Priors Hardwick

Priors Hardwick is a picturesque village lying between Wormleighton and Priors Marston.  The houses form a ring around a large meadow, the site of the medieval village, a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The church is a Grade II* ironstone building, dating from around 1300, and is the most dominant building in the village, along with the nearby and renowned Portuguese restaurant, The Butchers Arms, which attracts many visitors.

There are several groups, clubs and activities in the village. In this small community PCC officers also hold posts of responsibility in the village.  The Village Meeting holds its quarterly meetings in the church and the handbell ringing group holds its weekly practices there.

The church holds three services per month and its congregation is supplemented by people from other parishes who come for the traditional BCP services of Holy Communion and Sung Evensong.  The latter is lay-led and much enhanced by the two-manual pipe organ which is widely acknowledged as one of the best in the area.  The service on the first Sunday of the month is also lay-led.  It is usually a less formal form of Morning Worship and includes opportunities for the congregation to take more active roles in leading.  Special services to draw in members of the wider community also take place on the first Sunday about four times a year, including a Pet Service, which it is hoped to make an annual event.  The Festival services at Christmas and Harvest are very well attended.  Although the church does not yet have a water supply, refreshments are usually served after each service to encourage increased fellowship.

Car-parking is available on the street or in the Butcher's Arms carpark for bigger events.  Currently the church has no toilets or kitchen facilities but following the recent Quinquennial Inspection a major overhaul of the building is being planned.  This is being seen as an opportunity to re-order the interior to enable it to accommodate more community activities.  The local community is very much involved in this project.