604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc The History of St Mary's, Edge Hill. (now known as All Saints, Liverpool), (aka. EDGE HILL CHURCH) 1812 - 2017 St. Mary’s in the country c1829 Welcome to the History of St Mary’s Church, Irvine Street, Liverpool, L7 8SY Page 1 of 41 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc 12. Jul. 2017 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc ALL SAINTS LIVERPOOL Service Times Sundays at 10:15am – Main Service in Parish Church (Irvine Street L7 8SY) Sundays at 11:00am – main service in Kensington Worship Center (Sheil Road L6 3AD) Please call the administrative hub for other service information. (0151 345 3208) Holy Days and Special Services as announced. Contact Details Please visit our website: allsaintschurchliverpool.com The Administrator may be contacted in regard to Historical queries, Baptisms, Weddings, etc. Address: The Hub, 55 Sheil Rd, Liverpool L6 3AD email: [email protected] Admin Hub: Phone: -0151 345 3208 All Saints Liverpool (Registered Charity 1155516) is a Church of England Church, part of the Diocese of Liverpool. The Bishop of Liverpool is the Rt. Rev. Paul Bayes. Page 2 of 41 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc 12. Jul. 2017 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc THE BEGINNING The foundation stone was laid on 14th Jan 1812, and the church, dedicated to St. Mary was opened for Divine Service 14th March 1813. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester on 25th Sep 1813. Until 1812 there was no Anglican church at Edge Hill. The population was, however, growing rapidly. In 1812 Mr. Edward Mason purchased a plot of land to build a church from Bamber Gascoyne Esq. The initial benefactors of the Church Edward Mason It appears Edward himself was a timber merchant and Mason Street L7 is named after him. Edward Mason 1736 – 1814 (from Oil Painting in Church) Page 3 of 41 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc 12. Jul. 2017 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc Bamber Gascoyne of Childwall Hall, Lancashire (1758 – 17 January 1824) was an eighteenth-century British politician. He was an ancestor of two British Prime Ministers, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and Arthur Balfour. He was the son of Bamber Gascoyne (senior) and Mary Green. He was Member of Parliament for Liverpool from 1780 to 1796. He was succeeded as MP for Liverpool by his brother Isaac. [1] [2] He spoke in Parliament against the abolition of the slave trade, and led the opposition to the Sierra Leone settlement bill, which successfully incorporated the Sierra Leone Company in 1791.[3] He was married to Sarah Bridget Frances Price, born in 1767, daughter of Chase Price and Susan Glanvile.[4] Their daughter Frances Mary Gascoyne (c. 1806 - 15 October 1839) married, on 2 February 1821, James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury. They became the parents of Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, and the grandparents of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour.[5]< (Wikipedia) CHURCH DESCRIPTION Church. 1812-13. Brick with stone dressing, slate roof. Nave of 2 storeys and 5 bays, west tower, 2 porches of 2 storeys in the angles between nave and tower. Canted chancel apse with low flanking chapels, flat band over ground floor; top cornice and castellated parapets and gables. Tower has added west porch; 3-face clock with diamond faces; bell stage has 2-light plate-traceried openings; top cornice and castellated parapet. Windows have architraves with roll mouldings and 3-light fixed casements with intersecting tracery. East window of 5-lights with Perpendicular stone tracery, similar window to north of nave. Rainwater heads dated 1812 and 1824. Interior has gallery on 3 sides, supported on slender iron columns; western bay now partitioned off. Chancel apse has flat ceiling with triangle amid rays. Wall monument on north wall of chancel to E. Mason (died 1814). 