Scouthead - It's Village and It's Church (Researched and Written by Lillian Hirst)

St. Paul's Church, Scouthead, Oldham




















CHAPTER ONE HOW IT ALL BEGAN

For many centuries, what is now Scouthead was part of a wild bleak and often marshy area of moorland, mostly around the 1,000 feet contour line and little used except for hunting, grazing and peat gathering. There was only one definite landmark, which was always referred in deeds or documents as ‘The Great Way’. This was all that remained of the old Roman Road, which was becoming more and more vague as the centuries passed.

But this wild land did have owners and in 1625 these owners decided that, like other places nearby, this land should be ‘enclosed’. In 1625 they applied for and received their Enclosures Act and the land was ‘mapped’ and divided into ‘shares’. These shares could then be registered and either kept or sold as the owners decided.

The Act referred to the land as certain wastelands called Badger Edge, High Moor and Wharmton and what is now Scouthead was the ‘High Moor’ area. One of the first people to but shares in this land was Dr George Byrom D.D of Great Barrow in Cheshire. He bought several shares in 1639 “and paid £218 for a lease, free of rent, for 2,000 years”. The list of the land he bought is very interesting and included “five plots of open moorland including 34 acres called Meetstone Heights etc.”

Dr Byrom was a member of the Ancient Salford family and he bought the land simply as an investment. However a few years later this high churchman, with his strong Royalist views, was in serious trouble with the Puritan Authorities
And eventually found himself living up here on his remote moorland estates.

Here he spent the last years of his life organising and building of farms and the enclosure of farm lands. Several of the farms which were first named by him, still exist today and the names he gave to them give added interest to our parish even today.

At the land named ‘Meerstone Heights’ he built his own houses, so strong was his personality that his house and the lane leading to it became ‘Doctor House’ and ‘Doctor Lane’. These names are still used today but the original building seems to have vanished.

After the death of Dr Byrom in 1656 the leases of his various lands were sold, some to his tenants and some to other people, while Doctor House passed into the ownership of ‘Robert Bension of Quick’. It later changed hands several times, eventually in 1696 becoming the property of Thomas Wrigley and his two sons at a cost of £616.

CHAPTER TWO- THE WRIGLEY FAMILY

The first mention of the name WRIGLEY came, in 1696 with the purchase of the Doctor House by Thomas Wrigley and his two sons. From this date references to the Wrigley family to various addresses in and around the Doctor Lane and High Moor occurred quite often. The registers of Saddleworth Church make reference for 300 years to various members of the Wrigley family until in 1856, with the burial of Miles Wrigley of Doctor House, the connection seems to have ended.

During these years however, the influence of the Wrigley family in and around Scouthead was enormous. The Miles Wrigley who was buried at Saddleworth in 1856 was one of the four sons born to Joseph Wrigley. When Joseph himself had been baptised, back in 1751 he had appeared in Saddleworth Registers as Joseph son of John Wrigley, CLOTHIER, of Doctor House and Anne his wife.

A ‘Clothier’ in this context usually meant a person who supplied woollen yarn to various hand loom weavers, working in their own homes, who wove it up for him. He then received the completed pieces from them (and probably left the next lot of yarn for the next piece) and would then have the piece ‘Finished’ at one of the local ‘Finishing mills’. (We know that there was one at Wall Hill Bottom at the time and the TENTER STONES which they used can still be found, and there were others dotted about Saddleworth). He would then finally take the cloth to be sold at a merchant either privately or perhaps to pone of the CLOTH MARKETS (so I imagine him with a string of pack horses?)

When Joseph’s son grew up (John’s grandson) they were described on legal documents as ‘COTTON SPINNERS’ and that term implied something very different. It usually meant that they were owners or part owners of a mill or mils- often ones they had built and those they had a work force employed at those mills.

So in only two generations the Wrigley family seem to have prospered considerably and I have often thought that their family history would have made a fascinating subject for research if only someone had had time to devote to it.

It was during this period that our history can be said to really begin and the bleak moorland that Dr Byrom had turned into farmland began to become the Scouthead that we know today.

CHAPTER THREE- THE VILLAGE IS BORN

When the Wrigley family came to the Doctor House- (if you remember, that was ‘Thomas and his sons’ in 1756) the district was still very remote and the lane were very much as Dr Byrom had left them. They linked the farms together and as the name Turf Lane tells us, they also allowed access to various parts of the moor, but movement into and about the area must still have been very difficult as indeed it was in all the Pennine districts at the time.

So in 1758 there must have been great satisfaction when the act of parliament was passed to permit the making of what is now known as the first Wakefield to Austerlands Turnpike. This largely followed the route of the Old Roman Road and today we know it as Thorpe Lane and Thurston Clough Road. Then soon afterwards in 1765 came the Act for the Stockport and Doctor Lane Head Turnpike to link into it at High Moor. We know our local stretches of this as Platting Road and Doctor Lane.

