Cycling round parts of the Vale recently, in aid of the county’s Historic Churches Trust, I was reminded of the rich history that our church buildings contain. In Shrivenham the Lord of the Manor 350 years ago demolished most of the church and replaced it with something on a grander scale.

Just up the road from there, at Hatford, just over a century ago, the then Rector decided that the village church was not fit for purpose and built a new one, abandoning the old – but the latter had the last laugh as the ‘new’ one is now a private house and the ‘old’ one is in regular use for worship, and has recently had a wedding there – the first for many decades.

Elsewhere I was struck by the wonderful condition so many of our churches are in, thanks to the tremendous efforts of so many of our churchwardens and parishioners. Very few of them get any regular external support.

The money they spend comes from voluntary giving and fundraising, and they are doing a marvellous job.

But that isn’t the end of the story. In every generation these buildings have been changed to meet the needs of their communities and congregations – and almost all the ones I visited, however large or small they were, were looking to add a lavatory or a server (plus a better heating system) to help them be better used.

In Fernham the work was already done, in Baulking theirs was already under way, whilst in Stanford in the Vale the plans were on display. Bill Heine is right to point out the tremendous changes that are going on at present. Long may this continue – and long may our church buildings continue to serve our communities.