The Church of England's new service book Common Worship will be tried out in the same church where the 1549 Prayer Book was tested by Archbishop Cranmer 450 years ago.

The Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, will celebrate Eucharist from Common Worship at the ancient All Saints Church, Warlingham, in Surrey on Thursday 30 November at 10.00 am.

A church has stood on the site for centuries and the present All Saints' incorporates the re-building of 1250. The church has a 'prayer-book' stained-glass window showing Archbishop Cranmer presenting the first English Prayer Book to King Edward VI in 1549. The window was put there in 1875 to commemorate the long-held tradition that Cranmer used the new service himself for the first time at Warlingham.

The living was vacant in 1549 and it was the Archbishop's responsibility to fill the vacancy. He could easily have ridden the four miles from his summer residence at Addington Palace to see how the local people received his new Prayer Book.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY The Bishop in the same ancient church as Cranmer, with its commemorative window, offers a unique picture opportunity. Please contact Patrick Olivier at the numbers below if you are sending a photographer.

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