IN 1893 Louisa Bishop, the widow of the vicar of Bramdean left £2,000 to support the tin church on Bramdean common.

A codicil to her will specified that her trustees should cause the bell to be rung before each service.

On Sunday, July 25, 2021, 128 years later, the steel rope attached to the bell broke, just before evensong.

During evensong the congregation listened to Fred Butler read the parable in which five loaves and two fishes fed 5,000 people.

In his sermon the Rev Christopher Durrant explained how Jesus continued to perform small miracles to this day.

After the service a visitor who lives in San Francisco approached a trustee and asked if he could help in the maintenance of the church.

On the following Tuesday, the man, Ian Dow, returned and replaced the broken wire rope.

Is that a miracle?

Services are held on the second and fourth Sunday in each month from May to September at 3pm.

To hear the bell ring and find the church, be on Bramdean Common at 2.45pm and listen.

The Church in the Wood harvest festival will be on September 26 at 3pm.