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Posts Tagged ‘Old St Georges Churchyard’

Walking Guide “The Ridge Hill Trail” (includes section on Cocker Hill)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on August 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

1977 Walking guide to Cocker Hill and beyond.      

My husband found the Ridge Hill Trail guide in the library last week. The whole trail is about three miles long and makes a full circuit around the Tame Valley, including a trip up Cocker Hill. Not sure if the whole circuit is passable now as the guide was published in 1977.   

I enjoyed reading the section on Cocker Hill, and as it provides such a good introduction to the area, I have copied it out so that everyone can see it. Hopefully it doesn’t breach the copy right as it is a small excerpt from the whole guide and only really here as the guide is no longer generally available.     

   

The trail starts from Stalybridge Bus Station.   

“Leave Bus Station via King Street, walk up the steps, and turn right along Stamford Street, crossing the road at the pelican crossing. Walk down the hill and turn left up a cobbled path just before the stone bridge.   

On your left are Bohemia Cottages, dated 1721. The name “Bohemia” may have been adopted because the view along the Tame Valley at this point is similar to the views along the Elbe, a river flowing through Bohemia noted for its sheer hillsides. The Germanic style of Old St George’s may have enhanced this association.   

Note the lion and sun reliefs on the cottage walls. In Roman times these were symbols of the Persian sun-god Mithras, a favourite of the Roman legionaries. One Roman road to Melandra is thought to have crossed the river below these cottages.     

Go up the steps to the Churchyard     

Cocker Hill, from a photograph taken about 1910

 

This is Cocker Hill churchyard, the site of the first church in Stalybridge. Built in 1776, the first St George’s church collapsed only two years later. The foundations of the recently demolished church can be clearly seen. There have been three churches built on this site, all of which have been of an octagonal design known as the Galilee pattern.    

At the top of the churchyard, beside the foundations of the old church is the grave of Neddy Hall. In 1776 Neddy Hall built the first cotton mill in Lancashire. It stood in Wood Street, Stalybridge, near the Bus Station. At that time Ashton-Under-Lyne extended as far as the River Tame. Neddy Hall was the first to use steam power in a Lancashire mill. This small 6hp beam engine was probably of the design produced by James Watt, the most reliable at the time. The tall chimney needed to disperse the engine’s flue gases was nicknamed “Sootpoke” and was the first of many which would soon dominate the Stalybridge Skyline.   

On your left, overlooking the churchyard, you can see some of the weavers’ cottages. The top floor, with its mullioned windows designed to give an even light, was utilised for weaving and spinning, leaving the first floor free for treating fibres. The ground floor was used for domestic purposes.     

A Mullion is a vertical bar dividing lights in a window.

 

Before the Industrial Revolution the textile industry was worked on a small scale, with the whole family involved in  the production of clothes. Mother and daughter would be spinning while younger children and grandparents “carded” the raw material, and father wove the yarn. As weaving was the quickest of the processes, the father would have been left with time to farm a small plot of land. These people were known as yeoman clothiers.”…………………………………….   

The trail then continues up Ridge Hill.   

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“Old” St Georges Church, Cocker Hill

Posted in Old St Georges Church, St Georges Churchyard, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 6, 2010| 27 Comments »

When we moved on to Cocker Hill, Stalybridge many years ago people kept telling us “there used to be a church there”  or “The old church fell into the river” etc.  I did a little research and found that they were correct, but there had not been just one church though, there had been three, all built in a similar style. The first was built in 1776. It was the first recorded church in Stalybridge and it did fall down shortly after it was built. The  next church was demolished around a hundred years later because of structural problems and the last church was demolished in the 1960’s as it was no longer used.

The first Church of St. George, Cocker Hill

I have detailed the history of the three churches below; you might need to get a cup tea though I think this is going to be  fairly long post.  The history of the churchyard is interesting too, especially the tales of the body snatchers.

Prior to the building of the Cocker Hill Chapel the people had to walk to either Ashton or Mottram to get to church, not too bad in Summer but it must have been a fairly muddy journey in winter. The church officials in Ashton realised that this was a problem and set about looking for a possible site for a church in Stalybridge.

