The Old Rectory To Celebrate 200yrs

The Old Rectory will be celebrating its 200th birthday in 2013.

My history and geneology team have begun researching The Old Rectory's history from 1813 through to the present day. We hope to discover (and record) previous occupants along with any photographs which may have survived the long passage of time. It's an exciting journey and has already revealed some interesting facts from the past two centuries (wow). We hope to produce a booklet so that the story can be preserved for the future.

Eventually the results, and possibly some historic photos, will be published in this blog but not until all research is complete.

If you know of any previous occupants, have or know a story involving The Old Rectory's history or have any old photographs either inside or out which we could re-produce then that would be really useful for our research. 

You can leave a comment to that effect or you can contact me via The Old Rectory main office on +0044 (0)1206 572871

The Old Rectory 2012

Colchester in Bloom Competition 2012

Back in May it was decided that we ought to enter the gardens into the respected local Colchester in Bloom competition. I felt confident back then that we had a slim chance of  an award and so I made that my target and set about working the garden towards Judging Day on 10th July.

I knew that the rabbits would probably destroy my work and to some extent that did happen. But to overcome the problem Plan B kicked in and I started work at 5:00am on judging day planting out what plants I had left in the hope they would remain untouched until at least the judges had finished their visit.

The pictures below show how the garden was presented. It wasn't as stunning as I wanted it to be, the wet spring had also played a part but at least I had some colour. Within 24hours all the plants that you can see (except those in the round brick 'fountain') were eaten. We lost over £100 worth of plants to our furry friends - I was gutted.

However to end on a happy note,I was invited to attend the award ceremony for The Colchester in Bloom Competition on Sunday 9th September at The Visual Arts Facility in the town centre. I’m pleased to say that although we didn’t win the category outright we were presented with a Special Contribution Award acknowledging the work and effort within the garden. I accepted the award (which was presented by the Mayor of Colchester Mr Christopher Arnold) on behalf of our care home and I shall have it framed for display within the Old Rectory.

It would be right for me to thank my managers past and present for their support and encouragement the award is also for them.

Now I'm looking forward to next years competition, the planning has started :) 

The Old Rectory Colchester in Bloom 2012 Award