Until about this time all this area had been part of Saddleworth Chapelry and so part of the ancient Rochdale Parish. However, at first Saddleworth and then other were formed and Lydgate Church was built in 1788 we became part of Lydgate parish, (several Scouthead families still have graves there). How near and convenient it must have seemed to be able to walk along a level road to the new church on Sundays and how people must have felt that the world was opening up around them!

But really that first Turnpike was still far from ideal especially as, for several years, it went up to Hill Top and then down again until it met Delph. So in 1795 another Act went before Parliament before the second Wakefield to Austerlands Turnpike. This one became our present main road (it is officially A62), we call it Huddersfield Road and much of Scouthead village centres upon it. So when the century downed in 1800 our present road pattern was pretty well established and the stage was set to the village of Scouthead to begin to grow.

We know that about this time Joseph and his sons lived in Scouthead and I think probably at what is now Scouthead Farm- the sons were James, Samuel, Miles and Robert. The Wrigley family built mills, which they called Scouthead mills, and the row of houses near the mill which is still called Wrigley Street. They also built many of the houses on the main road and on Turf lane and in and around what is still known as Scouthead Hollow.

The complete complex was much larger than the present mill, which, I think, was probably the first, original mill, but was just one part of it all in its heyday. As you saw in the sketch, last month, another much larger building once stood in front of it and covered all the land now used for parking and also much of the present day gardens.

I was once told ‘ it stood five storeys high and was linked to the old mill by an underground passage and it reached almost to the main road’. Many people I once knew remembered ‘the big mill’ vividly and talked of ‘the passageway that ran through it’ and the ‘stable block across the road’(which is now two houses, ‘Sheldon and Sunnyside’). There was also a mill lodge and a big chimney (so there must have been an engine house too through no one ever mentioned that). The big mill had vanished before I came to Scouthead.

Robert Wrigley, one of the brothers, later lived in one of the Wrigley Street houses (the one nearest the mill is named the Mill House and may have been his). His son James and his wife Elizabeth lived in what is still named the Manor House and which was presumably built for them upon their marriage. Robert died in 1831 and was the first member of the family to be buried in what is still referred to as ‘The Wrigley Grave’ in Saddleworth churchyard. He was only 39 years old when he died.

So, buy about 1830 or so, we know that Scouthead village was established and people were living and working there. No doubt they had families and the children were going to need some kind of education.

CHAPTER FOUR-EARLY SCHOOLING

Before the coming of the mills, the main area of the district must have centred on the High Moor area around the crossroads, where the first Turnpike, and the Doctors Lane Turnpike meet, and where the Old Original Inn still stands today.

From Doctor Byrom’s time onward, the old quarries must have been giving work to local people, although I don’t know the full history of those old quarries. By the time I knew them, they were simply fascinating, deep, rocky hallows in the hilltop with only two footpaths leading between and around them. My friends and I knew them as wonderful places to pick wimberries in the season and watch for wildlife, with curlews and skylarks, in summer. In winter the tracks of the native family of foxes, could be seen leading to and from their dens, down the deepest quarries way below our hilltop footpath.

But all those farms and houses, when they were built, must have needed quarried stone, and the making of roads and the repairing of lanes would have all created a steady demand for stone. With the coming mills and with more and more houses to be built, it is easy to see why that part of the district was the first part to become the village centre and provide work for local people.

But, of course, when the mills were built, and houses were supplied for new workers, then the village would begin to spread along Huddersfield Road and in and about Scouthead Hollow. This steady increase in population must have aggravated a problem, which must have always existed here, as in so many other places – the sheer distance from the nearest place of worship and especially from any school.

So in 1832, we hear that a group of parents got put together and formed a Sunday school ‘in an upstairs room at Starting Chair’- not in the farmhouse, along at the other end, as I was told when I first heard about it. No written evidence remains now of this first school, but I spoke to several people who gave me the names of people they knew whose grandparents had been scholars there.

The earliest documentary evidence of education in Scouthead is dated October 1836 when Mr Samuel Wrigley of Scouthead leased a close of land known as Meetstone Fleak of Meerstone Field from Benjamin James Wrigley of Newhouse’s and a school was erected upon it by Public Subscription.

By the terms of this lease one or more good substantial dwelling houses had also to be built to bring in at least the yearly rent 18s 10d (94p!) and these had to be built in the space of one year!

At the end of that ‘year’ in 1837, Samuel Wrigley handed over those buildings and the land on which they stood, for a purely nominal sum, to ‘The Trustees of the Doctor Lane School Trust’. This was to be used for a ‘Sunday School and Day School if necessary, for the teaching of children of all denominations in Reading and writing etc.’ this was the first mention of that Board of Trustees that was to serve the village so well and faithfully for so many years and which still meets today.

From 1869 this small school was also used for church services because it was in that year that Bishop Lee granted ‘a license for the performance of Devine service in a certain building called Doctor Lane School.