The site of the church was first sold  on 5 May 1698 for £1001.2s.0d. The site measured three acres of “Cheshire large measure” and was described in the deed as “a chance close, a parcel of land”. Nothing was made of the land at that time.

On 30th June 1774 Lord Stamford agreed with the church Commissioners to allow the land to be used to be used for a church. Money for the building was raised by public subscription and by various grants and gifts.

The church was consecrated in July 1776 as “Chapel of St. George in Staly Bridge within Ridgehill and Lanes in the parish of Ashtonunderlyne”  (Note how Stalybridge was then two words and Ashton Under Lyne was then one.)

The Rev James Wardleworth was appointed as the first vicar in April 1777. The first Baptisms was recorded were held  28 July 1776 and the first burial in the graveyard took place on 16 January 1777.

The next information I can find for the church is a return made by the church to the articles of enquiry of 1778 sent out by the Bishop of Chester. One question asked about the church services. James Wardleworth answered it as follows:- ” My Chapel had ye Misfortune of Tumbling down on Friday 15th May, 1778 and it is uncertain when it will be rebuilt………”

It appears that the church was rebuilt quickly. I can find no record of  the date though. The new church looked very similar to the previous one.

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The second St Georges Church on Cocker Hil

Rev James Wardleworth resigned 4 October 1790 and was succeeded Rev John Robinson on 1 April 1791.

Rev Robinson resigned 9 October 1795 and was succeeded by Rev John Kenworthy 25 September 1796.

John Kenworthy was the vicar for 11 years until he died 13th August 1806.He was just 34 when he died. He was buried in the Cocker Hill churchyard with his wife and Children. The burial records for his family made sad reading. He had a son william who died March 1815 aged 8, a daughter Ellen who died in December 1815 aged 15. His wife Elizabeth died in March 1818 and his other daughter Sarah died in aged just 19 in February 1819.

Rev John Cape Atty was licenced on 11th April 1807.  Cape Atty lived on Cocker Hill, opposite the church. In the returns submitted to the Bishop he describes his house as a substantial stone building, with stable and cow-house on the premises. Also a garden” Cape Atty remained vicar until he died in 1822. His memorial stone remains in the Cocker Hill churchyard.

Rev Isaac Newton France was appointed in 1822. France was previously a curate in Ashton. He was reported as creating sects and divisions throughout the church. Things did not seem to go any better for him in Stalybridge and it was reported that “The Chapel at Cocker Hill under his incumbency was deserted to a great extent”. In the year prior to Newton France’s appointment there were reported to be 450 people in regular attendance.

In 1835 Newton France asked the church’s patron, the Earl of Stamford, to close the existing Chapel, due to its bad repair, and build a new one on a different site. I think he though a bigger newer church would get him a bigger congregation. The Earl agreed and purchased the land on the Hague Stalybridge. The foundation stone was laid for the new church 1st September 1838. The church was completed and consecrated 24 June 1840. The new church was called the church of St George, same name as the Cocker  Hill Chapel as it was the intention that it the new church replaced the old one; however this was not the case.

The new church, known locally as “New” St Georges,  had a capacity of 1,500 people, but with Newton France in charge the congregation was small and it never reached anything near its intended target. Parish records show that the congregation fell as low as six or seven on a regular basis.

Back at the Cocker Hill chapel, known locally as “Old” St Georges, the people were opposed to the idea of closing the church. They petitioned the Bishop to keep the church open and offered to pay for a new vicar to be found. The Bishop gave them permission to make the church safe and good. They did this and even bought a new organ. On the 29th September 1843 Old St Georges re opened with  new vicar Rev William Hall.  The old Church went from strength to strength and the congregation increased back to the 450 it had been in Cape Attys time.

Then in November 1844 Newton France announced that he intended to leave New St Georges and take up possession of Old St Georges on 1 January 1846.

I think that this decision was mainly due to pew rents and endowments. Basically Old St Georges was making more money than New St Georges and Newton France wanted a piece of it. Because of the difficulties with Newton France Hall resigned from Old St Georges in July 1846 and also resigned as a vicar which seems a shame as it sounds like he was a pretty good one.

