Thurstable and Winstree Team Ministry

serving the parishes of Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Copford, Easthorpe, Messing, Inworth,
Layer de la Haye, Layer Breton with Birch, and Layer Marney

The 'Layer' Parishes: Layer de la Haye • Layer Breton with Birch • Layer Marney

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Welcome

C of E logo The three 'Layer' parishes serve the Essex villages of Layer de la Haye, Birch, Layer Breton, and Layer Marney. We are part of the Church of England and our parishes are situated in attractive rural settings, just south of Colchester.

Our parishes are within the 8-parish Benefice of Thurstable and Winstree. The other five parishes in the benefice are Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Messing, Inworth, Copford, and Easthorpe.

We welcome everyone who would like to join us for our services of worship, or our social events, regardless of the stage he or she has reached on their own spiritual journey. Meeting and worshipping together are essential parts of christian faith and life.

On this website you can find a range of information about our parishes and their activities.
Lower down this page are links to the main pages on the site, each with a brief explanation of content.

St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye - The Sanctuary

Benefice Clergy

Team Rector: VACANT, following Anne-Marie Renshaw's appointment as Archdeacon of Morgannwg.

While we have no Team Rector in post, all enquiries should be directed in the first instance to:
The Revd Liz Barnes, Associate Priest (day off Monday). Tel: 01621-333027. Email: liz_barnes@sky.com
OR to
Christine Hall, Team Administrator. Email: thurstableteamadmin@btinternet.com

Team Vicar Designate: The Revd Jo Wood, who is to be licensed on 4th November at St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye.

Associate Priests: The Revds Liz Barnes, Christine Eaton, Christine Newmarch, Ruth Hatchett and Michael Hatchett.

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

To discuss a baptism, wedding or funeral please contact The Revd Liz Barnes, Associate Priest, 01621-333027.

Useful information for those considering a wedding in any of the churches in our benefice can be found on the page Wedding Information for Enquirers

News (see also our Forthcoming Events page)

Newssheet for Week Commencing Sunday 19th October 2025

The newssheet (in PDF format) for the benefice's eight parishes for the week commencing on the above Sunday can be viewed and/or downloaded by using this link: Weekly Newssheet.

Revd Jo Wood Appointment of Team Vicar

The Revd Jo Wood has been appointed Team Vicar in the proposed new Team Ministry in Witham Deanery, with responsibility for Layer de la Haye St John the Baptist, Salcott Virley St Mary the Virgin, Tollesbury St Mary the Virgin, Tolleshunt D'Arcy St Nicholas and Tolleshunt Major St Nicholas. Jo is currently Assistant Curate in the Benefice of the Rodings, Easters and Great Canfield, in this diocese.

Jo's licensing is to take place at 7:30pm on Tuesday, 4th November, at St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye. The licensing will be followed by refreshments, probably in Layer de la Haye Village Hall. Details will be posted here when they have been confirmed.

We look forward to welcoming Jo into this new role and you are asked to pray for her as she prepares to move and to take up her new ministry here.

Anne-Marie Renshaw is now Archdeacon of Morgannwg

Anne-Marie, until very recently our Team Rector, came to Tiptree and Great Braxted in 2011 and was Team Rector from 2013. Earlier this year the Bishop of Llandaff invited Anne-Marie to be Archdeacon of Morgannwg, an invitation she accepted.

Anne-Marie’s Installation as Archdeacon of Morgannwg took place during Evensong at Llandaff Cathedral on Sunday 21st September. The serviced was lived-streamed and is available for viewing by using the link Llandaff Cathedral - YouTube and going to the 'Past live streams' section of the page.

Anne-Marie should now be addressed as The Ven(erable) Anne-Marie Renshaw.

Deanery Re-organisation

Following a consultation about future ministry and mission in the Witham Deanery, our Deanery Synod met on 11th February this year (2025) and voted overwhelmingly in favour of forming a new Team Ministry made up of the 18 parishes in the middle of the deanery, including ours.

