St Andrew’s Church, Dearnley marks 125 years of worship

Friday 25 September 2020 marks exactly 125 years to the day since locals of Dearnley, Smithy Bridge and Smallbridge packed into a new 400-seat church, a building known today as St Andrew's, Dearnley.

On this day in 1895, the new Arm Road building of St Andrew's church was opened and consecrated by the then Bishop of Manchester, Dr Moorhouse, before visitors marked the occasion with two hymns – ‘The Church's One Foundation’ and ‘We love the place O God, Wherein Thine Honour Dwells’.

The Bishop of Manchester, his chaplain and other officers were received at the church door by the Rev W B Berry, vicar of Smallbridge; the Rev G R Oakley, the new curate-in-charge of St Andrew's; and the four sidesmen led by Dr MacGill, who presented the petition for consecration to the bishop.

Over a century later, the 125th milestone will be marked this year with a special socially distanced service at 10.30am on Sunday (27 September), to be attended by the current Bishop of Middleton, the Rt Reverend Mark Davies.

Government guidelines on fighting Covid-19 will prevent present-day worshippers from singing those still-popular and much-loved hymns, but the celebrations this weekend will be no less sincere or heartfelt, as many will reminisce on the fond memories of baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and other special occasions held at St Andrew's over the years.

The passing of loved ones, and subsequent funerals and celebrations of lives will also be recalled with reverence as the bishop leads the anniversary service and refers to how it all began for the people of Dearnley and Smithy Bridge all those years ago.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/events/66041/st-andrews-church-dearnley-125th-anniversary-service

In the second half of the 19th century, the country saw a rise in churches as Christianity enjoyed a boom period. Plans for St Andrew’s began in 1889 and copies of the ‘Smallbridge with Dearnley’ church magazine reported that money for a new church in Dearnley had started to be raised. A weekly collection for the ‘New Church Fund’ raised nearly £5 - the equivalent of more than £1,000 today.

St Andrew's School was already in existence and a concert there raised another £19 for the new church.

By February 1893, Architect Frank Oakley was instructed to proceed with the building, at a cost not exceeding £2,800. By June of the same year, local GP, Dr MacGill, was asked to lay the foundation stone; the MacGills and their descendants were heavily involved at St Andrew's for the next half century.

Before 1895, the Church of England parish of St John Smallbridge became the parish of Smallbridge with Dearnley, and such was the growing popularity of the faith that, as well as those at base in Smallbridge, there were also services at two outposts - Little Clegg in Smithy Bridge and in a missionary arm of St John's which saw services held in a relatively primitive iron church in Dearnley.

This small iron church had been in use since St Andrew's became a missionary district of St John's some years earlier. Eventually, the iron church was sold and construction of the present building, St Andrew’s, was completed. In 1894, permission was given for the organ from the small iron church in Dearnley to be transferred to the new church.

The present-day St Andrew's is part of a Benefice which covers Dearnley, Smithy Bridge, Smallbridge and Wardle, so the C of E operation in the district has turned full circle since the building was opened in 1895.

 

 

The result of a team effort, with the bulk of the research and writing being by the late Gordon Hall, the booklet 'The First Hundred Years' - a history of St Andrew's, was published in 1995. In it, the history of each of the priests in charge is traced and it is explained that the first of them, Father George Oakley, was officially in charge from 1895 - 1923. However, from 1892 - 1895 he was an assistant priest at St John the Baptist in Smallbridge with special responsibility for the mission district of Dearnley, so his overall time in charge stretched more than 31 years.

In addition to being in charge at St Andrew's for over three decades, Rev Oakley was also a prolific writer of local legends, releasing the book 'In Olden Days; Lancashire Legends, Rochdale and neighbourhood' which includes stories of Stubley Hall and Clegg Hall, both in Littleborough.

As the Rev Oakley himself wrote: "St Andrew's is a church forever endeared to me by the sacred recollections of my marriage, the baptism of my children, the burial of two dear ones and the close associations made during more than 30 years with a multitude of loving and loyal friends."

Similar sentiments will be echoed many times over by St Andrew's parishioners old and new across the anniversary weekend of Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September.

In previous years, starting in 1995 for the 100th anniversary, milestones for the church have been marked with numerous special events all built around a successful Flower Festival which sees floral contributions from dozens of local organisations as well as individuals to be displayed in the church before an anniversary concert.

Other significant events at the church over the years include Revd Sharon Jones visiting Namibia in 2006 where she forged a link between St. Mary Magdelene, Omboloka and St Andrew's, which continues to this day, as well as The Mothers' Union being reformed in 2012 with 16 members welcomed to the new branch and several members of the congregation volunteering at the newly formed Rochdale Foodbank in the same year.

Most recently, St Andrew’s were proud to receive a bronze level Eco Church Award, a scheme designed to encourage visitors to ‘care for God's earth as part of their everyday work and witness’.

 

 

St Andrew’s has welcomed nine vicars in the 125 years and for the last 14 years has been led by two women, Revd Sharon Jones, now the Team Rector at Saddleworth, followed by the current incumbent, the Revd Rachel Battershell, who was licensed to St Andrew’s in 2017.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/109997/rev-rachel-battershell-welcomed-to-st-andrews-dearnley

Commenting on the 125th anniversary, Revd Battershell said: “I am pleased that we can celebrate this milestone in St Andrew’s history, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. St Andrew’s Church has over the years been central to the lives of many in this community and I pray that we can continue to do so in the future.”

Vicars over the years are as follows:

Rev G R Oakley 1895-1923
Kenneth Maclure 1923-1931
Frank Skinner 1932-1960
Thomas Sumner 1960-1963
Roy Butterworth 1963-1981
David Finney 1981-1994
Peter Davey 1995-2005
Sharon Jones 2006-2016
Rachel Battershell 2017-present