Things then went from bad to worse. The newspaper reports at the time implied that Newton France was only returning to old St Georges  for financial reasons. He applied to the Church wardens for the keys to the church in August 1846 but his request “was resolutely refused no matter what the consequences”. Newton France then threatened legal proceedings and was told by the Church Wardens that should he insist on returning to the chapel, the congregation would leave and take their organ with them! The Church remained closed. The local MP Mr Tollmache became involved and put the matter before Parliament for debate.There followed a turbulent year with the Churchwarden’s supporters and Newton France’s supporters regularly breaking into the church, changing the locks and taking control of the church.

Newspaper reports at the time suggested that at certain periods on a Sunday in 1847 there were upwards of 2000  people collected in and around the chapel to see what was going on. The week after there were reported to be 3000-4000 people watching to see what would happen next.

By 1849 the church was reported to be very dilapidated, most of the lower windows were broken and the doorway was smashed beyond repair. There did not seem to be any resolution in sight. In May 1850 Isaac Newton France died. A coroners inquest gave a verdict of “death by natural causes”.

Following the death of Newton France the Bishop of Manchester appointed a new vicar at old St Georges, Rev John Leeson. Leeson had taken over new St Georges after Newton France and had grown and gained the respect of the congregation there. The Bishop hoped that he would help heal the problems in old St Georges.

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The Second Old St Georges with surrounding buildings. This photo was taken some time after 1848 when Wakefield Road Baptist Church, the Church on the top left of the picture, was built.

Leeson continued to have many problems with the churchwardens at old St Georges so perhaps all the trouble at old St Georges wasn’t Newton France’s fault. Leeson appeared to deal with them better though and won in the end.  John Leeson continued at old St Georges until his death in August 1867. His memorial in the Cocker Hill churchyard is still visible and says; “This Monument was erected by many friends and is sacred to the memory of John Edmund Leeson who for 16 years was incumbent of this church……”.

Rev John B Jelly Dudley was appointed vicar in 1867 and continued for 34 years until his death in 1904. He was described as a “flamboyant figure with a great sense of humour”

In February 1877  it was reported that an “alarming landslip occurred at old St Georges churchyard” part of the churchyard had collapsed down the hill and exposed  number of coffins. News of the landslip spread rapidly and hundreds of people lined the Stamford Street Bridge to try to see what had happened.

In 1880 and 1881 church records show that “cracks had begun to appear in the south west corner of the building” The cracks got bigger and on 10th July 1882 the church was officially closed for safety reasons.

In 1886 a contract was drawn up to construct a new church on the same site. The new church was octagonal as the previous ones but the roof and windows were different.

The third “old” St. Georges Church, Cocker Hill

The church was re opened in 1888 and was described by the local paper as “an improvement on the old”

In 1904 old St Georges gained a new vicar; Rev Herbert Hampson. He was well liked and introduced both a dramatic society and an athletic society to the church. He continued as  vicar until he died in September 1924. Hampson was succeeded by Rev Frank Augustine Whitehead who was vicar from 1924 to 1937. Whitehead was described as “a great encouragement” and was a supporter of the dramatic society and was the only vicar known to perform in the dramatic productions.

The next vicar was Rev Reginald Hugh Cadman who stayed 7 years and appeared to have a fairly uneventful time at the church.

Cadman was succeeded in 1946 by Rev Charles James Saunders. Tragically Saunders committed suicide two years after taking over the church. Saunders had received the Military Cross for service during the First World War and it was thought that he had suffered from Shell shock. His time at the church was a strange one; not long after he arrived many of the parishioners of the church began to receive defamatory and insulting letters. Though none of the accusations in the letters were true they caused upset in the congregation and the police were called. The police noted that all the letters that had been typed were typed on the vicar’s typewriter and the letter that had been handwritten was in the vicar’s handwriting.

The next vicar was Rev William George McGowan was appointed in 1949. He was a “much loved and admired” vicar but decided to move on after just four years. At that point talk began again of closing old St Georges.

Rev John Penrose was appointed in 1954 and he stayed just three years. The building had fallen into disrepair again and cracks had begun to appear in the North wall. Architects’ reports showed that there were serious problems with the building and that is perhaps one of the reasons why John Penrose left the church.

In 1958 Rev William Radcliffe was appointed vicar and he too stayed just three years.

