The Old Church at Scholes
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The Old Church at Scholes
From the Barwicker No. 89
March 2008
The interior of St. Philip's Old Church, Scholes
In October 1935, Rev. Eric Victor Cave took up his duties as curate with charge of Scholes.
He obtained his BA with 3rd class in Theology at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1931. He was
trained at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford in 1931, was ordained deacon in 1932 and priest in 1933. He
was curate in Bedale from 1932 to 1935 and was curate here from 1935 to 1939. In 1937, he
was awarded his MA. He left Scholes to become Vicar of Startforth near Barnard Castle in
the Diocese of Ripon. His address here was c/o Mrs Pinchbeck, “Suncrest”, Main Street,
Scholes.
His reception here is described in the December edition:
| “For the third time in a fortnight the church at Scholes was crowded to its utmost capacity
on Thursday evening, October 17th., when the rector installed Mr Cave as priest-in-charge of
Scholes Church, using a form of service he had frequently used at Armley. In a very brief
address he stated that the strong sense of belonging to one parish, which had developed
amongst us all, made it possible for him to install Mr Cave in this manner at Scholes
without detriment to the fact that Mr Cave has been licensed for the whole parish, and will
do a certain amount of work in Barwick. At 8.15, the whole company was introduced, one by
one, to Mr Cave as they entered the village hall. Addresses of welcome were made and Mr
Cave responded. The rest of the evening was spent very happily in games, singing and
dancing.” |
Soon after his arrival, Mr Cave introduced changes in the Sunday school arrangements at
Scholes. The prospect of extra teachers enabled him to grade the scholars in an efficient
way. The school would start at 2.15pm in the village hall, with the infants department in
two classes in a separate room and the junior department in five classes in the large hall.
At 2.30pm he planned to take the senior class for half an hour in the church. In December
1935 there were seven teachers and about 50 scholars. By March 1937 this had risen to 70.
Once more we see that the numbers involved made the church building inadequate for this
important branch of religious life. Right from his arrival here he wrote a letter to the
people of Scholes published each month in the parish magazine. These tell us about the
activities of the church and reveal much about his personality and interests.
From time to time he reminded his readers that he was above all a man of God and that
observance of Christian practices was the supreme duty of all those who attended church. He
did not shy away from expressing criticism of the behaviour of some local people. In the
March 1936 edition of the Parish Magazine he wrote:
“Dear Scholes People,
Lent is a season for reminding ourselves of the obligations which we undertake when we call
ourselves church people. We intensify certain things which we are really doing all the
year. So we make some acts of self-sacrifice by denying ourselves certain luxuries and
spending all we save in this way on some Christian work, by attending a course of sermons,
by attending a mid-week service. Our Lord always appealed to the mind of His listeners. He
says we have to love God ‘with all our mind’.
So, at Scholes, this Lent, I am hoping you will take the opportunity of exercising your mind
on some definite Christian teaching. First let me refer you to the Bible Reading
Fellowship. I have introduced this to you in a sermon and there is a reference to it
elsewhere in this magazine. Secondly, on the Sunday evenings throughout Lent, the sermons
will deal with some important aspect of Christian living. After the service I hope that
many of you will stay behind and form a Discussion Group on the subject of the sermons. It
is unfortunate that so many people can discuss football tactics, a hand of cards or politics
much more intelligently than they can religious matters”. |
The Bible Reading Fellowship, which Rev. Cave mentions, encouraged daily Bible reading using
booklets, whose authors were all eminent scholars of the Anglican Church. The cost of the
booklets was a 1d. per month subscription collected by the churchwardens. The Scholes Youth
Group distributed the booklets.
During the year 1936, the main preoccupation of the Scholes congregation seems to have been
planning for the replacement with a new church of the old chapel of St. Philip’s. In
January, Colonel Gascoigne presented two acres of land near St Philip’s for the purpose of erecting a new church and church buildings. After consultation with the West Riding County Council, the planning authority, the land was transferred to the trustees of the Diocese of Ripon to hold until building was possible.
The case for the replacement of the old St Philip’s by a new church is set out clearly put by the rector in the June parish magazine:
| “The present Scholes Church is unsatisfactory for present purposes, and within a few years should be quite inadequate. As one does not wish to live in an unsuitable and inconvenient house, so an attempt must be made to raise a more adequate building, of an appearance at least equal to that of the present building, to act as a spiritual home of the church-people of Scholes. Those who lived here built well; we have a similar duty to perform for those who are to follow us.”
|
The Scholes Church Membership Fund was closed and its assets transferred to a Scholes Church Building Fund, which would in future collect the monthly subscriptions. Money was collected by an envelope scheme for weekly donations. The cost of the building was then estimated at about £18 per seat in the church, about £3600 for a 200 seater building. Donors were asked to contribute regularly over a period of perhaps seven years. Money was also collected from social events such as whist drives, specified church collections, personal donations and contributions from the Church Guild. By July £119 had been collected and by the end of the year the total had risen to nearly £340.
It must have been a source of some concern when the Bishop introduced in early 1936 an appeal to raise money to celebrate the centenary of the establishment of the Diocese of Ripon. The money would be used for new buildings, etc. To avoid any confusion it was agreed between the Bishop and the Rector that any contributions from Scholes would be allocated for a new church in Scholes. All the parishes of the diocese would present their offerings in November at “a great service in the cathedral”. The appeal made an excellent start when in the first four weeks £36,000 was raised in gifts or promises. Scholes New Church would be put on the list for the distribution of organs from dismantled churches.
Mr Cave was anxious to promote activities for his senior Sunday school class. This formed the basis of a Scholes Youth Group founded in January 1936 and meeting on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month in the council school - another venue for church activities. The following committee was elected; Mr A Sharp (chairman), Miss Enid Harrison (secretary), Mr Douglas Blackah (treasurer), Miss Joan Leach, Miss Brenda High and Mr Harry Woodward.
