St Seraphim’s Icon & Railway Heritage Museum and Quiet Garden
On the 8th December 2023, St Seraphim’s Trust is marking the 30th Anniversary of Father David’s death. He was the founder of the Lay Brotherhood of St Seraphim, whose vision was to have a permanent icon painting studio in Walsingham, and it is now the only Icon Museum in the UK. Whether taking part in the religious processions in the village or shopping in Fakenham on market day, Father David was instantly recognisable, he became a well-known and liked person.
Father David was himself a happy person who loved his Creator and creation. Iconography was for him a joy, painting almost up until his death. Ecology and the environment have always been part of the Orthodox tradition. As an Iconographer, he championed the early saints of the British Isles, and one Priest wrote of Father David, ‘He gave us back our saints’.
In ‘Creation as Sacrament’ John Chryssavgis explains it as “The saints inform and re-form the world with their presence and their prayer. They remind us … that the personal responsibility and the slightest action of even the feeblest among us can change the world for the better.’
This respect for the environment is reflected in the way we care for the building and our Quiet Garden, a space designed for reflection, rest and meeting others. The garden is itself within a conservation area, so it naturally attracts a wide variety of wildlife.
St Seraphim’s Fundraising Request
The Trust is in the early stages of raising grants to convert the ground floor which will help realise Fr David’s vision and provide a welcoming indoor space for the local community and visitors from further away. To this end the fundraising will be dedicated to Fr David’s memory.
The main task is to remove the extension, added during the days of the railway to provide toilets for the passengers, to revert it back to the original building.
Planning permission is in place to provide a disabled toilet in the lower level and access to the former station master’s dwelling where some original features remain. It will house a permanent Railway Display that includes pilgrimage to Walsingham by rail and railway artefacts, which our volunteers helped to plan.
There will be space for a small retail area to sell items related to the collections as well as room for classes, lectures and activities connected to the collections.
The room next to the Icon Heritage Gallery on the platform will show the iconographers equipment and enable an iconographer in residence to demonstrate icon painting and to hold icon painting classes. It also houses a good contextualising archive, for study and for reference.
Please help us realise this vision by donating to Saint Seraphim’s and or becoming a Friend of the Trust.
We have a donation machine in the porch, donation boxes or you can complete a form:
http://iconpainter.org.uk/get-involved/ or for online transfers please see details on the pdf below:
St Seraphims Fundraising leaflet 2023
Reg charity number: 1120335