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Third Old St Georges Church in the late 1950s/1960s. Note the cross on the wall which was illuminated at night.

Radcliffe was succeeded in 1962 by the last vicar of old St Georges Rev Micheal Hodge. Hodge remained vicar for five years until the church closure in 1967.  Records show over 150 attended the final service in September 1967 and 80 attended the farewell dinner.

A great deal of effort was extended to try to preserve the building. In 1967 the Stalybridge Civic Society were interested in turning the building into a theatre. The Bishop agreed and said the building would be given as a gift to the town on condition that it would be maintained in a dignified manner. Unfortunately nothing came of this and the building was demolished.

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Prior to demolition the majority stained glass windows were moved into storage; unfortunately they were later destroyed b a fire. The “Ruth and Naomi” window was moved to Mottram Parish Church. A number of the pews went to Holy Trinity, Bardsley, the Church Bell went to the Church of St Stephen, Astley and the font went to new St Georges in Stalybridge. The wooded reredos  were sold to the Ealing FilmStudios along with one or two pews. The reredos was used on the set of the film “Cromwell” 

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The Cocker Hill churchyard remains today and you can still see the outline of old St Georges and the memorials to Rev Leeson and Rev Cape Atty.

New St Georges continues to be a living church. Website  http://www.stg.org.uk/

Sources

Two into On will Go by Paul Denby ISBN 0 9515993 0 5

Looking back at Stalybridge ISBN  0904506150

Burial Records Old St Georges

If you want to know more I can definitely recommend the book “Two into one will go” by Paul Denby ISBN 0 9515993 0 5. The book has the full history of both churches together with a full chapter on the battle between Isaac Newton France and the ChurchWardens.   There is also an account of the battle between Isaac Newton France and the Churchwardens in the book “Looking back at Stalybridge” Edited by Alice Lock ISBN  0 9515993 0 5.

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I bought a picture………..

Posted in Cocker Hill Today, tagged , , , on June 8, 2010| 2 Comments »

Well,  to be more precise my husband bought me a picture. I turn 40 later this month and am finding it fairly easy to suggest just one more present……….thanks Al. I love you.        

Normally I wouldn’t add personal stuff to this Cocker Hill blog; but in this case I have a good excuse as the picture is a view from the Cocker Hill Churchyard, looking North East, towards St Paul’s Church, Stalybridge. The building in the foreground was Stokes’ Mill. It is now apartments. 

The picture is what I consider to be my view, the one I look at with my coffee after the school run in the morning. Most other people look up a the hills or down onto the town centre, but I look down and across the river………So when I saw the painting I had to have it.       

       

A Light Snow - Sheila Vaughan

 

 If you want to see more of Sheila’s Stalybridge paintings you can see photos of them on her blog.

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Old St Georges Churchyard

Posted in St Georges Churchyard, tagged , , , , , on May 19, 2010| 1 Comment »

 The Churchyard on Cocker Hill has seen some changes in the almost 250 years it has been looking down on Stalybridge. Three Churches have come and gone on the site and there have been a number of fairly serious landslips.     

Looking at the graves and reading the inscriptions is interesting too. Some are just so sad;  for example in the one shown below for John and Peggy Kershaw you can see in the high infant mortality in the area only too easily. Their first child, Matty died in April 1800 aged 2 years, Mary died in May 1803 aged 4 weeks, Daniel died in june 1804 aged 9 weeks, Jno Hiram died in August 1807 aged 4 weeks, Nathaniel died in January 1811 aged 3 weeks, Margaret died in January 1812 aged 48 weeks and James died in February 1813 aged 7 weeks. John Kershaw died himself in 1821 aged 48 and Peggy died in 1841 aged 68. John was the Sexton at the Cocker Hill Chapel. There are many other memorials with similarly sad stories to tell.         

John and Peggy Kershaw and their Children

 

 Then there are other Gravestones that the “tourists” like to come and see in their groups on summer evenings like the one for Neddy Hall, owner of the first steam-powered Cotton Mills in the area. Neddy’s Mill was known as “Sootpoke Mill”         

There is a full list of all the gravestones and their inscriptions on the New St Georges Church Website.       

