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       picture courtesy English Heritage

St James the Less, Priory Street, Colchester and St John’s Abbey Gatehouse (right) will again be open for the annual English Heritage Open Days on the weekend of 11th/12th September.

The church will be open on Friday 2pm and Heritage Manager Philip Wise will be giving a talk on St John’s Abbey for children from St Thomas More’s School and interested adults. 

On Saturday the church will be open from 10.00am until 12.00pm for viewing with a guided tour and explanation of the Gothic style exterior and remaining Gothic church designed by John Joseph Scholes, a leading Catholic Victorian architect and close friend of Pugin. The tour and talk will take place at 10.45am and again at 3pm. The church features two Pugin lancet windows in the side chapel which will be one of the highlights of the tour.

The church will be closed between 12.00pm until 2.00pm for services and then will reopen until 4.30pm.

Disabled access.

Refreshments available in the Crypt.  

The Gatehouse on St John’s Green will be open from 10.00am-4.00pm Saturday and Sunday. Guide and talks will be available, along with an exhibition about its history and notable abbots through the centuries.

St James the Less, Priory Street, Colchester and St John’s Abbey Gatehouse will again be open for the annual English Heritage Open Days on the weekend of 11th/12th September.

The church will be open on Friday 2pm and Heritage Manager Philip Wise will be giving a talk on St John’s Abbey for children from St Thomas More’s School and interested adults.

On Saturday the church will be open from 10.00am until 12.00pm for viewing with a guided tour and explanation of the Gothic style exterior and remaining Gothic church designed by John Joseph Scholes, a leading Catholic Victorian architect and close friend of Pugin. The tour and talk will take place at 10.45am and again at 3pm. The church features two Pugin lancet windows in the side chapel which will be one of the highlights of the tour.

The church will be closed between 12.00pm until 2.00pm for services and then will reopen until 4.30pm.

Disabled access.

Refreshments available in the Crypt. 

The Gatehouse on St John’s Green will be open from 10.00am-4.00pm Saturday and Sunday. Guide and talks will be available, along with an exhibition about its history and notable abbots through the centuries. An exciting discovery about the Abbey’s history took place recently when a scroll relating to its demise was found by local historian Jennie Guthrie-Stevens.