Rising from the ashes

St Thomas, Newhey

A gleaming church is literally rising from the ashes after a disastrous arson attack almost 18 months ago.

A raging fireball swept through St Thomas’s in Newhey four days before Christmas 2007.

The blaze destroyed the organ and loft — and damaged the main chancel roof after a 14-year-old boy set fire to an oil tank.

Since then, the church has been on a journey, not only to get the stone and wood repaired, but also for its congregation, according to the vicar, the Rev Graham Lindley.

Ironically, the bad news for the building has meant good news for church attendance, which has been in St Thomas’s Primary School in Huddersfield Road.

Contacts with families at the school has led to more worshippers, as well as existing members getting to services more regularly.

Rev Lindley said: “Limited seating demands people actually sit next to one another and can’t remain hidden behind a remote column.

“The ‘that’s-my-seat’ syndrome is virtually non-existent. As a result, the congregation got to know one another better.”

The £1.8million restoration has been carried out by local craftsmen.

The new organ, which has been rescued from a redundant church in Loughborough, is being restored and installed by George Sixsmith and Son, of Carhill Road, Mossley.

Repairs have involved a variety of craftsmen from joiners and masons, to stained glass artists, builders and heating and lighting engineers.

The church’s extensive website www.newheychurch.org.uk has a gallery of photographs showing the church coming back to life after the fire, which even damaged gravestones and memorials in the church yard.

Built in 1876, it re-opens with the service for Pentecost on 31 May, which will be followed by a walk of witness through the village.

This summer there will be an equally special service to celebrate the skill, hard work and talent of the craftsmen, when their families and friends will also be invited.

Rev Lindley, who has been at St Thomas’s since 2002, said: “I’ve just been talking to the guys working here over the months, and they have said how they are telling their children and wives what they are doing.

“I thought it would be a good idea to invite them back and give them a proper thank-you.”
But the hard work is not over yet — there is still fund-raising to be done.

He added: “We have opted to go back into the church sooner rather than later.

“It will be like looking at a new house or an empty shell.

“Some pews have to go back in and we will have new facilities such as toilets and a kitchen, but it will give us the chance to decide what works best for us.”