The Church and Churchyard were the first in Stalybridge. Built in 1776         

The land that the Church and Churchyard were built upon was originally owned by the Earl of Stamford. It was first conveyed in 1698 and was described in the deed as “a chance close, a parcel of land”  It is recorded that nothing was made of the land at the time. As the population of Stalybridge grew the need for a Church in Stalybridge  increased . The first Church was built on the site in 1776 and was consecrated as the “Chapel of St George in Staley Bridge within Ridgehill and the Lanes in the Parish of Ashton Under Lyne”.          

The first recorded Burial in the Churchyard was 16 January 1777.         

In a “return”  to the Bishop in 1821  the vicar the graveyard as described as being small-quite full and was kept in good order by allowing sheep to graze upon it.  Tameside council now keep the graveyard in good order with regular mowing, but it is not unknown for sheep to graze on it even now.  In the early hours of the morning a few years ago a neighbour of mine saw a small flock of sheep quietly grazing there……….we initially thought she was seeing things but it was a true a local sheep farmer had brought the sheep to graze on churchyard when his own grass was worn out.         

In the book Bygone Stalybridge there is an account of the funeral of  Joseph Hall of  Stalybridge. It describes  Joseph Hall as being connected with the Staly Hunt and describes his burial in the Cocker Hill church yard “attended by upwards of a hundred devout followers of the chase, many of them dressed in their well-worn livery, and attended by their faithful hounds”.  Apparently the sight provided material for a Lancashire sketch entitled “The Huntsman’s Funeral” by Ben Brierey.   

In February 1877 there was the first of two major landslips from the churchyard. Described as an “Alarming incident”. A section of the graveyard had collapsed onto the road below. An investigation by the police and the vicar showed that five or six coffins had fallen with the soil. The particular corner of the graveyard that fell was mainly used for the interment of still born children and it was these coffins that had fallen. Also when the work men began to sort through the debris it became clear that there appeared to have also been a number of  unofficial burials of still-born babies in addition to those in the Church records. Infant mortality was high in those days and many people could not afford to have their children buried. News of the landslip spread rapidly and by the early hours hundreds of people were viewing the scene and were reported to be “lining the bridge and adjoining places eager to get a view of all that had gone on.” The photo below shows the church and churchyard and the bridge where the crowds stood to see what was going on.         

Old St Georges Church and Churchyard.

 

 In 1968 the Church was demolished and in 1972 the churchyard was remodeled and landscaped  with new trees planted. This apparently made it easy to cut the grass and keep it tidy. I understand that it was at this time that the gravestones were moved into the positions they are now in forming steps down into Stalybridge.        

Cocker Hill Churchyard May 2010; The Gravestone Steps

 

A number of the past vicar’s from old St Georges had memorials in the Churchyard. The memorials for Rev Cape Atty and Rev Leeson can still be seen in the churchyard today. The memorials for Rev Kenworthy and Rev Jelly-Dudley were removed when the churchyard was remodeled.   

 1982 there was another landslip, not serious this time, just a small proportion of the retaining wall, and then in January 1983 there was another, more major landslip. This exposed he end of a large coffin and took a large section of the wall and a lot of earth into the River below.  I’d love to have seen the local paper that week!       

At that time it was also discovered that a family vault had been disturbed some years before. There were signs that the Stalybridge Body Snatchers had been at work as the coffin lids were off, some coffins were on their ends and all were empty.  However all that was in the past and the churchyard can now finally Rest in Peace and be enjoyed by all those who walk through it.    

Cocker Hill Churchyard; At Peace; May 2010

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Photos

Posted in Cocker Hill Today, tagged , , , on May 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A few photos of the area from our albums.

Old St Georges Churchyard, Cocker Hill from Rock Cottage September 2009

 

Rock Cottage gateposts to Shawmoor; September 2009

 

Cocker Hill cobbles September 2009

 

Old St Georges Churchyard, Cocker Hill; September 2009

 

Old St Georges Churchyard; October 2009

 

Rock Cottage, Cocker Hill; October 2009

 

Cocker Hill looking towards Holy Trinity Church and Stalybrige Civic Hall; January 2010

 

Bohemia Cottages; April 2010

 

 

Rock Cottage, rear view; July 2009

 

Rock Cottage, July 2009

 

Cocker Hill Churchyard May 2010

 

Cocker Hill Churchyard; May 2010

 

Stormy Weather; Shawmoor from Cocker Hill.

