Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Kay contains these words:

In article , Derek
Turner somewhat@odds.? writes

A very old variety, wonderfully fragrant for 2 or 3 weeks, bit of a thug
though, will spread 30' and the name couldn't be better for a church:
'Rambling Rector'

Far too big for a lych gate. My neighbour has one drowning a large old
apple tree - at least, he claims it's an apple tree, but no-one has seen
it for years.

Sounds like that would cause trouble. Like the other "Vigorous" ones...

Since people of all ages and sizes pass through a lychgate, you'd
need to be very sure that the rose was going to be tied in and pruned
regularly, which probably happened in the past. Is that level of upkeep
still available to the church today?

Probably not - which could mean the idea is a complete non-starter. I
fear this could be a nasty maintainence trap for the (small) elderly
congregation.

Hardly any climbing roses have an extended flowering season, and they
are all deciduous.For at least 7 months of the year whatever rose you
choose is not going to look great at all, which may displease some
brides and their photographers. Social customs and expectations have
changed in the decades since the last roses grew there :-)

Only one or maybe two weddings a year. But if the rose display period is
too short then it probably isn't worth the effort. I know very little
about roses - the only ones I have came with the garden and are very old
fragrant roses that I haven't the heart to grub up.

Climbing Iceberg is one of the more controllable and less thorny on
your list.
Blanc Double de Coubert is a rugosa shrub..very prickly, and won't
climb or ramble. No amount of tying in will make it climb; non-starter
for your purpose imho.

Thanks for this info. I don't suppose there are any other fragrant white
flowered nearly thornless climbing candidates that are not too vigorous.

Regards,
Martin Brown