St John's Meols
It was a weekend filled with celebration across the nation as churches held all kinds of events to mark the occasion of King Charles lll being formally crowned as monarch of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey.
Churches in our own diocese organised a variety of activities, such as services, fetes, teas, quizzes, and lunches, across the whole of the bank holiday weekend, from Saturday, the day of the Coronation through to Monday. Some even held pre-coronation celebration activities.
A week before the Coronation, St John's, Meols were already in full swing, preparing for the big day with over twenty children and a lot of grownups sticking and painting all manner of coronation decorations and props, including a throne, crowns, orbs, sceptres, swords, golden carriages large and models of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
In a scene depicting the events that were to come the following week, St Meol's own king and queen rode in their home-made golden coach across the hall to their coronation where the king was anointed using a replica spoon that is a treasured memento from the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth ll. The spoon used at the Coronation is at least 600 years old and is the only original piece to be used at the Coronation because it escaped being melted down during the Reformation - most of the symbolic pieces were remade in 1661 for Charles ll. It was just one of the interesting historical facts that the children had fun learning about their heritage.
One member of St Meols congregation, Daniel Branch, wasn't able to celebrate the Coronation in church with the rest of the congregation. But that's because he had the very special honour of having been invited to attend the actual Coronation service at Westminster Abbey. Daniel, a community learning disability nurse, received a British Empire Medal in 2021 for his work during the pandemic You can read more about him on the BBC website
Revd Wendy Atkinson, vicar at St Pauls's Church in Compstall organised a bring-and-share lunch on the day following the coronation, in which over 30 people attended and brought food, including a magnificent crown-shaped cake to mark the occasion. The vicar, Revd Wendy Sybil Atkinson said, "Everyone was in really good spirits. It was great to hear them sharing their thoughts on all the pomp and ceremony from the day before. There was a real sense of occasion and great spirit of community."
All Saints Cheadle Hulme also had lunch and a themed coronation quiz with questions all about the Royal Family through the ages. Revd Sarah Hancock said "It was all really good fun and a great way for people to get to know each other as they teamed up and discussed the answers. There was one question that caused a bit of a lively debate... Who was the oldest monarch to be crowned before the current King Charles?" [Answer at the bottom of this page]
Below are just some of the Churches that shared their coronation pictures on Facebook.
St. Bartholomew's Thurstaston, with St. Chad's, Irby
St. Andrews Church Grange, Runcorn
[Answer to the above question] William IV 1830, became king aged 64 years.
All Saints, Great Saughall