Full Moon; Mottram Road from Cocker Hill

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Body Snatchers on Cocker Hill

Posted in Body snatchers on Cocker Hill, St Georges Churchyard, tagged , , , , , , , on April 28, 2010| 3 Comments »

200 years ago there were no accurate models of human bodies for Doctors to train on. People didn’t leave their bodies to “medical science” so it was difficult to train Doctors and Surgeons. The only bodies Doctors were allowed to dissect for training were the cadavers of those who had received the death penalty for a crime. With an increase in medical schools and less harsher sentencing the Doctors did not have enough cadavers to allow them to train properly so they turned to body snatchers to supply bodies fresh enough to be examined.

Body snatching became so common in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s that it was not unusual for relatives and friends of someone who had just died to watch over the body until burial, and then to keep watch over the grave after burial, to stop it being stolen.

During 1827 and 1828, some body snatchers changed their tactics from grave-robbing to murder, as they were paid more for very fresh corpses. Their activities resulted in the passage of the Anatomy Act 1832. This allowed unclaimed bodies and those donated by the deceased’s family to be used for study which essentially ended the body snatching trade.

Stalybridge was not without its own band of Body Snatchers. Captain Sellars and his band of resurrectionists met in the Pack Horse Inn on Cocker Hill to plan and plot and the graveyard itself was pilfered many times.

The following is taken from the book “Reminiscences of a Chief Constable” by William Chadwick. William Chadwick was made Chief Constable of Stalybridge in 1862 and remained there until he retired in 1899.

“It was on a certain night, over sixty years ago, three men assembled in the bar parlour of the “Pack Horse ” Stalyley, smoking out of long clay pipes and drinking glasses of spirits. The evening was so far advanced that the spindle had ceased to whirl and the shuttle to rattle, and all was quiet save the heavy steps of the watchman proclaiming the hour in the lower portion of the village, varied by the screeching noise of an owl in the wood on the opposite side of the River. The men were deeply engaged in conversation carried on in an undertone, and there was such an air of mysteriousness about their conduct that the host was anxious for the room……..”

How good a start is that to a story? Love it.

After the described meeting in the pub the three  proceeded to Mottram Churchyard where they stole a body and placed it in a sack in a hamper and took it to a stable in Stalybridge. Later the following day a carrier’s cart received the hamper and took it on to Manchester. A well organised trade involving most of the graveyards in the area.

Another mention of Cocker Hill in William Chadwick’s account concerns a John Chadwick (no relation). John apparently had a strange way of walking and a slight speech impediment causing him to say “Bup a den”. Upon his death he was buried in the Cockerhill Churchyard. The doctors were specially anxious for his body as they thought it was likely to possess some peculiar features. A good sum was offered and the body snatchers went to work in earnest. The men were just lifting the body out of the coffin to put  it in a hamper, when the wind, whistling among the tombstones seemed to say “Bup a den”. At this one of the robbers took to his heels, and in his fright jumped over the graveyard wall, rolled down the hill to the river.

This and other cases caused a further search of the graveyard and it was discovered that the bodies were missing of old Joseph Platt, carrier, Rassbottom Street; old Joseph Hall, clothier, Cocker Hill. Joseph Hall has special significance to me as he could have been one of  Joseph Halls who owned Rock Cottage on Cocker Hill many years ago.

The Churchwardens at Cocker Hill prohibited the opening of any more graves to check the occupants; however when the graveyard was remodeled in 1972 it was noted that a number of the graves were empty.

The photo below shows one of the gravestones still in the Cocker Hill Graveyard with the Caption “This grave not to be re opened”. Whether that stone was first moved by Captain Sellars and his gang or when the graveyard was remodeled I wouldn’t like to say!

Cocker Hill Churchyard; Gravestones now used as a path into the town.

 

You can find a full list of the burial records for Old St Georges Churchyard together with the gravestone inscriptions on the website for New St Georges Church Stalybridge. Burial records Old St Georges.

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Archive Photos

Posted in Old Photos of Cocker Hill, tagged , , , on March 22, 2010| 13 Comments »

St George’s Church, Cocker Hill

I have grouped together here old photos of the area. The majority of the old photos below are available to view and buy from The Tameside Image Archive.

