History of St. John's

St. John The Evangelist

The History of St. John's

St. John’s originally came about by the actions of two schoolteachers from St. Luke’s, who set up a mission in a house in Mount Street, Heywood around 1841. Textile mills and industry had developed along the Rochdale Canal and housing developments naturally followed. The teachers saw the need for a mission, which proved a resounding success, with congregations, especially the Sunday schools, equalling those of their mother church.

A mission school was set up in Rock Street in 1868 and eventually an iron church was built on the present site of St. John’s in 1881 at a cost of £1,000 (see picture below). Around this time a local bank by the name of Fenton’s collapsed. The Heywood Parishes were badly affected and the resultant depression caused the plans to be delayed. Fortunately none of the Church Building Fund had been deposited with the bank.

St. John's - the iron church

The original iron church

A Mr George Speight, who was a member of the congregation at the time, was the architect. Diggle Bros laid the foundations and Messrs Kent of London built the church itself.

At this time you could buy your own seat in the church. The cost was two shillings a sitting and included a cushion, but no carpeting or hassocks. The chancel was painted sky blue and dotted with golden stars. The Rev. Waldie was the priest in charge at the time.

It soon became apparent that a more substantial building was called for and plans were drawn up in 1885 to build a permanent church on the same site. Colonel Hopwood who owned the land was not in favour. In his opinion it was a mistake to place any building with architectural pretensions on the site. He felt it should be built further towards what is now Coronation Avenue. Although it was an awkward piece of land containing a farm, a Dutch Barn and a shippon (a cow shed), the cost of purchasing the land was less and the location was more central and also closer to the Sunday School at Rock Street, than the other two sites suggested.

As there were no wealthy people connected with the church it was decided to go outside the Parish to raise the necessary funds. Every clergyman in England was circularised and also Members of Parliament, lords, barons and knights. £5000 was needed, so fundraising started in earnest. Bazaars were held, which would last a week at a time and raise in excess of £1,000. When you consider the times, this was an awful lot of money.

The trustees appointed to purchase the land etc. were James Hardman, Richard Grundy, George Bell, William Livesey, Fred Ferrand and the Rev. Emery. A Mr Pilling, solicitor at Heywood Town Hall, agreed to do the conveyancing and saw it through to completion, despite moving to Davenport in Devon as Town Clerk in 1896.

Relations with Colonel Hopwood and his agent were fraught. One obstacle after another was created by his agent, Mr Batey, regarding the purchase of the land and the cost of re-siting the shippon. The then vicar, Rev. Emery called it a blankety-blank nuisance.

It took from 1892 when a decision to build the church was made, to December 1899 when St. John’s actually became freeholders of the site. The iron church was fast deteriorating. Cracks began to appear between the iron plates and in 1894 a storm blew off the bell turret. It wasn’t replaced because of the cost.

The architect chosen to build St. John’s was a Mr Oakley who had recently completed All Souls church. The builders were a Messrs Blakeley and Wild of Gregge Street, Hopwood. Their estimate was £3,961 and it was necessary to borrow £2,000 from the Church Building Society.

The foundation stone was laid in 1903 by Mrs Beatrice Kemp, wife of Colonel Kemp, the local MP. She was presented with a silver trowel and an ivory mallet donated by James Lee, a jeweller in Market Place. In a cavity under the stone is a bottle containing coins, copies of local newspapers and other records. 4,000 people attended the ceremony. There were buntings and flags plus a procession involving all the local churches from Church Street headed by the Heywood Old Band. Refreshments were laid on by Smith Brothers and entertainments for the children on what is now Coronation Avenue playing fields. The adults apparently cleared off to Rock Street School. The Rev. Cleworth was the first vicar of the new church and one of the first to be married.

St. Johns - the iron church

Foundation Stone

Nothing has really changed over the last hundred years. Children were naughty then as now. There was a complaint that children of the parish had been annoying a Mr Wiliams of Greenfield House in Gooden. The magazine stated that noises had been made at the side gate, his children had been molested and interfered with and disorderly behaviour had generally been indulged in. It was suggested that the Sunday School teachers might teach the children a very helpful and practical lesson on that real Christian duty of politeness and thoughtfulness in their dealings with everybody.

While until recent times it has been the men who ran the church, national and local, it was the women who were the mainstay of the church and that remains the same to this day. It is a sign of progress that women can now be ordained and will shortly have the right to be Bishops.

The vision, determination and faith of all those involved with St. John’s at its birth and during the generations is an inspiration for us all at the church to carry on the message in Hopwood and our hope is that we do not fail them.

Good Shepherd Window