Environment & History
Eco Church
We are thrilled to have achieved our Bronze Eco Church accreditation with A Rocha and are working towards achieving our Silver Award.
Eco church
St Michael’s Eco Group was formed in October 2021 on the back of celebrating Climate Sunday the previous month. In the two years that have followed, we have achieved a lot and come a long way.
The following things we have set up and happen regularly:
- *NEW* Ecover washing and washing up liquid refills available to buy at Repair Cafe and on first Sunday of the month.
- Repair Café happens monthly
- We buy Eco-friendly washing up liquid in bulk and sell
- We grow some of our own vegetables
- We have recycling facilities in every room and in the churchyard
- We use ECO friendly paper
- Our toilet paper is either recycled or Eco friendly
- All our toilet roll holders are made from recycled tetra paks
We have put the following things in place:
- We no longer use disposable cups in any of our Church Services
- We have twinned all our toilets through a toilet twinning charity
- We have held Clothes Swap Events
- We have held Plant Swap Events
- We have held community litter picks
- We have installed solar panels on our Church Centre
- We have put up a Bee pole in the Churchyard
- We have a water butt on site
- We have held a 5-week sermon series on God’s Creation
- We have created, published and analysed a sustainable travel survey
- We have updated our travel page to include all forms of sustainable transport
- Left an area of the Churchyard un-mowed and wild
- We no longer serve individually wrapped biscuits
It is hoped that by all of us making small changes we can help to influence the culture at St Michael’s to help us look after our Environment. If you would like any more information on the Eco Group please contact eco@stmichaelsbristol.org
Going forward we are looking to:
- Have an energy audit on all our buildings
- Plant wild flowers to encourage more wildlife
- Buy more Eco-friendly items in bulk to sell
- Look into having an electric charging point installed in our car park
St Michael’s Church Building
Our church building originates from the fourteenth century, having been built by the Berkeley family. The presence of the Norman font suggests that there was an earlier Church (although this was reputedly partially built into the North wall in the eighteenth century – reference Pevsners Gloucester). There was certainly a Saxon Church, as the Doomsday Book states “Stoche hath one priest”. This was probably a wooden building, and there would have been some sort of priest’s dwelling. Archaeological excavations have revealed Roman occupation in the parish. Coins found on the site suggest that this occupation was from about AD270-350. This covers the time that the Christian Constantine was emperor, so it is possible that there was Christian worship in the Parish at that time, and almost certainly by the time St Augustine came to England.
The Pre-School and Nursery
The Pre-School at St Michael’s Church began life as a small Playgroup in 1989. Back then we gathered in the Old School Rooms next to the Village Green (which is now home to our wonderful Coffee Shop). In 2003 the Old School Rooms were modernised and enlarged. We moved into a new bigger meeting space. But the needs of the community kept growing and so did our workload. So in 2008, the Pre-School expanded to include a full-time Nursery as well, and we moved into the large Old Vicarage right next to the Church building. We now serve over 100 families each year. We continue to develop our wonderful building and gardens. And we still love nothing more than seeing little children grow and learn as they play together.
HOTC Project
For More info head to our youtube and watch our explainer videos for more information on what the “Heart of The Community Project” was