The 18 parishes will be grouped into 4 clusters, each with a full-time priest to lead it. We have yet to come up with a name for the new team and for the clusters, but they will be:

Cluster 1: Kelvedon, Feering, Copford and Easthorpe – led by The Revd Canon Simon Garwood, our Area Dean.
Cluster 2: Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Messing, Inworth, Layer Marney and Layer Breton with Birch – led by a Team Rector (to be appointed following Anne-Marie's move to Llandaff Diocese).
Cluster 3: Wickham Bishops with Little Braxted, Great Totham, Little Totham and Goldhanger.
Cluster 4: Layer de la Haye, Tolleshunt Major, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Tollesbury and Salcott - leb by The Revd Jo Wood, Team Vicar Designate (to be licensed on 4th November).

Safeguarding Statement

We are committed to Safeguarding children and young people and vulnerable adults.

Our PCCs have adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding.
Information and resources may be found on the Diocese of Chelmsford website at www.chelmsford.anglican.org/safeguarding.
Use the following link to view and/or download The Church of England's Safeguarding Code of Safer Working Practice.

Our Parish Safeguarding Representatives are:
Layer de la Haye: Mrs Anne Hughes – Tel: 01206-734168
Layer Marney and Layer Breton with Birch: Mrs Judy Bancroft – Tel: 01206-330067

For urgent matters please phone the representative for the church concerned.

While we have no Team Rector:
If there is no reply please contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team on their Duty Number 01245 294 444. If they do not answer your call straight away please leave an answerphone message with your name and phone number so that they can call you back.

For non-urgent enquiries, email thurstableteamadmin@btinternet.com and the message will be passed on to the relevant officer. Please note, these emails are monitored only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Our Churches Open for Private Prayer and Visitors

Our churches are open for individual private prayer (except during services) as follows:

St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

St Mary the Virgin, Layer Marney: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
If you would prefer to visit Layer Marney Church at a quiet time, please see the entries on our weekly news sheet under ‘Coming Up This Week' to check when the church will be busy. In addition, other activities may also be taking place during the week when we are preparing for wedding ceremonies and other services.

The above days and times are those effective as at April 2025.

Church Giving

Thank you to everyone who continues to give to our churches, by whatever means: it is much appreciated.

If you would like to help us with our costs by setting up a standing order or making payments direct (e.g. through internet banking) to one of our bank accounts, please contact your PCC Treasurer for the information you will need. (For Layer de la Haye parish this is Mrs Anne Hughes (01206-734168))

If you wish to make payments to the church of St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye, whether by bank transfer, cheque, standing order or direct debit, please note that the name of its bank account is now St John the Baptist Church, Layer de la Haye.

Site Map

Services of Worship: Normal times and places of Sunday and weekday services.
Forthcoming Events: Forthcoming events and dates for your diary
The Churches: Locations and brief histories of our three churches.
Ministry Team & Church Officers: The clergy and key office holders.
Wedding Information for Enquirers: Useful information for those considering a wedding in any of the churches
in our benefice of Thurstable and Winstree, including the 'Layer' churches.
Praying & Prayers: An introduction to prayer, with a selection of prayers.
Confirmation: The step of Christian commitment.
Parish Magazines: Our regular monthly publications.
Church Histories: Histories of our churches available here as downloads.
Layer de la Haye Bells: The bells at St John the Baptist and the restoration completed in January 2001.
Layer de la Haye Church Guide: A brief descriptive guide for visitors to St John the Baptist.
English - Nederlandse vertaling - Übersetzung Deutsch - Français
The Fallen of the Layer Parishes in Two World Wars: The names, and some biographical details, of those from the parishes of Layer Marney, Birch, Layer Breton and Layer de la Haye who fell in two World Wars.
Data Privacy Notice: The Data Privacy Notice of the Parochial Church Councils of the nine parishes in the Thurstable and Winstree benefice. The Notice has been prepared and issued in compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Links: Links to other websites.

Further Afield - Our Parishes in Context

Our parishes are in the Witham Deanery.

Witham Deanery is in the Diocese of Chelmsford. To learn more about our large Diocese which stretches from heavily populated East London to quiet rural Essex villages, visit the Chelmsford Diocesan Website.

Diocesan Bishop The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani Bishop of Chelmsford	Area Bishop The Rt Revd Roger Morris Bishop of Colchester
Archdeacon The Ven Ruth Patten Archdeacon of Colchester	Area Dean The Revd Canon Simon Garwood Witham Area Dean