It all started with a tweet asking the good people of Hitchin: 'For years the gates of St Mary's Church have been open [but] does anyone know why one remains shut?

For years I have walked around town and through the fantastic grounds of St Mary's. It was only until the various lockdowns that I noticed that all the gates were open.

All but one set. The set that are off the Churchyard pathway.

Almost every week I would keep an eye out to see if they were ever opened. They never were.

I asked around to see if anyone had ever seen these open. Nobody had.

After some time, I thought it would be best to ask the church directly via Twitter. The Reverend Christopher Bunce got back to me with this message: "We are looking to get it opened next year. It was a security issue a few years ago. Thanks for raising it."

A couple of months went by and still they remained shut.

So, after Christmas I made a few more enquiries (trying hard to not become a Church gate pest...)

But the mystery as to why this set of gates were permanently closed remained a mystery.

So, I chased again - and after extensive searches the answer was simply down to that no one knew where the key to those gates were!

The Reverend then took to Twitter to simply say ask…

'If you know anyone with bolt-cutters, be my guest...'

Word quickly spread and within hours a good Samaritan, who wishes to remain nameless, with a pair of lot cutters, came onto the scene and freed the gates!

A few words from our anonymous local hero with the bolt cutters – "Having seen it on Twitter I offered to do it (cut the lock). I asked Chris and he said go right ahead. So, I popped past during the night and clipped it for him."

So, after a few enquiries and a little detective work the gate is now finally open! Fantastic work from the Reverend Christopher Bunce and the Hitchin community.

Names for the newly opened gates have already been suggested. My favourite being… 'Black Squirrel Gate'. Named after the famous resident black squirrel population that call the St Mary's grounds their home.

A few words from The Reverend Christopher Bunce – "Thank you again for raising this. We couldn't find the key and reached out on Twitter and there you go! The Church and its grounds are there for everyone."

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The opening of the gates has been met with a wave of positive comments from fellow people of The Shire.

Examples of these can be seen below:

The staff at the nearby Hearing Clinic – 'Yes!!!! I saw this today! Wonderful, wonderful! wonderful!'

'Awesome! always wondered and now I can try them out!"

"Fantastic to see these open after so many years! In fact, I can't remember these ever being open"

"I'd assumed that someone had lost the key! This is great!"

"This is amazing. I can't wait to walk along Churchyard and be able to use them."

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