St
Barnabas’ Church
Clarksfield, Oldham
The history of St Barnabas’ Church
St Barnabas’ Church, Clarksfield
It could be said that St Barnabas Church or, ‘Mission
Church’ as it was known then, had two distinct beginnings. Its establishment as a place for divine
worship and religious instruction may be set down to the year 1870. In that
year the Revd. John Goldie French, Curate of Saint James’ was instructed
to hold Cottage meetings in the Parish. In fact, the
site of the first Church wouldn’t even be within our parish as it is
today, as it was nearer to St James’. The area at that time was full of
mill cottages, so these meetings became known as ‘Cottage
Meetings’.
The Lees Road side of the Parish gave
occasional hospitality but it was not always easy to get a room, so after a
conference with the Vicar of Saint James’ he was authorised to rent a
room in Marsh Street. There he began regular Wednesday evening services, a
Harmonium was obtained and singers enlisted, after a few weeks it became
evident that there was scope for a Sunday School, with Mr Joseph Holt as its
first Superintendant.
A little later a regular Sunday
Evening Service was inaugurated, and good congregations were the rule.
In 1884 a new phase in the history
was entered upon the erection in Back Marsh Street of Saint Barnabas Mission
Church, the foundation stone of which was laid by Mrs T. H. Radcliffe and the
opening ceremony took place on Saint Barnabas’ Day, 11 June, 1884.
Work carried on here for 28 years
until 1909. Owing to the growing of Saint James’ Parish to such large
proportions, a scheme was inaugurated by the then Vicar of Saint James’
(The Revd. H.F. Walker, MA) whereby a new Parish would be formed which would
include the rapidly growing district of Clarksfield. The boundaries of the new
Parish were to be:- Lees Road, Cow Lane, Dunkerley Street, Huddersfield Road,
Spring Street, The Cemetery and Clarksfield Road.
The site of the present Church,
Parish Hall and Vicarage was given by the Lees family of Clarksfield House. In
1910, a sum of £1,500 was assigned for the building of a new Church School,
which was the foundation of the present Parish. The foundation stone was laid
by Mrs. John Ogden of Moorhey House, on 25 November
1911 and on 20 July 1912 the new Church Hall was dedicated by the archdeacon of
Rochdale.
A Bazaar was held in November, 1913
towards a fund to build a separate Church but the was interfered with this plan
and until 1924 Saint Barnabas was a Mission Church of Saint James’ served
my Lay Readers and Curates from that Church.
In 1924, Saint Barnabas was declared
a Conventional District, which meant that the Parish was separated from Saint
James’; and the Revd. G. K. Knowlson became the
first Priest-in-Charge of the new Parish.
The buildings that had served as a
combined Church and Parish Hall now became the Church and a new Parish Hall was
built.
The present Church was dedicated by
the Lord Bishop of Manchester, Dr Guy Warman on the
27 February 1932. He was accompanied as Bishop’s Chaplain by Canon A. E.
Mackintosh, the Rural Dean. The Church wardens were Mr Fred Russell and Mr Eli
C. Bayliffe, and the Vicar was the Revd. Sydney Cook.
It was reported that the Church was full half an hour before the start of the
service, the Parish Hall next door was also full and people were standing
outside around the doors. In his address the Bishop said he had been impressed
by the fervour and enthusiasm of the people of the new Parish and he felt
confident of its future.
The house at 76 Clarksfield road was
purchased for a Vicarage. To raise the necessary monies towards its cost, the
church supported a levy fund of a sixpence a week.
The new Parish quickly found its feet
and took its place in the life and work of the Deanery and Diocese. The Pews,
Font, Altar Table and Choir stalls came from the defunct Church of Saint
Michael, Angel Meadow, Manchester and other items of furniture came as gifts
from friends. Indeed throughout its life the Church has been fortunate in its
benefactors, a list of such gifts being too long to give in this space.
The loyalty of the congregation was
to be put to the test when on the night of 29 May 1958, the Parish Hall was
completely gutted by fire. The alarm was first raised by the Signalman on duty
at Mumps Railway Station, he notified the Fire Brigade that a large fire had
broken out in the Clarksfield district but the fire was too far advanced for
the building to be saved. The Fire Brigade did however prevent the flames from
spreading to the Church and other adjacent buildings. One window in the Church
was damaged in addition to minor damage from smoke and water. The fire was to
prove the Christian spirit prevailing amongst the various denominations in
Oldham who offered to help in the loan of premises in which to hold meetings
and social functions.
On 2 June 1958 a special
meeting of the Parochial Church Council was called at which it was decided to
found the Saint Barnabas Church Fire Fund with a target of £15,000 with Mr
Harold Sutcliffe as Treasurer. All efforts were directed towards the building
of a new Parish Hall and within a year £7217 had been received. Mr Harold King
was appointed as Architect and submitted plans were accepted by the PCC. A loan
of £1,000 for ten years, free of interest was made by the Diocese. Tenders were
invited and the work on the building to Messrs. Whitworth Whittaker of Oldham.
Building commenced and on Sunday 11June 1961 Saint Barnabas Day, the foundation
stone was laid by the Lord Bishop of Hulme, (The Rt. Revd. Kenneth Ramsey, MA.)
after he had celebrated at the Family Communion. The Hall was opened on January
20 1962. One of the older members of the congregation, Mr. Alfred Holt, had
accepted the invitation to perform the opening ceremony but died only a few
days before the event. In his place, Mrs. Willett (whose husband, Canon
Willett, the Rural Dean, dedicated the building) was invited to open the Hall.
The day was one of great rejoicing for the parishioners, making as it did, the
culmination of a great endeavour. The new Hall was packed to capacity for the
Social Evening afterwards.
As the work on the building of the
Hall finished, the construction of the new Vicarage commenced in front of the Church
at a cost of £6,500. The first occupier was the Revd. Frank E. Baldwick.
The Induction of the Revd. G. Herman Nuttall, BA. Dip. Theol., took place on October 28, 1965 he
was Inducted by the Archdeacon of Rochdale, The Ven. L. G. Tyler.
At the time of the Centenary in 1970,
the old property in the vicinity of Spring Street and Raper
Street had been demolished to make way for a new Council Estate, providing the
Parish of Saint Barnabas with a new field of evangelism among the incoming
tenants of the new housing.
The only way this could have been achieved was through the tremendous
fund-raising activities of its parishioners. We may not have the prettiest
Church but we are extremely fortunate and proud of the people that attend
Barnabas. The way we pull together in times of crises and the way we celebrate
our successes are second to none.
We have recently linked the two buildings together, which has given us
excellent disabled access. This gives us a tremendous opportunity to reach out
to even more of the local community than we do at present. Our Church services
are well attended and can be lively affairs, which the children particularly
enjoy, with lots of visuals and musical instruments for them play.
Vicars of St Barnabas’
Church (and the year they started office)
Sydney Cook 1931
Henry Park 1936
Joseph Palmer 1946
Philip Leigh 1951
Arthur Newall 1955
Frank Baldwick 1960
Herman Nuttall 1965
Donald Gilbert 1970
Ed Bennett 1971
Jim McManus 1979
Stephen Harrop 1984
Fred Corbin 1989
Doug Oates 2001
Paul Monk 2009
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Page posted 22 November 2009