The Parochial Church Council
Size and Location
Tilshead is a village of some 140 houses and 350 souls, situated on the main A360 Salisbury to Devizes road and completely surrounded by military training land. There are a number of sites of botanical, scientific and archaeological interest in the area.
Amenities
We have a Voluntary Aided Church of England primary school with over 40 children on roll, supported by a Nursery School which is also affiliated to the church. There is an active Parents' Association. Most of the children move on to Lavington School near Devizes. Both the Village Hall and the small but well-used playing field are run by a committee of volunteers and are the venues for much of the social life of the village. We have a post office, a garage with a shop, and a public house. There is a Baptist Chapel, and Church and chapel reciprocate in attending each other's Harvest Festival and carol services. We have our own village magazine, the Tilshead Newsletter, which is published monthly. We also share a church magazine, Arrowhead, with the other three parishes in our group.
The Church
The ancient and beautiful Grade 1 Church of St. Thomas à Becket has stood since the 12th century. The fabric is generally in good repair, but the recent 2006 Quinquennial Report recommends rewiring and extensive plaster repairs to the interior which are likely to cost in excess of £30,000. We have until now managed to pay our Diocesan Share in full, but with increasing difficulty. The church is cleaned and decorated by a rota of volunteers, many of whom are not regular churchgoers. We are lucky to have a very good Willis pipe organ which has for the last 32 years been played by the school's music teacher, who is an exceptionally gifted organist. Tilshead Vicarage was sold in 2002, and the grant we received from its sale funded the refurbishment of the vestry and the provision of new fitted cupboards in the church.
Ministry Arrangements
In l998 we became part of the Wylye and Till Valley team, and are currently looked after by The Reverend Sue Armitage, who lives in Shrewton. Some of our services are taken by lay readers or retired clergy, and occasional ones by the Chaplain General HM Land Forces, who is resident in the village.
Services and church attendance
We have one evening BCP Communion service, one BCP Evensong and one morning Family Service each month.In addition there are rotating group and team services. Morning Prayer is said in church every Tuesday morning. The electoral roll has 41 names. The average Sunday congregation is around 18, but this average conceals wide swings. Numbers are far higher for festivals and special services.
