Sleigh bells will ring in Corsham this weekend as Monks Chapel prepares for its annual Summer Carol Service today

The small United Reform Church will be decked with tinsel and Mince pies as they expect a turnout of around 70 on Sunday, July 2.

Reverend Gary Gotham said it is a “eccentric, yet joyous event”.

"It started in 2010 when heavy snowfall prevented the Winter Carol service from going ahead," he said.

Members of the church decided they would hold and record a summer Carol service in case the same happened next winter.

The Summer service was so popular it stayed, as Rev Gary says, “It's odd but it's brilliant and people seem to appreciate it”.

Swindon Advertiser: Reverend Gary Gotham in front of Monks Chapel

The church, built by the Quakers in 1662, has an immense history.

Rev Gary explained that it was built as a response to the Five Mile Act which forced English Churches to follow “fixed forms of service” and stick to the revised English Prayer Book.

Benjamin Flowers, son of a Castle Combe vicar, refused to comply with this and was forced out of his home in Cardiff.

Rev Gary explains that Flowers “made Corsham a centre for Independent Wordship and Preaching”.

The church had the outward design of a house, so it was less conspicuous to parliamentarians.

The church also contains a tall pulpit “Its height was to give the preacher a chance to spot any troublemakers making their way to the chapel across the open countryside” Rev Gary says.

He informs me that shutters for the windows could be used, and there may even have been “a secret escape tunnel” through the door under the pulpit.

He explains that since the 1600s Monks Chapel has tried to be “a place of hope and love for everybody and anybody”, telling me that members of marginalised groups such as the trans community will attend the services.

Asking about the itinerary of the Summer Carol Service, Rev Gary replies “it’s a traditional nine lessons and Carol Service, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously”.

The service includes poetry and incorporates humour. Rev Gary adds, “I have been known in the past to try and tell the Christmas story using chocolates!”

Rev Gary tells me how it’s like the Winter Service but without the economic strains of Christmas, “and we get to sit outside in the beautiful sunshine afterwards”.

Unorthodoxy is at the heart of both the chapel and its summer Carol service which takes place this Sunday 2nd July at 2.45 pm.