We are marking the 700th Anniversary of the founding of our church building this year! A week of celebration is being planned between Saturday 28th June and Sunday 6th July 2025, and there will be other special services and events through the year.
You can find a list of planned events below – please click on the links for more details. You can also find all the details about our events, together with other information about the church, in our special 700th Anniversary Souvenir Programme. You can download a copy here or pick up a free copy in the church or at an event.
We’ve also published the souvenir booklets from the 600th Anniversary – have a look to get a flavour of what Olney was like in 1925!
If you’d like to know more about our 700th celebrations, please feel free to contact us
If you would like to make a donation towards the work and upkeep of the church, you can do so via the Donate button. This will take you to the Parish Giving Scheme website.
Saturday June 28th, 2:00pm to 5:45pm
Peal of Bells
Our week of celebrations begins with a full peal of bells – this will involve a peal of 5,700 changes of “Stedman Caters” which will take around 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete!
Saturday June 28th, 7:00pm to 10:00pm
Church Ale
We will be re-creating the old tradition of a “church ale” with a hog roast and a special commemorative ale! There will be a chance to buy bottles of our 700th ale as well as souvenir glasses.
Sunday June 29th, 10:00am
Patronal Festival Service
We will have our special service marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul before the start of the Cherry Fair. Our guest speaker will be Revd. Adrian Low, Area Dean of Newport
Sunday June 29th, 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Olney Cherry Fair
Join us for an afternoon of fun events, activities, foods and stalls, in the Glebe Field in front of the church.
Sunday June 29th to Sunday 6th July
Flower Festival
We have a week-long flower festival in the church, with displays based on the theme of the 700th Anniversary.
Saturday July 5th, 10:00am to 4:00pm
History Day
We will be hosting a History Day in the church, with talks and exhibitions in the morning and afternoon
Saturday July 5th, 7:30pm
700th Anniversary Concert
Join us for a concert of a cappella music spanning the last 700 years, performed by the Sheppard Singers
Sunday July 6th, 10:00am
Civic Service
The main week of celebrations will close with a civic service, with a number of special guests. Our Guest Speaker will be Revd Canon Dave Bull, Bishop of Buckingham. The service will be followed by celebratory refreshments in the church.
Sunday September 21st, 2:00pm to 4:30pm
Heritage Open Day
As part of the Heritage Open Days programme, we are putting on presentations, tours and family activities throughout the afternoon. This is a chance to delve into the history of the church and its most famous curate, John Newton.
700th Anniversary Art Trail
As part of our celebrations, locally born artist Wayne Warren has curated a sequence of installations which will be set up both inside and outside the church building and which invite us to reflect on the history of the church. Wayne will also be producing postcards of the church for you to decorate, and limited edition versions of a couple of the art works will be available for you to buy.
Click here to download an Art Trail leaflet
700th Anniversary Hymn
“Seven Hundred Years” is a specially commissioned hymn marking the 700th anniversary of the church. This new hymn draws inspiration from Olney’s distinctive musical and historical heritage.
Click here to download a leaflet, including the words and music
Click here to listen to the tune played by Robbie Carroll, Assistant Director of Music at Rochester Cathedral
700 Mice
Our Knitty Stitchers group have been busy knitting up to 700 mice in honour of our popular Church Mice group. These will be released into the church on Sunday 6th July after the Civic Service. If you are visiting the church over the Summer and you find one, we would love you to give it a home!
700 Acts of Kindness
For our 700th anniversary we have created log books for people to record acts of kindness. Whether it’s helping out in the community or in the home, or doing things for other people, you’re invited to record something that you have done (or somebody has done for you) in one of our log books in the church and the Olney Centre. For privacy reasons, please don’t mention people’s names in your entry – they will know who they are!
600th Anniversary Souvenir Programme from 1925
600th Anniversary Pageant Programme from 1925
