Scenes
around St Chad's Church
for
Church contact details
The parish church at Bagnall is dedicated to St. Chad
but may once have been known as St Michael's in common with other churches
in the area built on a hilltop. In the middle ages the settlement formed
part of the parish of Stoke-on-Trent. By the 16th century Bagnall was
a chapelry, one of several carved out of thr main parish and given a
small building to serve the needs of the local population.
The Western Tower contained a solitary bell and an earlier building on the site is said to date back to Saxon times. The old church had a wooden tower and was described as "a miserable structure which could have been mistaken for a barn had it not been for the tower and bell."
After 1807 the chapelries of Bucknall and Bagnall became a separate parish, but the original church building was almost in ruins. It had six small windows and the interior was dark and inconvenient and eventually the east end of the building was propped up with pieces of timber and was described as being "ruinous" by 1817. The decision was taken to build a new church building.
The present church is a Grade II listed building designed by J. Beardmore and is of coursed squared and roughly dressed millstone in the Gothic style and was completed in in 1834. Built simply in a rectangular shape, the tower and chancel were added in 1878.
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An
old postcard of St Chad's Church - 19th Century?
Note lack of walls and road. |
The
register of Bagnall, St Chad commences in 1800.
The original registers for the period 1800-1873 (Bapts), 1800-1914
(Mar) & 1834-1906 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
A transcript of the registers covering Baptisms 1762-1812, Marriages
1765-1812 and Burials 1763-1812 was published by the Staffordshire
Parish Register Society and has been reprinted by the Birmingham &
Midland SGH.
|
Q.
Who was St. Chad? A. Staffordshire's
Saint!
to learn more on BBC Radio Stoke's "Local Heroes" pages. |
The custom of ringing the bell as an evening curfew also points to Saxon times. It is believed this was a custom prior to the Norman Conquest.
In the church grounds is a Grade II listed 17th century churchyard cross. It is made of red sandstone with a 2-tier octagonal base with a tapered square shaft 1 yard high, it has an enlarged head with incribed Ionic scrolls. An ancient column in the churchyard near the porch shows the date 1701 and is all that is left of an old sundial.
The church was extensively restored and repaired between 1879-81 at a cost of £500. It was then the chancel, porch and vestry were added. The Rev. Samuel Hubert Owen provided the chancel in 1880. He also presented the east window and the Lych Gate.
Rev. George Thomas Birch who was Rector for 41 years used to walk from Bucknall each Sunday If it rained he wore waterproofs and carried his cassock and surplice in a haversack. For an early communion he brought his breakfast and ate it in the vestry.
The interior of the church is simple, colour being provided by paintings on the walls.
An appeal fund is proposed to restore the pictures and to expose another, which has been painted over.
Before the present church was restored, the open seats were closed pews. Seven lamps of Italian glass were suspended from a beam in front of the table and kept alight.
There is evidence of a balcony at the west end.
Inside the tower above the door are the Ten Commandments and on the opposite wall the Lord's Prayer and the Creed.
The font is of plain stone with no record of its age. However a painting of the "new" church shows a font of different design. Edmund Sherratt, of Bagnall Hall, presented the finely wrought iron screen in 1920.
The choir stalls are of oak and were installed in 1927.
In the early
days music was provided by an orchestra. There are references in the
accounts to bass viol, reeds and strings and also to a
"singing pew".
Around 1800 a harmonium was acquired and an organ chamber and organ
installed during restoration, and a new organ was bought in 1924 at
a cost of £455.
The choir was first supplied with surplices and cassocks at the dedication festival in 1880 at the cost of the Rector.
The Sunday School or Church Hall was built in 1909 and extended in 1960.
The church tower clock was dedicated in 1960 and is floodlit at night.