The Curacy Of Denaby

The Rev. R. P. Roseveare writes in his Parish Magazine for July as follows: –

‘I have been invited by the Council of my College in Cambridge to occupy the Rectory of Great Snoring with Thursford, in the county of Norfolk, and after consulting the Archbishop of York, and those friend whose advice I am wont to follow, I have decided to accept the invitation.

In August I shall relinquish my work amongst you, and pass to the very different, and in some respects the more difficult work there. Those of you who have already learnt this news have congratulated me on my preferment; all have wished me success; and many have expressed their sorrow at my leaving Denaby.

The newspapers, I see, mention that the Rectory of Great Snoring is worth more than £500 a year. This is correct enough so far as the paper can tell: as a matter of fact, rather more than £600 will probably be my yearly income – a good large sum this, until you know what has to be paid out of it. The first outgoing is more than £120 for rates and taxes; the next is a payment extending over 15 years of an average of £100 a year for necessary repairs to the Rectory Houses and property; there are two churches so far apart that is is a physical impossibility for the Rector single-handed to hold the services which the Bishop in the name of the Church requires.

There is another reason: a change is good for everyone; change of exercise brings other muscles into play, and change of parish calls out other qualities; and moreover a change of priest means other methods of working a parish which very often prove effectual and successful.’