Those first trustees are listed in the document. Their names and occupations make fascinating reading. Both Benjamin and Miles Wrigley are mentioned as also are John Collins and Thomas Fozzard, and when, in 1840 ‘The Doctor Lane Sunday School Funeral Society’ was established these last named men became respectively Treasurer and Sectary.

The roles of this society give fascinating glimpse of those days. One of the rules, which especially always interested me, calls for’ An Annual Feast to be held Whit Friday’ – it almost sounds as if it may have been the beginning of many happy and well loved Whit Fridays to follow – I wonder?

That first little building seems to have been a very small one but it served the village well for quite a long time, right up until 1876. In 1866 it was obviously becoming a problem, and in that year a new list of Trustees was drawn up. The lease was purchased for a lump sum and the Trustees from that date owned ‘Ground Buildings and the Right to Receive Water from the well at the end of Starting Chair’ (a very important right, as it was before the days of the public water supply!)

The date stone from the first little school was eventually built into the back wall of the present building, but it is so badly weathered as to be almost invisible. However it is still there and is a real link with those very early days.
From that small building much was to grow

CHAPTER FIVE – THE FIRST BUILDING OF THE GROUP

By 1876 the small size of the old school had become a real problem and plans were made to rebuild it. Mr Wild of Oldham prepared these plans. Tenders were requested, and those of L.C and B Collins were accepted.

Several letters from the builders showed everything well organised. They give a detailed and most interesting picture of what was intended, with the specifications and all kinds of detail. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, when there was a sudden crisis. It had been planned that, while the demolition and building took place, one of the houses should be used as a temporary school. But one day a letter arrived from the Department of Education in London to say ’THEIR LORDSHIPS CANNOT CONSIDER ALLOWING THIS, EVEN AS A TEMPORARY EXPEDIENT’!!! It took many letters and much persuasion, to obtain even a grudging permission! That was only one problem, but eventually, all the problems were solved and work could commence.

Parts of the outer walls of the first small school were to be incorporated into a new building and, in a conversation I once had with Miss Dawson, she told me of a man who had watched the building of the school when he was a boy. He told her of how very quickly it had grown and of how all the strong men in the village had got together, to clear the ground, dig the foundations out and have everything ready before the builders came. A lovely picture we thought. Within three months, I was told the walls were up and very soon after that, the school was ready for use and the house returned to its proper purpose.

Those two houses were still to be a very important part of the schools income. It was to be the rent from these two houses, with the ‘school pence’ paid by the parents of the children, who were kept in buildings in good repair and to pay the salary of the schoolmaster for many years to come.

When the official opening took place on Easter Monday 1878, we are told that it had four porches, one large and two small classrooms. The two front doors had vanished, the inside walls were whitewashed and the woodwork was painted. Many other details were also given.

That day there was a service of dedication with an especially composed hymn (sadly this has not survived). Later that day- a ‘sale of work’ was held and so the schools wonderful tradition began. For the next century, it served the village so well and in so many ways. It taught the children, it provided the venue for so many social occasions and for its first twenty years it also served as the place ‘licensed for the Performance of Devine Service’. The licence, granted to the old school in 1869, was transferred to the new school (along with the scholars)! It was certainly a very well used and well loved building and in many ways, for so many years, the real hub of village life.

Over the years, many changes took place. The simple finances of those early years became inadequate for various reasons and of course ‘Their lordships in London’ passed that and many various Education Acts (then as now!) and so more and more Education Authorities became involved, sometimes for the good and sometimes not. Then finally in 1974 came Boundary Changes and a new local Authority with new and different ideas.

1n 1977/78 period, the junior and infant school as it had now become, held the Centenary Celebrations and very impressive and enjoyable they were too. However, rumours were already afoot and sadly in 1984 the school was closed to pupils transferred. The school was sadly missed.

But, thankfully, the school is still a centre for education, echoing to the voices on children. We are all happy to see them and enjoy the pleasure of their company.

So the first of our familiar group of buildings still retains its place and stands as it did so long ago, when it was first built alone in a field, waiting for the church to join it!

CHAPTER SIX – WELCOME A PARISH

Eight years after the rebuilding of the school, events took a large step forward when we read that:
‘In certain Acts of Her Majesty dated the 3rd day of August 1886 and duly gazetted the 13th day of the month, a separate District For Spiritual Purposes was constituted under an Act passed in the reign of George the Third for building and promoting the additional churches in populous areas and under certain Acts called the Church Building Acts of etc., etc.

The document goes on to describe the way in which ‘the new Church has been erected and built at or near to Scouthead, in accordance with certain plans prepared by Reuben Dransfeild of Oldham (Architects) on a plot of land containing 2, 134.5 square yards given by Abraham Leach of Waterhead Milne in Oldham (surgeon), being a part of a farm called Starting Chair Farm, situated near Newhouse’s in the Parish of Lydgate’.