St Georges Church, Cocker Hill

Above is either the first or second St Georges Church, Cocker Hill. The first church was built in 1776, the second sometime after 1778. The Bridge in the foreground was built 1707 and replaced in 1824. Which dates the scene as between 1778 and 1824. I suspect the photo is the first Church as a photo I have of the second seems to show a slightly different roof.

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The second St Georges Church in close up.

Above is the second St Georges Church in detail.

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Second Old St Georges, with surrounding buildings

The above shows the same Church and the surrounding buildings. Wakefield Road Baptist Church is on the top left which means that the picture is was taken after 1848 when it was built.

St Georges, Stalybridge

This picture shows the Third St Georges Church, Stalybridge. This dates the picture as some time between 1888 and 1968 when the Church was demolished. Also note the viaduct in the background. The picture below shows the demolition of the viaduct.

Demolition of the viaduct

Demolition of the viaduct

St Georges, Stalybridge coloured

This picture of Cocker Hill caught my attention it is in colour but not a colour photo though. The colours must have been added later as the  Weavers Cottages in the middle ground are shown as red brick when they are actually all local stone.

Bohemia Cottages

The above shows Bohemia Cottages at the foot of Cocker Hill. The people on the photo interest me; did they know the would be in the picture? I guess they would not have believed that people would still look at the photo today. 25/03/13 – I have found out more about the photo since I put it on here. I was posed and part of a series showing workers of the area. There was no such thing as a quick snapshot when it was taken!

Bohemia Cottages April 2010

Whit Walks, Cocker Hill/Stamford Street

The picture above is taken from Stamford Street and shows the Whit Walkers walking down Cocker Hill.

The building on the left is now Thompson and Cook solicitors as you can see on the up to date picture below. The pub in the centre was the Star Inn. In between the two were a set of steps. A friend remembers the steps from her youth “We had to go up these steps when we came out of Stalybridge to get to our house on Hall St. When we were kids they were always known as the Starrin steps” The Star Inn has since been demolished.

Below are two pictures taken in 2013, the whit walkers in this case are coming down Stamford Street rather that Cocker Hill and are from New St Georges Church.

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Whit walkers 2013 – St Georges Church

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Whit Walkers 2013 – St Georges Church

Cocker Hill/Stamford Street

The picture above was taken looking down Cocker Hill towards Stalybridge Town Hall. The cobbles on Cocker Hill are still there but the majority of the Town Hall has now been demolished.

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Books

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on March 22, 2010| 2 Comments »

Listed below are the books about Stalybridge and surrounding areas and/or the Industrial Revolution that I have used for my research.

Two into One Will Go – Paul Denby ISBN 0 9515993 0 5

Two Into One Will Go by Paul Denby is a fantastic book containing the full history of both old and new  St Georges Church Stalybridge. The book is great, it details the history of both churches from the building of the original St Georges Church on Cocker Hill back in 1775 to the amalgamation of both congregations in the 1980’s. It is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the history of Cocker Hill or Stalybridge in general.

The book is out of print and difficult to obtain nationally, however, the Curate at New St Georges Church has confirmed that they have a number of copies for sale  at £2.95 and he suggested obtaining them from the Church after the Sunday Service at 12.15pm. (The service starts at 10.45  if you want to attend.) Paul Denby has also allowed New St Georges to put a link to his book on their website. Two Into One Will Go – Paul Denby

Stalybridge Pubs 1750 – 1990 – Rob Magee ISBN 1 85216 061 6

This lists all the pubs in Stalybridge, gives a brief history of each pub, and provides a full list of their licensees.

Reminiscences of a Chief Constable – William Chadwick ISBN?

William Chadwick was Chief Constable of Stalybridge 1862 – 1899. I got most of the information for my post on  body  snatching from his book. I can’t find an ISBN for it; the reprint I own was  produced by The Longdendale Amenity Society.

Bygone Stalybridge – Samuel Hill. ISBN?

