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Walton Mission's Centenary (August 1989 edition of magazine) On Whit Sunday 1989 St. John's Church celebrated the centenary of the first service in the earlier Mission Church. Three 'services were held attended by a total of 191, including 40 children. To make room for the 10.30 Family Service (the best attended of the three) the 9.OOam congregation crossed the road to take coffee and centenary cake in Allison House Farm, at the kind invitation of John and Elaine Clayton. The earlier church stoad adjacent to the barn of this farm. Bishop Bill Flagg, General Secretary of SAMS, addressed the 9.00am service. He stood between the memorials to .the Reverend J. B. Jebb and Mrs. Jebb (whose daughter presented the pulpit to the church) and Mrs M. L. Humble. Together Mr and Mrs Jebb and Mrs Humble played major roles in church life both in Walton where they lived and Brampton at the Parish Church for 90 years after 1846 when Mr Jebb became the second Vicar of St. Thomas Brampton. Prior to 1889, Mrs Jebb provided a room for Sunday School and Evening Service and Mrs Humble was already in charge of the Sunday School. There is however no memorial to the Reverend Charles Edward Little. His period of two years and one month as Rector of St. Thomas is the shortest of any of the 14 incumbents since 1831. His short term saw great progress. This is recorded well because in January 1888 he initiated the St. Thomas Brampton Parish Magazine. Only five months after his arrival a Mission Room was opened in Lower Brampton which eventually became St. Mark's Church with its own parish. In April 1888 the magazine reported that two cottages had been purchased at the corner of Holymoorside Lane which were to be converted into a Mission Room for, Walton. There was also to be expansion at the parish church, the foundation stone for the Chancel and organ chamber being laid on 29th August 1888. All this building and conversion work led to financial problems. When in October 1888 Mr Little announced his resignation due to Mrs Little's health he promised to stay "until the Mission Room at Lower Brampton is out of debt and the Mission Room at Walton finished and ready for use, and out of debt, which will be some time early in the New Year." He proposed to give a series of lectures to raise funds. In the event the Reverend C.E. Little left in July 1889, having seen the work on the Walton Mission Room completed and opened for service but "having had to pay a large sum (£31) for the Brampton Mission Room I am unable to do as I had hoped, viz to pay for it myself." From subsequent magazines it appears that the outstanding debt was £12. Entertainments were organised in the new Mission Room to provide the money. The gifts with which the Walton Mission Room was equipped included a lectern from Mr Little's new parish of Egloshayle, Cornwall. It is interesting that a hundred years on there are schemes to extend the three churches in the parish. Fortunately the present Rector's wife appears in good health. J M Smith St Peters 150 Years Old (October 1991 edition of magazine) Parish History The Church at Old Brampton dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul was built on the site of an earlier church about the middle of the 13th century. It served Brampton Parish including the area we now know as Holymoorside. The church had the status of a Chapel at ease to Chesterfield Parish Church and as late as the 16th century the inhabitants of Brampton Parish were under obligation to pay certain dues to the Vicar of Chesterfield Parish Church. This was the cause of controversy over a long period until Brampton became a separate ecclesiastical parish. The end of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century saw a great population increase and it was decided to create a new ecclesiastical parish at New Brampton. This was formed from the old Township of Walton in Chesterfield parish and a part of the Old Brampton parish. A new church was built at what we now call Chatsworth Road and dedicated to Saint Thomas. The new church was opened on 29th July 1831 and is still the parish church of Holymoorside. Ten years later, 1841, a combined mission school and church was built to serve Holymoorside. It was opened late in 1841 and is dedicated to Saint Peter. The day school was one of the 'National Schools' run by the Church of England and the schoolmaster around 1850 was John Stevens. Use as a day school probably continued until 1872. The burial ground was added in 1914 and at this date it was proposed to build a new church on the site of 'Rose Cottage'. This scheme did not materialise and 'Rose Cottage' is now the residence of one of the parish curates. Fifty Years of Scouting in Brampton (December 1999 edition of the magazine) A Scout group launched by a former Brampton Rector, Canon John Dawson Hooley. as a St Thomas' Church venture, recently marked its golden anniversary with a reunion. It brought together many people proud to have been associated with the 3rd Brampton Scout Troop over the past 50 years. It was a heart-warming occasion with everyone acknowledging that the group has done remarkable things for local boys and won many awards along the way. As part of the celebration I was delighted to meet up again after 45 years with my childhood friend and fellow St Thomas' chorister Paddy Hooley, who was the true founder of the group, having forced his father's hand by his constant 'persuasion'. Paddy, who has since travelled the world as an orchestral musician, came from Somerset to attend the reunion. Another guest was Noel Smith and he, Paddy and I were among a handful of first recruits in 1949. We met in the old school room at Barker Lane and our numbers quickly expanded as Brampton boys came to appreciate Scouting's great values. Despite his busy pastoral work, Canon Hooley ran the group himself until Vic Creswick (Skip) an experienced Scout, came to Brampton. His timely arrival, and his willingness to take over, were always seen as an answer to the Rector's prayers. Now nearly 80. Vic greeted everyone at the reunion with the fellowship and warmth that was typical of him, and not least did he welcome Paddy, who became the group's first Queen's Scout. Older parishioners with the memories of Canon Hooley's fruitful years in Brampton may like to know that as a part of the anniversary Paddy and I visited Church Wilne, near Draycott, Derby, to lay flowers on the Ex-Rector's grave. The enduring success of the group he launched with modest numbers but a truly brave spirit would have gladdened his heart. Spencer Spooner (St Thomas' Church chorister 1947-1964) The current Scout Troop is the 3rd Brampton. A Early History of St Thomas' (December 2002 edition of magazine) Psalm 127: 1 "Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it". It is the first Sunday of August 1831 and the Revd. M.Vincent, rector of the newly opened church of St. Thomas' Brampton, is conducting morning worship. The service is Matins, and every seat in the new pews is filled. Sunlight streams through the high arched windows on the south side of the nave and those seated there enjoy its warmth. Others gaze at the unusual decorated ceiling, or admire the new church furniture. The interior is spacious and plain. Outside there is a general stillness, broken only by the occasional clopping of hooves on the dusty road or the sound of birdsong from nearby trees. This is the Sabbath day and the mills, potteries and coal workings around Brampton are silent. To the west of the church boundary, beyond a few cottages on the edge of Brampton moor, the fields sweep towards the distant ridge on which stands the ancient parish church of St. Peter and St.Paul at Old Brampton. The land is at rest in this calm interlude before the great Victorian era of expansion that will transform the lives of the population. At St. Thomas' the congregation follows closely the simple and majestic words of the 1662 prayer book. The liturgical worship continues through confession, creed and prayers, ending with three collects and a formal dismissal. The pattern of worship has been set and will continue almost unchanged for the remainder of the 19tt' century. The decades roll by, and early next century a chancel is added. The original closed pews are replaced with a more modern version and other interior changes take place. All this and the tumultuous events of the 20th century lie ahead. Now, as another century begins, how can this building best be adapted to meet the spiritual needs of those it was built to serve? Glyn Botham |