St Paul’s Church Scouthead

The total cost of the building was given as £4,500 and it is recorded that ‘Burials are not intended’. Details are also given of the Endowment bestowed upon the new Parish by George Newton Wrigley and his family ‘to be held in trust for a permanent endowment’. In effect, this money was intended to be invested to pay the Minister’s Stipend.

Although this deed, dated 1886, refers to the church as if it was already in existence, it was in fact only just beginning at that date, and it wasn’t until Autumn 1889 that the building was ‘examined and approved’ by C. A. Ellis and so became ready for consecration. But the importance of that 1886 deed lay in the fact that once the parish was created, a vicar could be appointed to care for it. So in the Autumn of 1886, the Reverend Charles Frederick Ockford became the first vicar of Saint Paul, Scouthead. In December of that year he performed the first baptism of the parish, when parish, when ‘Thomas, son of David and Mary Sutcliffe, of High Moor was baptised and became the first entry in our Baptismal Register. Less than a year later, the Baptism of Mr. Ockford’d own son was recorded there – ‘John Paul Vivien Ockford, son of Charles Frederick Ockford and Catherine Mary Ockford.

The church was build by S. J Whitehead of Lowermoor, Oldham, who still trade from the same premises, and who kindly supplies much information from their records. They told me that most of the stone used for the exterior came from ‘Mr. Craven’s Quarries at the Craven Clough and Thuston Clough’ while the better quality stone, the ‘dressed Ashlar’ needed for the skills, tracery; head mullions, etc.(in fact, all the and worked stone) had to be bough t from Messrs. England Quarry at Crimble near Slaithwaite, because our local stone is just too soft for this special type of work. Perhaps this explains why the original stone shown on the first school has weathered away so badly. But, at last, on 18th July 1889 the building was ready and ‘Sentence of Consecration’ was passed.

CHAPTER SEVEN – THE FIST INTERIOR

When the church was finally completed and the ‘Sentence of Consecration’ was passed, it included as INVENTORY, which gives us a glimpse of the church as it was then. It is a fascinating list but we read briefly of :-
In the Sacrarium:
‘The Holy Table, with one linen and one velvet cloth’,
‘A Chalice, a flagon, a paten, and two linen veils for the chalice’,
‘A Basin for Alms, four boxes for alms’,
‘Two chairs, one communion book, one prayer book, two kneelers, and mat’.
In the Body of the Church:
‘Reading Desk, Pulpit, Bible, Prayer book, Front, and cover’;
‘Seating for 328 persons’.
In the Vestry:
‘Surplices for Clergy, Table and chairs’.

What is not mentioned, but is a matter of record, is that the pews were the gift of ‘the mothers of the parish’, who are known to have paid ‘one penny each, each week, until they were paid for’. I was never able to discover just how much the pews cost, or how long it took to raise the amount, but it must have been a tremendous effort and was still remembered with pride when I first began to ask questions about Scouthead’s history, back in the 1960’s.

But how very different the original church must have looked and how strange every thing would seem, if we could visit it now.

Only the lower part of the tower had been built, and only reached to just above where the clock is now (not quite to the apex of the roof). The wall and the gates along the front of the churchyard were not built until 1908 and, of course, there was no Vicarage yet, just a school on one side and a field on the other. But in 1912 the tower was completed, and then the exterior of the church looked as much as it was today.

However, the biggest contrast would await us, as we entered the building. As we passed through the porch at the front of the tower, and entered through the two doors (they are still there now!) we would find ourselves immediately IN THE NAVE. Until about 1979, the church was simply ONE LARGE SPACE. As we entered the Font stood before us, at the back of the church there were rows and rows of pews, with two aisles running between them, which led us to the chancel steps. Overhead soared our beautiful roof, with its graceful roof beams, each one resting on a carved stone corbel, while below each one was a brass plaque. On either side of the chancel steps stood the Pulpit and Reading Desk – while in the archway the stone corbels are still decorated with angels.

In later years the Chancel was to become very beautiful. However, in those first days, the floor was tiled, with four small patterns representing the four apostles (they are still there, under the carpet) and the Holy Table (mentioned in the inventory) stood alone, under the East Window, With its Two chairs and two kneelers. An American Organ led the singing for several years, and the lighting was buy gaslights, and it wasn’t until 1906 that we read of ‘incandescent mantles being fitted to the gas lights’. Electricity didn’t arrive until 1935.

Over the years there have been many changes. In later chapters, I will tell you of some of them. But first, we must complete our group of buildings and so next I hope to be able to tell the coming (and going!) of the Vicarage.

CHAPTER EIGHT – THE VICARAGE
When the parish was first created in 1886 and our first vicar Mr. Ockford was appointed he and his family lived for the first few years of his ministry in the large double fronted house which is now no.12 Newhouses. A field footpath leads from the hamlet to the style in the wall in the main room near the bus stop. It is interesting, even now, to notice that this field footpath is the only paved footpath that I know of and I like to think that this was done to allow Mr. Ockford to take his services with dry feet all those years ago! And also to help those of his congregation who lived at Newhouses.