During the summer of 1936, the Barwick and Scholes youth groups met for evening walks in the district. “We have explored the ruins of Parlington, arrived at Thorner by a devious and muddy route and one evening we walked across the golf course (making the game more interesting for the golfers!) to Barnbow.”
There was a choir at St Philips but we read very little about it in the magazines. When the choir was mentioned it was usually when there were problems. In February 1936 Mr Cave reported that the choir had been “without one or two parts” - soprano, contralto, tenor or bass presumably. He proposed the formation of several quartets, each member taking a part. A rota of quartets would ensure that a good lead was given to the congregation. “We shall of course still have the help of the boys. They are really improving and have attended practices and services most regularly.” In May 1937 at the annual Sunday School Festival Service, Mr Cave reports that “the choirboys were present in their cassocks and surplices”.
On 3 May, 1936, a patronal festival was held in Scholes to celebrate the dedication of the church to St Philip and St James. The date came within the “octave” of the two above saints. Mr Cave wrote “We owe a debt, not only to those who built our church, but also to all the Christian ancestors in every department of our individual, social, political, and economic life, and the observance of the patronal festival will give us the opportunity to acknowledge that indebtedness.”
Money raising for the new church continued in subsequent years with collections, donations and events. The most important of these was a sale of work on 9 and 10 April 1937, in Scholes Village Hall. The rector’s report on this in the parish magazine for May is a blue-print for a successful money-raising event.
| “We are all elated by the success of the sale of work. That success was due to many things, and amongst them the resolution and enthusiasm with which we are all undertaking our vast task for the building of the new church. Big enterprises either daunt people or stimulate them. In our case there is stimulus. The result has encouraged us all and should have a marked effect for good upon all our church life. A second case was the scrupulousness with which the stalls were financed beforehand. Purchasers were more ready to buy liberally because they knew that all they spent would go to the fund, with the exception of the remarkably small expenses of printing, hiring, etc. The third cause was the support of people outside the parish as in it, and the munificence of the openers.” |
To open the sale of work, the rector had invited Viscount Bledisloe, former Governor of New Zealand and the grandson of Rev. W H Bathurst, rector of Barwick from 1820 to 1852. However he was unable to come, but he made a most generous donation of £100, with Mrs Gascoigne giving £25. The stalls, sale of tickets etc. raised £188.13s.6, donations amounted to £167.18s.4. Expenses were £8.1s.1d., giving an overall profit of £338.10s.9d. This would have bought a small house in 1937.
In December 1938, Rev. Cave was appointed Vicar of Startforth, Barnard Castle, at the extreme north of the diocese of Ripon. In his three years here he had added much to the religious life of Scholes and the parish as a whole, not least his work for the young people. He was given a memorable send-off by the people of Scholes and Barwick who were most generous in their leaving gifts to him. The parish magazine of March 1939 records:
“On the evening of February 16th there was a very happy gathering at Scholes Village Hall on the occasion of presentation to Mr Cave. The Rector was in the chair and there were speeches by him and by Mr E B Sharp, Mr S Woodward and Mr H Smith. Christine Hompes presented the book token given by the Sunday School. The Rector presented the gifts, which were a typewriter, a nest of three tables, a walnut bedroom table, a bedroom chair, a standard lamp. a reading lamp, a coal scuttle, a Rolls razor, and the balance of 2s.8d. Mr Cave responded. A programme of games and music had been arranged by the Social Committee, who also served light refreshments. The gifts, and the very large attendance, including a good representation from Barwick, testified to our affection for Mr
Cave and our appreciation of his work.”
Mr Cave wrote the following day from the Vicarage at Startforth thanking all for “your generosity and the kind thoughts”. He was not replaced immediately so the Rector appointed in February 1939 three lay commissioners: Messrs. E B Sharp, S Woodword and A Marsh (the speakers at the presentation) to carry out his duties.
In March 1939, a new curate was appointed. In the Rector’s words:
| “Now we welcome Mr and Mrs A E Cann and Bobbie, aged 7 months. Rev Cann was a Church Army captain, was Church Army Diocesan Missioner in the Liverpool diocese, and worked among the unemployed, was ordained seven years ago, was the curate to the Archdeacon of the Isle of Man, was then in charge of a new housing area in Liverpool diocese, then curate of Pateley Bridge. He will have arrived by the time you read this. I am not asking him to enter upon his duties till during the week following March 5th. in order to give him and his wife an opportunity to settle into their new home. He can be assured of our very sincere welcome and of our help to him in all his work.” |
The Cann family took up residence at Belle Vue, Scholes. Mr Cann, like his predecessor, wrote a letter each month in the parish magazine. He thanked everyone for their warm welcome and looked forward to a “happy stay” at Scholes. “The work of building and extending God’s Kingdom in which we are engaged is a great adventure and enterprise and deserves the very best we can put into it.”
At the end of 1937 the fund for the new church stood at £803. The congregation at St Philip’s must have thought that the building of a new St Philip’s was in sight. Slower progress however was made in 1938 and at the end of the year the fund held only £883.
In the June 1939 magazine, the Rector writes:
“I have submitted our case for the need of the first part of the new building before the Diocesan Forward Movement and the Leeds Extension Society. What we have suggested to them is the building as soon as can be effected, of the Hall of the new church, at an approximate cost of £2250.
We propose to them that it would be desirable to have this erected before the rest of the building, and that it could be used for a church for the time being, with a screened sanctuary, so that it could be used for other purposes also. If this plan is accepted, then we have something definite to work towards and the prospect of a building which would be most useful and would allow for the expansion of our organisations at Scholes.” |
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