2 stained glass windows by W. Morris, 1870's, on north side of nave. Porches have stairs to gallery. As can be seen in the details below, the Church has been renovated on numerous occasions in it’s 200+ years, the current renovation has received substantial support from English Heritage. Page 4 of 41 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc 12. Jul. 2017 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc CHURCH FLOOR PLAN © Copyright Robin Wolley, 2015 Page 5 of 41 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc 12. Jul. 2017 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc CHURCH HISTORY Although St. Mary’s was consecrated in 1813 it was not until 1906 that the first vicar was appointed. Previous to that date there had been six ministers-in-charge of the district. The first of these was Rev. Adam Hayes who took charge of the district in the early days when Edge Hill was quite in the country, and people came out of Liverpool to stay in Edge Hill for sake of its fresh air and bracing breezes. He remained at St. Mary’s until his death in 1823 and was buried in the Church Yard. (1815 Reverand Hayes married Miss Jane Butler of edge Hill ) N.B. The clock in the tower was given by Edward Masons daughter, 1819 made by James Condliffe. (There is a memorial to Ellen Mason (daughter of Edward Mason, in the Church) The Rev C.L. Swainson succeeded him and about this time the church was enlarged at the expense of Miss Mason, who had previously (in 1820) given the clock which keeps time for Edge Hill. Again, in 1832, the church was repaired and painted by Miss Mason’s liberality, this was the last of her many benefactions as she died in the autumn of the same year aged 61. Rev C. L. Swainson Part of the Clergy here at St. Mary. This Parish had a connection to the beginning of Holy Trinity Church Hoose. (Hoylake Wirral) Charles Litchfield Swainson: Christening of 27 Jun 1799 Saint John Hackney,London,England. C042152 Marriage 23 May 1838 Milverton,Warwick,England. Spouse Harriett Littledale. MO43732 1851 Rector of the Parish of Crick Northampton. Mother Betty Swainson living here age 79. 1861 Rector of the Parish of Crick Northamptonshire. 1871 Rector of the Parish of Crick Northamptonshire. Death Charles Litchfield 4 Aug 1871.Northamptonshire,England (There is a memorial to John Timothy Swainson (Father of C.L.Swainson, in the Church) (J.T. Swainson - Collector of HN Customs, Liverpool & Lord of the Manor of Hoylake, Cheshire, he married 3 times) In 1835 Mr Swainson resigned and appointed the Rev. F. Barker to succeed him and who remained at St. Mary’s until 1854. It is interesting to note that he had an assistant the Rev. Vincent Ryan and this partnership must have marked quite a brilliant period in the history of St. Mary’s. Mr. Barker soon after was consecrated Bishop of Sydney and Mr. Ryan Bishop of Mauritius. So that in the first 25 years of its history , St. Mary’s has some influence in the training of two future Bishops of the Church. History was Page 6 of 41 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc 12. Jul. 2017 604 All Saints-St Marys History draft2.0.doc to repeat itself but a hundred years had to elapse before another vicar of St. Mary was consecrated Bishop. In 1855 the Rev. F. W. Harke became minister of the Church; during his time there was, in 1859, and extensive renovation of the Church. The east window was erected and also a handsome oak pulpit and communion rails. Mr. Harke was succeeded by Mr. J. Turnbull who remained until 1887 and it was during his ministry that the whole character surroundings of St. Mary’s was entirely altered. What had been originally almost a country church and had by stages become a popular suburban church, was now the centre of a large and rapidly growing district of the City of Liverpool itself. Streets were being built on the fields, and all vestige of the country disappearing. When the Rev. A. Wilson was appointed minister in 1887 the transformation was practically complete; the days far gone when the Church was surrounded by a ring carriages on Sunday mornings. During his ministry the Altar Reredos was erected through the generosity of Mr. Richard Hall. Mr. Wilson died in 1905 and the Rev. T. P. Rowe was appointed Minister. Curiously enough it was not until then that St. Mary’s had an assigned parochial district. Had Mr. Rowe remained for any length of time it is possible that he would have become the first Vicar of the parish but the following year he was appointed to the living of Garston and subsequently in 1906 St. Mary’s becomes a parish in its own right and the first Vicar was appointed in the person of the Rev. J. P. N. Potter. St. Mary’s was now almost 100 years old and during Mr. Potter’s time much work was done to renovate the Church and Churchyard in order that the Centenary of the Church might be suitably observed. This was observed, strangely enough, not in September, the month of the consecration but on the 29th of June and 6th of July, 1913. The Rev. Cannon J Macquaide , Rector of the Cathedral, Raphoe, the Rev Andrew Douglas, Vicar of St. Cuthbert’s, Preston, and Cannon Howson, Rector of Woolton were the special preachers. One of the highlights of the Centenary Celebrations was a Parish Re-Union on Wednesday 2nd July of that year.