THE FIRST VICARAGE – 12 NEWHOUSES

After the church was completed, he remained at Newhouses for several more years, because it wasn’t until1893 that ‘a piece of land containing 1305 square yards was purchased from the sons of Abraham Leach of Waterhead, surgeon, to be used by the incumbent as his house, garden and glebe’. We don’t seem to have a definite date for the completion of the building but it was probably not very long before the house was built and Mr and Mrs Ockford and their son would be moved into it, and I have sometimes wondered what they really felt about it!

It is a grand house, both outside and in, and completes the groups of buildings beautifully. However, like many Victorian Vicarages it was built on a very generous scale with many large, handsome rooms and elegantly designed windows and staircase. Those lovely rooms with their high ceilings must have been very difficult to heat in the days of coal fires and the lovely windows must have been very hard to curtain. Mains water was not laid on until 1916 and electricity did not arrive until 1935 – not at all easy house to run one feels! But those dates water was supplied for both church and Vicarage from a well In the yard, and had to be hand pumped into the vicarage, while lighting for both buildings was by gas.

THE SECOND VICARAGE

All through the year we find records in the PCC minutes of ‘Dilapidations at the vicarage’, and ‘Repairs to the vicarage’. In our exposed position the ravages of the weather put a great strain on funds, as with the church itself. Indeed in 1930 serious consideration was given to the idea of a replacement building. A large house In the village came up for sale, but nothing came of that suggestion, and the repairs went on. Eventually in 1958 a major scheme ‘improvement and modernisation’ was put in hand and thing became much easier for many years.

Then in 1973 the vicarage, together with the rest of the group of buildings, was cleaned by sandblasting and it later took its place as part of the Scouthead conservation area.

In 1976 when we became part of the new joint parish, the vicarage was no longer required, and sop it was sold and we were told that the money from the sale could be used for ‘such work as essential to keep the church building viable’. So that grand building, which was built to be our vicarage, only served that purpose for less than 100 years. However, it still remains in its place as a very interesting and attractive part of our lonely group of three historical buildings, an integral part of Scouthead conservation area, and it is a familiar landmark for many quite distant places!

CHAPTER NINE – THE ORGAN AND THE CHOIRS

When we last mentioned the interior of the church, the singing was still being led by the original American Organ, but in 1906 a notable alteration to the interior of the church occurred when the organ was moved to the organ place originally provided. Wadsworth of Manchester made the organ. It is a two- manual instrument and I have been told, ’it is the only one of its kind, having been made for exhibition purposes’. It has been played by several famous organists over the years, and has always been described as ‘ a very good instrument!’ it cost £300 to install and was a joint gift, half the cost raised by the public subscription and the other half being given by Andrew Carnegie Esq., the Scottish philanthropist.

At first Mr Watts Shaw served as both an organist and a choirmaster, but when he retired in 1909 the two responsibilities were separated and Mr Cave became the organist, while Mr George Buckley became Choirmaster. This must have been a very successful combination of talents, because for the next few days they established a tradition of which the village was very proud.

There were the usual services, but there were also annual choir festivals. Just before the Great War the choir were competing regularly at Belle Vue Gardens Choral Competitions. On only their second visit, their performance of ‘Fear Not, O Land’ earned them second place, only two points behind the winning choir – that of Hey St Johns. At that time, Hey St Johns were very famous, with traditions going back more than a hundred years and were among the leading choirs in the area! Sadly the outbreak of the Great War meant that many of the talented young sisters joined up, some of them never to return. The organ, like everything else at that sad time, suffered from unavoidable neglect for the next few years.

It was not until 1924 that the very necessary repairs could begin. At that time, we read ….’ Repairs to the organ alone cost over £50, and whiles
That repairs were being carried out, it was discovered that the organ chamber was very damp. It was decided to supply heating to the chamber when all the repairs were complete.

After this, the choir once again became well-known in local circles, and during Mr Edwards term of office (1927-1931) many ‘joint sings’ took place with other choirs, and much visiting of each others churches. Large congregations were attracted, and much fine music was enjoyed.

It seems amazing to us to read of occasions when extra seating was often required. Several of the front rows of the pews were often reserved for visiting singers ,with extra chairs arranged in the chancel in front of the choir stalls, and the remaining pews in the body of the church crammed full and overflowing! In those years the church had seated 328 persons- before any extra seating was required!

It was at these joint services that we hear of ‘The Messiah’ being sung, and I heard many memories from old choir members of ‘Oliver to Calvary’, Maunders: ‘song of Thanksgiving’, and Handel: ‘Creation’, and other similar oratorios. All remembered with much enjoyment by singers and congregations alike.

