ST-NICKS ARTS CENTRE HISTORY
The story began in 1997 with the TRUNCH CONCERTS project, when cellist and conductor Roy Abrams (1929–2019), who had by then settled in the village of Trunch, sought the opportunity to work with the local community and started to organise classical music concerts at St. Botolph’s Church. To enable this to happen, Roy placed his own grand piano in the church.
Since the beginning of Trunch Concerts, the most adventurous local musicians readily performed at St.Botolph’s in Trunch and later at St.Nicholas in Swafield. Past professional performers include The London Schubert Players (twice – courtesy of the European Union Cultural Fund), The London Mozart Players & Chloe Hanslip (NNDC/Orchestras Live), The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (twice) with Alison Bury and Anthony Pay (NNDC/Orchestras Live), The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College (Cambridge) with Sarah MacDonald. On this website, you can find programs for Trunch Concerts from past seasons, starting from 2011 (when the first website for Trunch concerts was created).
Norwich Baroque quintet’ concert at St-Botolph’s, July 2019
In 2012 St. Nicholas Church in Swafield become a chapel of ease with infrequent services and joined the Parish of Trunch with St.Botolph’s as it’s mother church. By 2020, the Swafield Village congregation had dwindled to just four regular members, maintaining the church building had become a major financial challenge.
Since 2017, Trunch Concerts have been held not only at St. Botolph’s Church in Trunch, but also (during the summer months) at St. Nicholas in Swafield, raising money for the fabric funds of the churches. The first concert at St. Nicholas was “Hits of Rock,” featuring the Reverend Jonathan Meyrick, Bishop of Lynn, known as the “Rocking Bishop.” With the inclusion of St. Nicholas to Trunch Concerts, the range of events across the two churches expanded. Not only classical musicians, but also touring theatre companies and jazz musicians began performing in Trunch and Swafield. Concert audiences have grown significantly.
‘THE ROCKING BISHOP’ Right Revd. Jonathan Meyrick performing his Hits of Rock concert at St Nicholas Church, Swafield on 6th August 2017.
“From Baroque to Rock” – An Evening of Light Music with THE MIRLITON FLUTE ENSEMBLE, Sat 2nd Sept 2017.
Touring THIS IS MY THEATRE (Brighton) with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, on 8th June 2019.
During the limited COVID lockdown in 2021, community cinema nights—previously held at the small Swafield Village Hall—were moved to St. Nicholas Church and, during the colder months, to the spacious and heated St. Botolph’s. Initially, this move was made to ensure the required social distancing, but the audience of the cinema nights grew so fond of the medieval churches’ unique acoustics and wonderful atmosphere that it was decided to continue hosting the cinema nights there. However, the lack of heating and water supply at St-Nicholas prevented such gatherings from becoming a regular occurrence there. In the Grade I listed St Botolph’s Church, it was no simple task to suspend a cinema screen and install audio-video equipment in a way that did not interfere with the fabric of the building or regular church services.
On September 7, 2020, a removable cinema screen was installed at St-Nicholas, when lockdown restrictions were partially lifted.
BAGHDAD CAFE (1987) – the first movie night held at St. Nicholas on June 4th, 2021.
Virtuoso Accordion Recital with RYAN CORBETT (BBC New Generation artist) on 31st August 2024.
In August 2021, in a public consultation held at St-Nicholas, the residents of local villages (including Swafield, Trunch, Bradfield, North Walsham, Knapton, Paston, Edingthorpe, Gimingham, Bacton, Trimingham & others) were presented with a project to modernise the church building, expand opportunities for its use by the local community, and increase the number and variety of cultural and leisure activities. The feedback was 100% positive. Swafield village residents expressed their support for maintaining St. Nicholas Church’s status as a place of worship with the ability to hold occasional services including weddings, funerals and baptisms. It was proposed that religious services would be held primarily in the chancel, while the nave would be utilised for concerts, film screenings and other community events.
The most recent consultation (to a packed house) was on the 7th Nov 2025 with presentations by Kit Martin CBE, architect Iain Walker, Dr Rev Sally Myers (Trunch Group of Parishes rector) and Tim Payne (project lead for the St Nicks Arts Centre and Trunch PCC member). The evening highlighted the need to preserve heritage buildings, ensure that they are as eco-friendly & self-sustaining as possible and continuously adapt to the needs of the local population. This second consultation was extremely well received with all the attendees in favour of the plans and several people standing to express their thanks that the committee were focused on delivering cultural, community activities for the surrounding villages.
