St Edward, King & Martyr, Goathurst

Welcome to Goathurst, a small, compact village, which you can comfortably walk around in half an hour, located around the parish church of St Edward, King and Martyr-one of only a few churches dedicated to this saint. 

There are around 75 properties in Goathurst itself giving a population of 235 or so in a close-knit, supportive and compassionate community. The age distribution is skewed towards the elderly, so a number are retired, but active. Many would be classed as professionals among these retirees. However, there are also younger families within the village. With no shop, school or pub, just the church and village hall, villagers use their own resources to form a coherent community. There are for example thriving groups such as for Poetry and Carpet Bowls. 

There is also a village charities trust. Whilst there are core Church and Village Hall groups, these overlap to a very large extent. In particular the church is strongly supported by many villagers whose associations are with churches outside the village, or none, in all the church-driven events. For example there is strong support by the whole village for the Lent Lunches held in various homes and the free monthly coffee mornings held in the village hall. There are also the usual church-driven activities: e.g. Fete, Harvest Supper, Quiz, which involve the whole village. Moreover, The Friends of Goathurst Church, consisting of folk from wider afield with strong affinity for the church, lend their support. We are fortunate to have accomplished substantial repairs and redecoration of the whole church building in recent years due to the strength of this support.