ABOUT US
ST NICHOLAS CHURCH
St Nicholas Church, situated on the coast road at Grève d’Azette, is the daughter church of St Clement’s Parish Church. It is home to a friendly congregation who meet every Sunday throughout the year at 9h00 for a service of Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer, followed by tea and coffee. The services are usually said, with singing at the festivals of Christmas, Easter and Harvest.
The highlight of the year is the service of Christingles and Carols held on Christmas Eve, when the little church is packed to capacity by young and old alike!
St Nicholas is pleased to be home to the Happy Hatchlings Nursery. Happy Hatchlings was launched on 4th September 2017 and is open from 08h15 to 14h15 with a choice of two sessions. You can find further details by clicking here.
Hiring St Nicholas Church
St Nicholas has a spacious hall that is available for hire for one-off or regular events.
Attached to the hall is a small but modern kitchen that can be used for catering.
Parking spaces may be rented in the large car park in front of the church.
If you would like to hire out the hall at St Nicholas or if you are interested in renting a parking space, please contact St Clement’s Church office on 745260.
The History of St Nicholas Church
On Sunday 1st May 1927, the congregation of St Nicholas Church officially celebrated the first services held in their new building. The church of St Nicholas started life as a small mission church run by Rev Lawrence Blackmur Lee, a curate from St Luke’s Church, who led meetings in a working man’s club room situated in the garden of what is now the Girl Guide Headquarters at Grève d’Azette.
The popularity of the mission was such that it very soon outgrew the building and Rev Lee (who had previously run a successful mission church in the Canadian copper mining town of Phoenix) was instrumental in obtaining a piece of land on which to build a new church for his congregation. St Nicholas Church was dedicated by the Bishop of Southampton on 30th April 1927 and held its first services the next day. After the death of Rev Lee in 1942, the Parish Church assumed responsibility for St Nicholas and the Rector still leads services there today.
The church flourished in its new building and a church hall was added to accommodate an ever-expanding Sunday School, as well as being available for other church-related activities. Times change and the Sunday School, at one time considered to be amongst the largest in the Island, closed some years ago, and we are left with just a few photographs of those times.
St Nicholas developed a strong link with Brig-y-don children’s home, particularly during the years of the German occupation, when Matron would walk her charges (some with severe disabilities) to St Nicholas for Sunday services. There was a scout troop at Brig-y-don which was responsible for forming a cub pack at St Nicholas. This later went on to become the 2nd Grève d’Azette Troop. The troop still meets today in their own hall at Rue de Pres.
We would be delighted to hear from anyone who can help us with our research into the history of St Nicholas Church or who has items, or photographs, that we could copy.