I love this book. It is a fascinating read about Stalybridge from when records began until 1907 when it was written. It is probably this book that got me most interested in local history. Given that the book is now over 100 years old it is surprisingly easy to read. One of the things I find useful are the list of names the author provides; eg, names of the heads of Stalybridge families, various list of manufacturers, householders, special constables, members of institutions etc. It is great book to have a look at and see if you can find anyone listed you are researching. I can’t find an ISBN for this. The copy I own was published by the author himself; there have been later reprints.

I have just found a website with the full text of Bygone Stalybridge by Sam Hill.

Five Thousand Acres of old Ashton – Winifred Bowman – again no ISBN

No references to Cocker Hill at all which is surprising as it was inside the boundary covered by the book. Cocker Hill was then part of Ridgehill and the Lanes in the Hartshead district. The book goes back to Roman times and has great descriptions of  Parish Councils, the development of the roads, schools and early industries. Great if you are researching Ashton Under Lyne or Tameside in General; less use if you are only looking at Stalybridge.

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That Little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill – Samuel Hill

Posted in Lancashire Dialect Poems, Old St Georges Church, tagged , , , , , , , on March 22, 2010| 6 Comments »

I loved this poem when I found it; I love that the author, Sam Hill, seems to love the area as much as I do and I love the dialect it is written in. It is thanks to my Grandad that I can understand it all and hearing words like “booside” and “scholars” reminds me so much of him.  I find it best to try to read it aloud and then you can get the sense of it even if you struggle with some of the words. 

Old St Georges, Cocker Hill

 

 The Church is all gone now, but the Churchyard is still there and you can still “linger and wonder and ponder quite fierce” while looking down on Stalybridge. I often do. 

Noan far fro’ this clod ther stands an owd church
Th’ yard wo’s are grown hoary and grey,
Loike a stern sentinel up on his perch
Guardin’ the realms of decay.
I wurn’t yersterday ‘ut th’ foundations wur laid,
Wi’ that bed o’ hard rock for sil;
Theer theawsands o’ th’ owd un’s han’ knelt, sung, an’ prayed,
I’ that Little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill.

Aw’ve known that owd church sin’ fost aw knew owt;
Within th’ seawnd of it bell aw wur born;
As a lad, aw’ve climbed th’ wo; carin for nowt,
T read th’ owd inscriptions so worn.
When th’ gates han’ been fast, an nob’dy’s bin nee,
When th’ booside’s bin quiet an’ still,
Aw’ve linger’t, and ponder’t, and wonder’t, quite frce,
By that Little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill.

Ther’s lots o’ owd folk at aw knew sleepin’ theer,
‘ Neath th’ shadow o’ th’ sacred owd pile;
Ther’n restin’ till doom’s-day, witheaut any fear;
Ther’s some on’em rested a while.
Ther waitin’ till th’ day when ther’ll be a big sheawt,
When Gabriel’s trumpet shall trill  -,
That reckonin’ – day ‘ut they tell’n us abeaut
I’ that Little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill.

Th’ owd shepherd, ut watches o’er th’ flock ‘ut goes theer,
Aw’ve known him o’ th’ days o’ mi life,
Loike an old pilot, his boat he can steer –
It’s seldom ther’s bother or strife.
He’s noan quite as nimble as he’d use’t to be,
But he goes to his work wi a will;
Long may his owd face be seen beamin’ an free,
I’ that Little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill.

Every Whit-Friday aw look for th’ owd brid
When aw goo watchin’ th’ scholars I’ th’ teawn;
He’s one o’ th’ old stagers, fast nearin’ “the strid” –
Th’ owd mower keeps switchin’ um deawn.
Aw loike watchin’ th’ scholars, ther’s no deaubt o’ that;
Sweet feelin’s it seems to instil,
For it’s grand just to see ‘um com’ marchin’ full bat
Fro’ that little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill.

Aw conno’ do mich wi’ a romancing tale,
An’ yo’ munna’ be hard on mi rhyme;
Aw loike for t’ yer those ‘ut weather ‘t loife’s gale
Tell things ‘ut  wur wanst on a time.
Aw’m preawd o’ th’ owd landmark, it’s seldom aw miss
To let my porr een ha’ ther fill –
Aw look up fro’ th’ bridge, wi’ a feelin o bliss,
At that little Reawnd Church up o’ th’ Hill.

 

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