One of the main fundraising events for the Holy Cross, the Crediton Parish Church Festival, will run from 2nd – 7th June this year. The 2018 Festival has the intriguing title ‘In Our Element’ and work has been going on all year round to make this a memorable exhibition. The title of the last Festival was ‘What’s the Point’, and a big talking point was a rhino in the church. 
The rhino, kindly loaned by Exeter School, was subsequently decorated with flowers and the unusual sight of the rhino entering the church can be viewed via a video on our Festival Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/creditonparishchurchfestivals. There have been other wonderful displays over the last few years too.
If you wish to see the fruits of a year’s planning and the skills of local flower arrangers working to this year’s brief then why not make a date for your diary to come to visit. Admission and Parking is free and there is disabled access. Opening times are 10.30am to 7pm on Saturday and Wednesday, 11am to 6pm Sunday, 10.30am to 6pm Monday and Tuesday, and 10.30am to 5pm on Thursday, the last day.
Refreshments, snacks and meals are available in the nearby Boniface Centre, where the Newton St. Cyres Art Group will exhibit and sell their work.
Free interesting and informative guided tours of the Governors Room and Church Tower will be available during the Festival. You will see floorboards dating from 1434, English Civil War artefacts, the retired town criers bell, the signature of Sir Redvers Buller and silver coins from a hoard found in 1896. In the Bell Tower you can see 12 bells (only 4 towers in Devon have 12 bells), clock mechanism and redundant chime barrel (musical box) and massive oak beams dating from 1532.
Crediton Parish Church is a Grade 1 listed building, considered by many to be one of the finest in the country. Proceeds from both the annual Christmas Tree Festival and Flower Festival provide much needed funds towards the upkeep and maintenance of the church. The church is heavily dependent on donations, legacies and grant funding to deal with safety issues, keeping water out of the building, structures and for bigger fabric projects. Current work includes north side drainage, painting churchyard railings and security improvements following recent break-ins.
Crediton Parish Church is conveniently located on the A377, by a bus stop and only 10 min walk from Crediton Railway Station on the picturesque Tarka Line.