The first major milestone on the renovation journey was removing the four medieval bells (earliest 1499) from the tower so that they could be restored and rehung. As the mountings to the bell frame were unsafe, the bells hadn’t been rung as a set in over 100 years, since then only one had been in use and that had to stop being used around 50 years ago. On 30th July 2025 the firm of Matthew Higby in Somerset removed the bells.
The bells have been restored with no major problems and returned to St-Nicholas in June 2026. On 10th June 2026 we hosted a coffee morning watching them ascend up the bell tower. Revd Dr Sally Myers, Rector of the Trunch Group of Parishes, blessed the bells. As the bells haven’t been heard as a set for over a century, this was a moving celebration! The bells are now ringing again every day.
At the same time a survey was commissioned on our beautiful Rood Screen. The survey was conducted by the accredited conservation firm of KSH Conservation based in Kings Lynn. The cost of the survey was generously sponsored by the Church Buildings Council. The report is now available (click here) and includes descriptions of the beautiful medieval panels, which are very rare as they escaped being defaced during the reformation. Fund raising is now underway to secure the funds required to restore/conserve the screen (approx £25k).
| St Andrew and St Peter | St Jude and St Simon |
| St James the Great and St John | St Thomas and St James the Lesser |
In January 2026, Trunch Concerts Committee (a subcommittee of Trunch PCC) expanded to include new members and reorganised into St-Nick Arts Centre and Trunch Concerts Committee, overseeing classical music concerts in Trunch as well as numerous community events at St. Nicks Arts Centre in Swafield. The reorganised committee and volunteers, with the full support of the Diocese of Norwich, began its work on renovating the church to launch the Arts Centre.
The work started by installing outdoor lighting at St. Nicholas Church and a temporary outdoor toilet, the upgrading of the electrical supply system (switching to a three-phase network), and the testing and installation of infrared electric heaters. Six pews in the nave of St. Nicholas have been removed (and safely stored) to create space for a nice stage in front of the rood screen. The removable floor panels were installed there – to protect the floor and to level it.
24th Jan 2026: following the upgrade of the electrical supply to three-phase, 10 temporary infrared heaters were installed in the nave.
31st Jan 2026: Two Victorian style lantern post lights were installed outside the church.
18th Mar 2026: the new temporary floor panels in St Nicks are installed and varnished.
On March 21st 2026 the St-Nicks Arts Centre was officially opened. The Offbeat Collective and The Soul Setters bands performed at the Grand Opening event that day. The event was sold out and the feedback was amazing: “Congratulations on a brilliant launch for St Nicks At Centre! What a beautiful night!”, “It was a truly amazing event, and the acoustics were brilliant!”, “Wow – that was a great night!! – such a lovely atmosphere!”.
21st Mar 2026: This is the Soul Setters, one of two amazing bands played at the Grand Opening event at St Nicks Arts Centre, with an upbeat, energetic performance!
In 2026, over 30 events have already been held at the St. Nicks Arts Centre, including concerts, touring theatre shows, Cinema Nights, Q&A sessions with celebrities, National Theatre Live streaming events, screenings of Royal Opera, Royal Ballet, and Metropolitan Opera productions, themed disco nights, atmospheric yoga classes, and more.
10th Apr 2026: Sold out event: cinema night with Nigel Havers, presenting David Lean’s epic film A Passage to India (1984), in which he played one of the leading roles.
18th Apr 2026 – sold out concert: DixieMix jazz band performed their new programme From Blues to Swing in front of our new rear projection screen, on a specially built mobile stage.
23rd May 2026: Disco Fever at St Nicks – our first themed dance party. Large video projection and computer operated lights transformed the venue into a Disco Wonderland.
Fundraising activities and preparations for the major renovation of Grade II listed St. Nicholas Church are ongoing; every month, we make some updates and improvements at St. Nicks Arts Centre.
You can find a report on our renovation journey here.
St. Nicks Arts Centre will serve as a model of how an historic rural church can evolve into a thriving arts and community hub without losing its sacred and heritage identity. This initiative ensures that St Nicholas remains at the heart of Swafield and the local area — not only as a spiritual space, but as a beacon for creativity, learning and community spirit for generations to come.
We would like to thank the following organisations who are generously helping fund our restoration journey:
Many thanks to our sponsors & partners who include:
