930, with this account of the building and consecration of the chapel in Fairseat. Hope you can read the scans.

St Mary's - Chris Noble

Here are a few photos of Chris Noble doing what he does. I love the one of him at Easter with the inflatable ring, telling the school children about Jesus going to the beach after his resurrection! Chris has been the vicar/rector of St Mary's for quite a few years now.

St Mary's - the proposed extension

For some while there have been plans afoot for a new extension at St Marys. Planning permission has been granted and now it is just a case of raising the money. It will cost approx. £360,000. The proposed extension has some opposition, but I'm sure we all agree that loos will be a much appreciated! Artist's impression of the plans below.

St Mary's and Stansted School

The school holds many celebrations at the church, and the children visit as part of the local history project.

My favourite picture, taken in the 90s I think.

December 2009

April 2012

December 2010

St Mary's windows

St Mary's - a few photos inside and out

St Mary’s has been evolving ever since Archbishop Islip decreed in the early 1300s that it was the duty of the Vicar of Wrotham to provide ‘one fit chaplain to celebrate in the chapel of Stansted’. The first church was built beside a 300-year-old yew tree overlooking the village and more than seven hundred years later that tree is still standing beside St Mary’s church porch. In the belfry hangs possibly the oldest bell in the district. Cast before the Reformation, it bears an inscription in Latin which, when translated, reads ‘His name is John’. 

Below are some photos in and around the church. The roof shingles were all replaced in approximately 2003. Locals were invited to sponsor a shingle by paying £1. You could then write your name on the back of the shingle before it went up. I never got around to doing it and have always regretted it!

The church on 13.3.13

School children under the yew tree

This picture of a redundant font in the grounds was found
here

1992 St Mary's - welcoming back the restored bells

In 1992 the ancient bell, mounted on a hand-drawn wagon, was pulled from Stansted to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry for its restoration. A new and improved Bell Ringers’ gallery was built soon afterwards and the three original bells were augmented to six.

A nice slice of local history, and already 20 years old!

These pictures are held at the S&FHS.  

Here are the bells in action on YouTube.

6 bells tenor 5-3-21 in Bb

April 29 2011 - Royal Wedding Tea Party

Here are just a few photographs from the school's Tea Party to celebrate the Royal wedding, to which all villagers were welcome. Thanks to the Parish for providing each child with a commemorative mug.

Stansted School - Remembrance Day

Since 2009 Stansted school has marked Remembrance Day with a short service consisting of a poppy wreath laying, two minute silence, prayers and hymn singing. All villagers are welcome to join them.

2009

2010

2010

2011

2011 with George Goring

2011

29th December 2007 - Fatal shooting

A sad bit of local history which happened in a field on Tumblefield Road, Stansted.

Man wielding Uzi-type sub-machine gun shot dead by police in 'suicide by cop'
29 December 2007 London Evening Standard news

Investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission are trying to discover if the man had committed "suicide by cop" - forcing police to open fire by threatening to shoot members of the public.

A 999 call to police described a man in the street wielding a sub-machine gun. The 999 caller described a gun like an Uzi. Two police marksmen challenged the man before firing two shots, both of which hit him.
 
A gun matching the description given in the 999 call was recovered from the scene of the shooting on Saturday morning. 

The man, aged about 40 and described as "troubled and sad", had spent the previous evening drinking in the village's Black Horse pub. Landlady Anne Roberts, 60, said: "He was here all night drinking vodka and Red Bull. He told us he was originally from this area, but that he had moved away. "He said he was on a trip down memory lane because his grandparents used to bring him here when he was a boy. "He was friendly but I was worried about him because he had a troubled air. He seemed sad and I felt sorry for him." Miss Roberts said that although the man seemed depressed, he was in no way violent or aggressive. She said: "He was a friendly chap who had a chat with a lot of the locals. "He seemed a bit unwell but I'm shocked to hear he threatened someone with a gun. He did not seem like that sort of person."
 
Police closed part of the village for most of the day. The man told Miss Roberts he was staying in a nearby bed and breakfast in Fairseat Lane - but there is no B&B in that road. The landlady said he told her he had a well-paid job and she thought he said he was an electrical engineer. 

It is thought the man later tried to commit suicide by driving his white Mitsubishi car into a nearby field and running a hosepipe from the exhaust pipe through a window. 

Investigators believe they know the dead man's identity, but he is not expected to be named until Wednesday. The IPCC said he was white and from Kent although he did not live in Stansted, which is near Sevenoaks. It is not believed he held a firearms licence or was a member of a gun club.
 
"Suicide by cop" is a term which originated in the US in the 1980s to explain the actions of people who appear to deliberately provoke police to open fire.

Replica Uzi gun man 'lawfully killed' by Kent Police
From BBC News (click here for source)

A man who was shot dead by police after he pointed a replica Uzi machine gun at officers was lawfully killed, an inquest jury has found.

Dayniel Tucker, 39, was shot by firearms officers sent to Stansted near Sevenoaks, Kent, on 29 December 2007.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation concluded their actions were justified.

A replica gun found nearby looked genuine at first, a ballistics experts told the Gravesend inquest.

Gravesend Coroner's Court heard that Mr Tucker, a precision engineer, of Adisham Green, Sittingbourne, had suffered from depression and seasonal affective disorder.

The inquest was told his car was found in a nearby field with a hose connected to the exhaust pipe and he had attempted suicide in the past.

Jurors heard a man identifying himself as Dayniel Tucker called 999 on 29 December and reported that he had seen a man pointing a firearm at him.

When the Kent Police force communications centre phoned the caller back to ask him to describe the gun, he said it looked like an Uzi-type sub-machine gun.

Two armed response vehicles arrived in Tumblefield Road and saw Mr Tucker concealing something in his jacket.

When they were about 20m away, a policeman referred to only as "Officer A", saw Mr Tucker take a gun from his jacket and point it directly at him.

Officer A shouted: "Armed police, drop the weapon, drop the weapon now."

The inquest heard Mr Tucker was shot twice by police marksmen and died instantly.
'Tragic circumstances'

Ballistics specialist Franco Tomei said when when he first saw the firearm he believed it was a real sub-machine gun, capable of firing up to 600 rounds a minute, but after a closer inspection he realised it was an imitation.

Dr Fiona Perry, a toxicology expert, said post-mortem tests revealed traces of alcohol, cannabis and carbon monoxide in Mr Tucker's body and he was "likely to have been under the influence of drugs at the time of his death".

IPCC Commissioner Mike Franklin said: "The events of the 29 December 2007 have had a lasting impact on all involved. Mr Tucker's family and friends lost a loved one in tragic circumstances, and the firearms officers have to live with the fact that they shot and killed a man."

He said officers were equipped with Tasers and baton rounds, but the circumstances meant the use of less lethal weapons was not an option.

A print of St Mary's, Stansted in the '40s by Vincent Lines

This old print is always for sale on Ebay. I'm not sure of the exact date as I've seen it vary between 1940 and 1949. It is from a book "Recording Britain", Edited, with notes, by Arnold Palmer; Published by Oxford University Press, Geoffrey Cumberlege.