Rector upset by church raid

THE rector of Henley has told of his sadness after burglars smashed a stained-glass window at his church and stole sets of silver communion vessels.

Fr Jeremy Tayler said that St Mary’s in Hart Street was broken into between the end of evensong on Sunday and 7am on Monday.

He believes the raid, which comes shortly before Easter, was carried out by a professional gang.

Fr Jeremy said: “It is upsetting in a sense to be without these vessels at this holy time and because they were donated by people.

“What’s more upsetting is the window and also the loss of time. When I really ought to be writing sermons, I am dealing with this and it is a bit all-consuming.”

The raiders got in by smashing a window depicting St Aidan which was installed more than 100 years ago. Once inside, they then made their way from the choir vestry to the sacristy on the north side of the building and drilled the locks of two safes to open them.

One safe contained the silver vessels, comprising two plates, four cups and two pots which the thieves took as well as a large alms dish.

They also took a miniature communion set of vessels, which is used when sick people are visited at home, and collection money totalling about £500.

The second safe primarily held church documents which appear to have been left untouched.

It is believed the culprits used a fire extinguisher to spray areas that they had touched to cover their tracks.

They left the church via the front door after unlockng it by removing a wooden bar on the inside.

They also attempted to break into the neighbouring Chantry House using a fire extinguisher but the large wooden front door held firm.

Police are investigating and officers have visited the church, which does not have an alarm or a CCTV system.

St Mary’s was closed while the investigation and clean-up took place but was expected to reopen yesterday (Thursday). Fr Tayler, 45, said: “From my untutored position, it looks like a fairly professional job. It is not just an opportunistic swiping of the collection.

“They have drilled out two safes and removed everything of value.

“They must have been there quite some time. They knew what they were about and they have done a bit of damage in the church.

“We are going into Holy Week without any church silver. We had a set of things used to celebrate Holy Communion, a plate and a couple of cups and a pot to put consecrated bread in. We also had a second set which is used less often. It is very likely that these things were contributed or donated to us.

“The thieves have left a right mess where they have thrown things across the floor.

“We had evensong on Sunday and it was a well-attended service with about 60 people. The collection had a lot of notes so it probably totalled the low hundreds and this was also taken. I am not sure whether the morning collection was taken too.

“We can borrow things and we will figure it out. We are having a lot of support from the community with people sending kind messages and lots of good wishes and we really appreciate that.”

The break-in was discovered at 7am on Monday by the cleaner who contacted the churchwarden and Fr Tayler and the police were alerted.

He said: “After the church was made as secure as possible, I took my daughter to school and I, a churchwarden and another member of the church council came in and had a good look around. It was at that point that we realised the scale of it.

“With most church break-ins they just eat all the biscuits in the biscuit tin but to get into a safe isn’t easy, it takes time and equipment and we didn’t expect that.

“It looks as though they came in and had a look around before.

“There is quite a lot of this around at the moment and I have been in touch with the Diocese of Oxford because other churches need to be warned. Sunday night is the classic time to do it because there has been a service.

“None of the bigger items such as candlesticks have gone so they may have just come in and stuffed their rucksacks rather than having a car next to the church, which someone would be likely to notice.

“I spoke to the police again on Monday night because we didn’t realise how serious it was.

“I rang them rather irritated to say that it wasn’t a Mickey Mouse thing, this was a serious job but they said the normal response time was two to three days.”

Fr Tayler, who became rector of Henley and Remenham in 2018, said he was most upset about the window being smashed and having to shut the church while the investigation was being carried out.

He said: “I want to open the doors and let people in to pray, light a candle and worship but we can’t.

“People will need to bear with us until the police have completed their work.

“Most things you can replace, stuff is stuff, although it is beautiful and sacred but when you lose time you don’t get that back again.

“We will just get on with it. Nobody coming into church will notice in terms of the welcome, the worship and the offer and we will continue our business of worshipping with God and show that love in the community and learn about love.”

Pc Barbara Taylor, of Henley police, said: “We have taken a video of our search and the CSI team will come to look for fingerprints and any traces of blood. Prints are not likely but you never know, they have moved a lot of stuff in there.

“We will check any CCTV and do some door knocking in the area and at the almshouses to see if anyone witnessed anything and whether there is any ring doorbell footage.

“They thieves came prepared as they had to drill through the locks of the safes. They put chairs against the doors so that nobody could get in while they were there.”

Anyone with information or relevant footage should call Thames Valley Police on 101, quoting investigation number 43240125424.

A just giving page has been set up to help the church, you can visit the site here.