Christmas

Starting time: 17:00

Our traditional Advent Carol Service recounts the prophecies that the Messiah will come, and describes the visit of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to announce that she will be the Messiah’s mother. Between the readings, the choir sings music that carries forward the story. It’s a great way to make a start on the themes that will bring us to Christmas night.

This service is completely free to attend and there is no need to book places in advance

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 17:00

This service links the Advent season with Christmas itself. It is based on the great “O” Antiphons, which are chants used before and after the Magnificat at Vespers in the seven days leading up to Christmas Eve. The text of each of these chants begins with the word “O” followed by an attribute of the coming Messiah. Going backwards from the last one, the first letters of the Latin names spell out the words ERO CRAS, which is the Latin for “Tomorrow I will come”, the Advent promise. The service builds on these seven aspects of Advent, all leading to the well-known hymn that unites the Antiphons in one text: O come, O come, Emmanuel.

This service is completely free to attend and there is no need to book places in advance

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!
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Starting time: 18:00

This, one of our biggest services of the year, takes its inspiration from the Christmas Eve service held every year at King’s College, Cambridge. Readings tell the story of our salvation, from the Garden of Eden to the Kings arriving in Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus. They are interspersed with wonderful music sung by the choir, the congregation joining them in the great Christmas carols. By tradition, the service begins with Once in Royal David’s City and concludes first with O come, all ye faithful, and after the Blessing, Hark! the herald angels sing.

A large number of seats are reserved for members of the Livery Companies associated with the church.

There is no cost to attend this service, but we do ask you to book as many places as you need so that we can manage the seats that are available and avoid any disappointment. Booking will open closer to the time.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 17:00

A service for children in St Bartholomew the Less with carols and all the joy of oranges and candles and sweets.

Officiants: Fr Marcus Walker, The Rector & Fr Taylor Wilton-Morgan, Assistant Priest

There is no cost to attend this service, but we do ask you to book as many places as you need so that we can manage the seats that are available and avoid any disappointment.

Click here to book

Starting time: 17:00

This, one of our biggest services of the year, takes its inspiration from the Christmas Eve service held every year at King’s College, Cambridge. Readings tell the story of our salvation, from the Garden of Eden to the Kings arriving in Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus. They are interspersed with wonderful carols sung by the choir, the congregation joining them in the great Christmas hymns. By tradition, the service begins with Once in Royal David’s City and concludes first with O come, all ye faithful, and after the Blessing, Hark! the herald angels sing.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive early to avoid missing out.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 18:30

This contains the entire Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten, accompanied by harp and sung by upper voices. Britten’s settings are interspersed among a sequence of readings and congregational hymns. The beauty of this music is especially astonishing, since it was composed on board a Swedish cargo vessel, the MS Axel Johnson, on which Britten was returning to the UK from the US in 1942. Confined to a small, airless cabin, an enormous refrigerator compressor running constantly next door keeping the freight cold, Britten composed these beautiful pieces.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive early to avoid missing out.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 13:00

A specially shortened carol service this season that has been designed to fit into the lunchtime of a busy working day.

This service is completely free to attend and there is no need to book places in advance

Starting time: 18:30

A service of Lessons and Carols from the German-speaking countries

Many aspects of the British approach to Christmas came to us from Germany. Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, introduced domestic Christmas trees to the UK, and they spread from there to the US. While the UK and the US share a great deal of Christmas music, German Christmas music is almost completely different—but is also wonderful. This carol service is a sequence of Lessons and Carols as usual, but with the music drawn from the Christmas traditions of the German-speaking countries. We have been offering this service for some years now, and it has become extremely popular, perhaps because it offers something a little different, and yet is full of abundant Christmas atmosphere. Please bring a large bunch of keys or some jingling bells with you: they are needed in the last hymn for a magical moment!

Officiant: Mthr Rosamund McDowell, Associate Priest

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive early to avoid missing out.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 18:30

A carol service from the Middle Ages, with readings from the Wycliffe Bible, set in the mediæval wonder of our ancient Priory Church. Period instruments will accompany the choir, and the congregation will join in with some of the hymns of the era.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive early to avoid missing out.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 13:00

A specially shortened carol service this season that has been designed to fit into the lunchtime of a busy working day.

This service is completely free to attend and there is no need to book places in advance

Starting time: 18:30

Numerous Christmas carols that most people think are part of the traditional English Christmas really began life in America and emigrated here later. It came upon the midnight clear, O little town of Bethlehem, We three Kings of Orient are, Away in a manger are all examples. In some cases, the tunes used in the USA are different, but are the originals that didn’t travel the Atlantic with the texts. This service uses the American tunes where they differ, as well as choir carols written or arranged by American composers or used extensively in the USA.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive early to avoid missing out.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Starting time: 18:30

A service of readings from Dickens, together with carols he would have heard and known.

Many of the images we are familiar with in our Christmases today come to us from the Victorian era, and are associated with the works of Charles Dickens, and especially his book, A Christmas Carol. This service uses readings from that magnificent work, as well as other writings by Dickens relating to the season, and reminds us of his special interpretation and understanding of Christ. Meantime, the music for both choir and congregation is taken from the sources that were available in his lifetime, so that we both hear his words and sing the carols that he would have known. Even the Bidding Prayer and the Blessing are derived from the great man’s own writings. “God bless us, every one!” A special feature of this service is that we are joined by descendants of Charles Dickens, who contribute to the readings.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive early to avoid missing out.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!