Westhouses: Midland Railway Village The Early Years
The Origins and Foundations of St Saviours Church, Westhouses

By Dudley Fowkes

St Savour's Church, Westhouses, the 'tin tabernacle', has become a familiar and much appreciated feature of the Midland Railway Centre scene. This short article looks at the factors and personalities behind its foundation and records what is known of the detailed history of the structure.

Following the opening of the Westhouses locomotive depot in 1891 the settlement had developed rapidly and, given its distance from Blackwell Parish Church and the religious climate of Victorian times, it was only a matter of time before the subject of 'the provision of a church' for the new village was raised. This duly happened in 1895 with Ernest Edward Morris, Vicar of Blackwell from 1890, taking the lead in the matter. On 14 October 1895, a meeting was called to discuss church extension 'in this rapidly growing parish', and it was resolved 'that the time had arisen when the necessities of the parish demand additional clerical assistance, and that in consequence of the great increase in population in the outlying districts additional church accommodation should be provided'. There was a further resolution 'that application be made to the Home Mission Society of the Church of England and the Derbyshire Church Extension Society for a grant in aid of a curate for this parish'.

A committee was appointed to pursue these resolutions but for over a year met with no success in its request for funds and in July 1896 the desire for a separate church in Westhouses was joined by a petition from the inhabitants for the provision of day schools.

In March 1897 there were indications of renewed activity when the Vicar gave a short address at the Annual Gathering suggesting that the parish should mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee with the building of a church, at Westhouses. By August a site for the proposed church was being sought and the Duke of Devonshire's agent, Mr Gibson, was approached to see if the estate was willing to assist. The Vicar was sufficiently confident of progress to make enquiries as to costs and to obtain specimen plans so that immediate action could be taken to raise funds once a site had been acquired.

In the event of the Vicar's optimism was justified and in February 1898 it was announced that the negotiations with the representatives of the Duke of Devonshire had been completed and that a site would be provided at a nominal rent. A provisional committee to push the scheme forward was appointed at a meeting on 18 February 1898. The provisional plans were inspected and it was estimated that a sum of £350 would be required to build the church. As the requests for grant aid from the main bodies within the church had met with no success, it was essentially a 'self-help' exercise with the money having to be raised locally.

The initial subscription list was published in March 1898 followed by a second in April. Also by April 1898 the long-awaited curate - The Rev C Hulscliff - had been appointed, and at a meeting at Westhouses on Monday 25 April 1898 the decision was taken to put the work of the church in hand. The plans of Messers Bruce and Still of Liverpool were approved and their contract accepted.

By June work on the fabric was reported to be progressing although the sum of £100 still needed to be raised and Mr Jameson had undertaken to superintend the work free-of-charge. The fourth subscription list was also published in that month. The builders' contract did not contain any provision for heating or lighting, or fencing for the site, and it is not clear how these were provided for. Nevertheless, it was stated in July that Sunday Schools would be conducted in the building at the earliest opportunity and arrangements made for the formation of a choir.

The need to raise the £100 shortfall clearly led to the net being widened to outside the immediate vicinity with the sixth subscription list, published in August, being headed by W G Turbutt of Ogston Hall and C R Palmer-Morewood of Alfreton Hall. This final push meant that the Vicar could announce with some confidence that the church would be opened formally for full services in mid-September.

His optimism provided justified as the dedication service fixed for 3.00pm on Monday 26th September with the Bishop of Southwell performing the ceremony - Derbyshire being part of the diocese of Southwell between 1854 and 1927. The preacher at the evening service was The Rev R K Bolton of Fenny Bentley. £50-£60 was still required to complete fund-raising and a final subscription list was published in September.

Not all the church furniture and fittings have found their way to the Midland Railway Centre but it is interesting to complete the picture by recording the known details. The painted panels of the reredos were by Mr Hulscliff of Wetherby and were presented as an offering to the church, and its oak and gilded framework was by Messrs Barker and Boot of Nottingham. The brass lectern was made by Jones and Willis of Birmingham and the altar frontal by Foster and Copper of Nottingham. The font was of red Mansfield stone.

By October 1898 most of the accounts had been paid and a process that had its origins three years earlier was complete. Ernest Morris, the vicar responsible for seeing the project through, departed before the end of 1898 to begin what was to be a long ministry in Ashbourne. That it was a genuine community effort is reflected in the fact that some 200 individual donations were involved in making up the £350 required to build it. St Saviour's Iron Church, as it was referred to at the Easter Vestry in 1899, was symbolic of both the arrival of Westhouses as a distinct settlement and of the continuing role of religion in the life of the late Victorian era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Left) Interior showing the 'East' end - 11th December 1999
(Right) 'South' side window showing the leading glaziers art - 11th December 1999

 

 

 

 

 

(Left) The Altar - 11th December 1999
(Right) Commemorative plaque - 11th December 1999

 

 

 

 

 

(Left) The 'West' end and entrances to Church and Vestry - 9th December 1999
(Right) The 'East' end in the sun - 8th January 2000

Sources
Derbyshire Record Office, Blackwell and South Normanton Parish Magazine, 1895 - 1898, D1034/A/PI/9/3-4
All photos by John Eggleshaw

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