His Majesty King Charles recently attended a concert in St Nicholas Church, Dersingham. The King and the audience, which filled the church, listened to music by Richard Strauss, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Maurice Ravel, and others, played by three talented musicians from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
The concert was held under the auspices of Music in Country Churches and generously supported by the Lady Hind Trust and Pigeon in aid of St Mary the Virgin, Hillington, which has been closed since 2025 due to two dangerous falls of plaster. Hillington’s St. Mary the Virgin church is part of the Sandringham Group of Churches and is a grade II listed building dating from 1434.
St. Mary’s now needs major restoration work to make it safe and fit for purpose. With encouraging support from Hillington residents, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) is in the early stages of developing the vision for Hillington church. Plans are already in place for the historic Snetzler organ to be restored. The PCC hopes to develop the building so that it continues to serve as the village’s parish church as well as becoming a fully accessible, well-equipped community resource.
Music in Country Churches is one of The King’s patronages and was founded as a charitable trust founded in 1989 by Lady Fermoy with two aims – to promote music in rural churches and to raise funds to assist those churches with the costs of their repairs and maintenance. Over its 38 years Music in Country Churches has held concerts in more than 65 churches and donated over £620,000 to them.
The musicians were José Matias, a talented violinist from Portugal, and Carmarthenshire-born baritone Owain Rowlands. Both José and Owain studied at the Royal Welsh College where they were winners of its top performance prizes. They performed with the experienced and exceptional pianist Rebecca Selley.
Image 1: The audience listens to baritone Owain Rowlands and pianist Rebecca Selley.
Image 2: The King enjoys a word with Rebecca Selley and José Matias after the performance.Image3: The King departs from St Nicholas, accompanied by The Revd Mark Capron, Rector of Dersingham, and Matthew Rice, Chairman of Music in Country Churches.
Image credit: Richard Gibb