I was also told, that there had at one time been an ‘Old Sing’ each year, which had been a musical service accompanied by an orchestra made up of local amateur musicians, but sadly, that died out in the 1920’s.

In 1935 when electricity had finally reached the church, plans were made for a silent electric blower to be installed to replace the small door in the organ screen where the ‘pumper’ was hard at work. Sadly in 1939 brought the Second World War and another eight years of unavoidable neglect, so the hand pumping continued much longer than expected. When repairs at last became possible in 1947, an awful lot need doing in many areas. Finally, in 1950 the electric blower was installed, and that small door was finally sealed up. After 44 years of hard work and aching arms, our gallant
Bands of volunteers were finally no longer needed!

About this time the choir were robed for the first time. The Joint Sings revived (and even broadcast by the BBC on one occasion), the choir went carol singing round the village at Christmas times, and there were many happy memories of the next few years. But time passed and many different changes had occurred. People had moved around more; and we saw many changes such as new forms of service and several new vicars. So it was a happy time when in 1972 Mr and Mrs Tibbles began to settle in and the minutes recorded that ‘…The Vicar was anxious to start a new choir…’ Soon a keep young group of singers were in place, robed with new blue robes, and providing much enjoyable music!

It was about this time too that we had the pleasure and privilege of welcoming the Oldham Girls Choir, when Miss Bentley began to bring them to visit us. They have joined us many times since then and we always enjoy and appreciate their visits. We have also enjoyed the visits of other musicians, such as Saddleworth Male Voice Choir, various brass bands, and most recently the very enjoyable visit of Dobcross Youth Band.

As the years have passed there have been several occasions when problems have arisen with the organ. For a long time, gentle handling and careful coaxing became necessary to keep it playing happily. This coincided with all the work and alterations, which became necessary in the church, so until those problems were solved and the bills were paid off, nothing could be done for our faithful organ.

Eventually, however, it became possible to open the ‘ORGAN FUND’ and although there were still delays to be faced, finally it became possible to put the work in hand. So in September 1987 the firm of Andrew Carter of Wakefield began to dismantle the organ. While the organ chamber was empty it became possible to double glaze the windows, re-plaster the walls and to fit proper ventilation. When the organ returned and was once again in place, it was with thankful hearts that we joined the service of Dedication on Palm Sunday 27th March 1988. the cost of the rebuild was £11,643.75.

CHAPTER TEN- THE CHURCH’S FIRST FEW YEARS

When we think of our familiar church today it is hard to imagine it, as it was at first, back in 1889, with its high roof, and its beautiful roof beams. Below the roof were the front and cover at the back under the long west windows, then rows and rows of pews, separated by two aisles leading to the pulpit and reading desk. Behind the pulpit and reading desk were two steps that led into the chancel, where stood the choir stalls and the altar rails. Within the rails stood the Holy Table and two chairs.

Of course as time passed, gifts were offered to the new church, and most recently as memorials to respected and sadly missed members of the community upon their deaths. Two of these memorials had a very deep significance to the whole church, village and community.

The first one is very beautifully carved reredos that still stands behind our lovely altar. This reredos is inscribed To the Honour and Glory of God and in Memory of George Newton Wrigley. Died April 30 1893. The Gift of his Wife and Children. This Geoge n Wrigley was the only son of this James and Elizabeth Wrigley who lived at the Manor House. James had Died in 1866 and had joined Robert and other members of his family in the ‘Wrigley Grave’ at Saddleworth Church (and the stained glass window to his memory can still be seen in Saddleworth Church). From 1866 George had presumably been head of the family, at the mill and in the village.

We do know that when the new school had been opened on Easter Monday 1878, the Sale of work that had followed the Service of dedication had been with opened ‘by a short address by George N Wrigley Esq...’ we also know that the church was opened and services commenced the first churchwardens to be appointed were G N Wrigley Esq. and Mr William Bottomley. While we also know that the Wrigley family had been generous supporters of the school, and that, when the Church was built ‘George Newton Wrigley and his family gave generous endowment to the living’ – that is – the endowment was invested to pay the Vicar’s stipend.

At this he was married and was living with his wife and family at Fernhill, Greenfield. However, ‘the members of his family,’ referred to in the Deed of Endowment were his mother (Elizabeth) and his two sisters, Sarah Jane and Elizabeth. At the time were both unmarried and living with their mother at Manor House. This was made clear in the Deed, which names these four people together with ‘James Wrigley of Fernhill’, (Georges Eldest Son) as the first five patrons of the living. The family not only endowed the living but also was largely responsible for the cost of building the Church.

As long the family continued their association with the mills they were generous patrons to the church.

