The Worcestershire and Dudley Historic Churches Trust is pleased to be teaming up with our colleagues in the Herefordshire and Shropshire Trusts for an exciting Come and Sing event at Dore Abbey in Tenbury Wells on 13th June 2026. Whilst part of Worcestershire, Tenbury is in the diocese of Hereford and is very close to the Shropshire border, and therefore provides a perfect venue for a collaborative event between the three trusts.

The event is being held in celebration of the 1350th anniversary of the creation of Hereford Diocese, founded in 676 (just before Worcester diocese). Participants are invited to join us for all or part of the day, which will consist of rehearsals, a concert and an evening talk. The programme is as follows:

11am – Rehearsals for Come and Sing; all ages and abilities are welcome to join in.

c.1pm – Bring your own lunch, followed by further rehearsals

6pm – Concert featuring a short piece played by Roger Judd on the Willis organ and the Come and Sing choir

The second half of the concert will begin with a talk by Tim Bridges of WDHCT about the church’s history, followed by a performance by the Octavo singers.

Tickets for all or part of the day can be purchased at the following link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/herefordshirehistoricchurchestrust/2040067

We look forward to seeing you there!

More information about St Michael and All Angels, Tenbury:

The Church of St Michael and All Angels, Tenbury is the result of the vision and determination of one man, the Reverend Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley (1825–1889). A baronet, priest and musicologist, Ouseley chose as his architect Henry Woodyer, a pupil of the leading Victorian Gothic revivalist William Butterfield, to design both church and college. Woodyer later also restored the nearby Church of St Mary in Tenbury Wells.

With its steep roofs rising to 74 feet (23m) and large eastern apse with tall stained glass windows, the church makes a striking feature in the landscape, particularly when approached across Oldwood Common from Tenbury.

The intricate stained-glass windows were made by the Birmingham firm of Hardman, which worked with Woodyer on his many church commissions, and also with Sir George Gilbert Scott.

The remarkable “Father” Willis organ, with its elaborately decorated pipes, was built and installed in 1873 by the London firm of Henry Willis & Sons, which also provided organs for the Royal Albert Hall and for several cathedrals including St Paul’s. Incorporating parts of an earlier, unsatisfactory organ, it has been only lightly modernised in the decades since.

The font and its huge ornate oak cover, the choir stalls, chancel screen, altar rails, stone pulpit and tiled floors, also remain unaltered in the church, which is Grade II* listed.