The death of George Newton Wrigley was followed very sadly only five years later by that of his son James and this is commemorated by the second of the two memorials I mentioned. This one is the simple Marble Plate, which now, since the alterations stands on the wall, just above the door in the vestry. It says simply ‘ in Loving Memory of James Wrigley Fernhill, Greenfield. Born June 26 1868. Died April 11 1898. All souls are mine sayeth the Lord’. He was only 29 years old. Both father and son had served as churchwardens, and in 1908-1909 George Gilbert Wrigley Esq., also served as churchwarden for one year. However, all that time, the family sold the mills, the younger members of the family left Saddleworth, and the patronage of the living, passed to the Bishop of the Diocese.

George Newton Wrigleys wife Anne continued to live at Fernhill, Greenfeild, which I was once told ‘is still standing and its just above Farrers Arms’. She Lived there with at least one of her daughters until her death in 1921 at the age of eighty. She visited Scouthead on special occasions for many years. I was told that ‘when she came to Scouthead, she came in her carriage, and it was very gracious, upright old lady. Her name is the last to be inscribed on the Wrigley Grave in Saddleworth churchyard, and with her death ended the Wrigley family involvement with Scouthead and with our church.

CHAPTER ELEVEN – THE STORY OF THE TOWER AND THE GROUNDS

We have seen how the inside of the church changed gradually from its first days. While the changes were beginning to happen inside, outside the building much was to change over the years.

In 1889 the present tower simply was not there. The outer walls of the tower were completed to just above were the clock is today, but that was all there was; just the walls, the steps, the floor and the main door. We read from the minutes that:
In 1891 ‘...a window was placed in the tower..’
In 1892 ‘...The church doors were fitted..’
In 1894 ‘... The tower was covered in..’
While six years later,
In 1900, there was a ‘…bill for decoration, and repairs to the tower…’ but obviously that first tower was never really satisfactory. I heard it described as nothing but stump, with a candle of snuffer on top, and we have a picture of it with that first covering and the description does not seem apt! it seems to have been a small wooden steeple.

So in 1912 when sufficient funds were available our present tower was built. Interestingly, I had always been told that part of the church had been built of local stone, which I thought to be High Moor stone, but the builders had said differently. When I came to enquire about the tower, I discovered the answer. The boundary walls and top part of the tower were built by a firm called Bebbingtons of Oldham and the stone for it came from High Moor. Mr A S Johnson, who at the time, one of our churchwardens, told me this. Mr Johnson was the son of our second vicar, Mr C Johnson and so had lived at the vicarage when the work had been in progress on the tower. Incidentally, years later when all the three buildings were cleaned by sandblasting, we could quite easy see where the different type of stone had begun and continued up to the top of the tower!
About the same time the boundary walls were completed. Once they were in place, ‘the church grounds were laid out and put in order’. And ‘the vicar thanked the young men for laying out the grounds, and the young women for cleaning the church.

Then in the next few years (1908-1912) various sums of money were spent upon bushes, shrubs and plants for the grounds. Following this we hear no more about the outside of the church for about twenty years.

Then in the period around 1927-1928 it was recorded in the minutes that ‘…something must be done to make the grounds more attractive…’ no doubt those shrubs and bushes must have grown considerably! From then onwards we have frequent records of generous volunteers and work they had been doing.

In 1935 came the silver jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary. There were various suggestions as to how to celebrate the event and two of these would have affected the church grounds. The first was that ‘… the grounds be extended and we apply for our own burial ground…’, but for some reason this was proved to be impossible. The second suggestion ‘…that we plant some commemorative trees’ went ahead.

The chief alteration that occurred in 1935 was the fact that electricity had finally reached the church and the vicarage. It had first been discussed in 1926 and on many occations afterwards! When it did arrive, it caused great changes, many of them inside the church, which I will discuss I a later chapter, but also it caused the last major change to the external appearance. Once we had a power supply we were able to install the church clock! The clock was made by Kirks of Leeds, and always looked as if it was part of the tower.

During the following years nothing of great note appeared in the minutes about the grounds. Volunteers continued their good work, and our thanks and appreciation was recorded. It wasn’t until 1973 that the next great change occurred, when the three buildings, (the church, the vicarage and the school) were all cleaned by sandblasting. At the same time the clock became an ‘official public clock’ when we became part of Scouthead Conservation area.

Then in 1977 under the ‘employment creation scheme’, a team of ‘ one man and three youths’ spent several hardworking months improving the grounds of the church. The improvement was a very real one too! The driveway and car park were created, with lawns laid, and the sheltered stone hollow, with its circular stone seating and its commemorative plaque were put into place, and it is all very much appreciated. Now more recently, our very attractive heather garden has appeared and is giving us all much pleasure, with its cheerful winter colours, on our way to and from services.

So today our church stands sturdily in its attractive setting, and with its smart new notice board, down near the gate, tell passers by who we are, and offer them a warm welcome.




CHAPTER TWELVE – THE YEARTS PASS

During the first twenty five years of its history, the interior of the church must have changed quite a lot. I have already described the installation of our beautiful reredos in 1893 in memory of George Newton Wrigley and the marble slab in memory of his son James, whose early death must have been so sad for so many people.

The various carved corbels with their brass plaques would have gradually appeared over the years. Then in 1914 following the death of our second vicar, Mr Charles Johnson, his friends and congregation gave our beautiful communion table in his memory. He had been much loved and respected in the parish and this lovely table is a fitting memorial. There are now many more memorials to many people within the church.

Almost all the woodwork, which adorns the church, was the work of one local firm, ‘Nobles of Riversleigh, Uppermill’, despite the firm itself ceasing to trade sometime during the Second World War. When I was first researching this history, some thirty years ago, I was luck enough to be introduced to one of their craftsmen, Mr Wood, who had done much of the work in Scouthead Church and he shared many of his memories with me.

He was able to tell me much that was great interest, about the work he did both at the workshop and here in the church. This included both the communion table and the war memorial cabinet. The latter once stood inside the door near the front on the west wall and is now located in the small hall were it now bears the names of our losses from the Second World War. It still holds the service books and many other important items as it has done for all these years!

Mr Wood knew the church when it was lit by gas and heated by a coke stove (in the boiler house under the vestry) with heating pipes along both walls. There were also ducts under the floor in both aisles. I remember the pipes in along both walls. There were also ducts under the floor in both aisles. I remember the pipes along the walls and how nice they were to warm and cold hands on in winter time. Mr Wood remarked ‘you know, they always used to light the gas lamps early to help warm up the church for the services’, and that , of course, was the clue to the problem that plagued us all, for so many years.

As I have already said electricity finally came to the three buildings in 1935. it was wonderful in many ways but somehow it became much more difficult to warm the building. Even with the doors firmly closed it was always very draughty, because without that lovely (but invisible) blanket of hot air from the old gas lamps all the heat from the pipes just rose straight up into our beautiful, but so distant roof space.
The cold air that had been up there swooped down upon us, as a cold draught. Nowadays we all know about ‘convection’. But then we just knew that there was a cold draught.

So for many years, although various arrangements of curtains were tried, first across the back of the pews and later half way down the church, it still remained a big, chilly, place in winter times. We all agreed fervently, with one member of the congregation who used to say briskly to anyone who dared to grumble ‘you don’t come to church to be comfortable!’

Over the years suggestions were made but ion 1973 came the first real improvement when the first small parish room was screened off at the back of the church and the back few rows of the pews were removed. A smaller and much warmer roofed chapel was thus created with portable alter rails about to where the working surface of the kitchen is now a small ‘table alter stood behind the railswith chairs to provide seating. When the following winter turned out to be an especially severe one we were all deeply grateful to those who had given up so much of their time to give us so much more comfort. It was also about this period that the sandblasting of the outside took place.

During 1976 Mr Tibbles retired. This created so many problems and led to many meetings, much discussion, and many, many anxious prayers. The issue we faced was a simple one. We just did not have either enough practitioners or enough income to warrant our remaining as a separate parish. The houses in the village which had once each provided a home for a family, and some of the family’s were large ones, were know homes of just one, two, or three people, and several times two houses had been combined into one house. Oh! We all knew the problem, but what was to be the solution?

Eventually it was settled that we were to become part of the new ‘Parish of Holy Trinity, Dobcross with St Paul Scouthead’. And a happy partnership it has proved to be! But this happy solution led us inevitably to the next problem. We knew we had to give up one of the two buildings, the church or the vicarage, (we had already lost the school in the boundary changes two years earlier). More meetings and more discussions and more anxious prayers brought us to the final decision, and this has proved to be a very practical and sensible one, although very difficult for the traditionalists to accept at the time.

During 1978/79 much work was carried out (especially in the tower). The chancel became our very cosy and useful Chapel while the front part of the nave became the present Dual Purpose room. Now when the church is required for larger services the handsome screens across the chancel steps can be folded back. This makes the church almost as large as it was in 1973 when the first chapel was created. But when the room is to be used for social occasion the screens can be closed leaving the chancel as a church. Whatever is happening in the hall is completely separate from the peaceful ‘Chapel in the Chancel’.

The small hall at the back of the church is extremely useful to us all. When any of our organisations meet we can be at home there. When the hall is used for social events it is to the small room that we turn to do refreshments etc,. If a performance is planned – then it becomes a green room or a dressing room or whatever else is needed. And I don’t think we are all agreed that we don’t know what we would do without it!!’

Now we are entering into another period of great change. Once again meeting, discussions, and prayers for help and guidance are taking place. We face the future hoping that the final solution will justify our hope and optimism.

Additional Commentary Added by Katie Greaves, Talking Point Centre Manager
St Paul’s Church, Scouthead, was officially declared redundant on 27/07/2004 a redundancy scheme was confirmed on 13/01/2006. (Source Diocese of Manchester).
The fabric of the building and a dwindling congregation were the main reasons for the closure of the parish. The parish itself was divided between St Anne’s, Lydgate and St Thomas’s, Friarmere in Delph.