More Developments - 1940-1979

The Second World War

The Rev. P.Barwell Spriggs died in July 1940 after an illness of a few months and his successor, the Rev. E.Hirst, was appointed by the Church Pastoral Aid Society, in accordance with a long standing arrangement.  There are no magazines available for the War period but, of course, the work and worship at St. Peter’s and at Highfield Hall continued, though there was apparently no curate to lead the work at Highfield.

The Rev. E.Hirst left in 1946 and was succeeded by the Rev. R.McPherson Heard who, in 1948, appointed Sister Lilian Branch of the Church Army to work mainly at Highfield Hall.

Windows and Memorials

Although St. Peter’s is a comparatively modern church, there are three stained glass windows in the chapel – in memory of the Rev. P.J.Richards, the first vicar, of Mr and Mrs Turlington and of the Rev. P.Barwell Spriggs.

Also in the chapel, the communion rail was given by the Mothers’ Union, in memory of Mrs Martha Carroll.  There is oak panelling around the walls, itself a gift with engravings in memory of the first organist, W.P.Jolley, past vicars P.J.Richards, A.J.Meakin, Ion Carroll, Percy Barwell Spriggs; and ‘In memory of the fallen of the Parish 1914–18, 1939–45’.

In the church itself on a pillar near the pulpit is a plaque, put in place in 1948, in memory of Mr Robert Marriott “the builder of our beautiful church and a wise master builder as a Warden and Councillor”.  In the Children’s Corner is a memorial to David Dickens, while the moveable lectern was given in memory of Mr John Anderson.  More recently, kneelers have been embroidered in memory of church members, including Mrs D.Curtis and Mrs S.Bates.

Many other thank offering gifts have been donated to the church over the years.

The 1950s

In 1950 the Rev. E.T.Hughes became Vicar and this immediate post-war period proved to be a time of expansion and growth.  The magazine itself in these years took the title ‘ADVANCE’ – as the Vicar himself said in his introductory letter – “It is a kind of looking forward word … a going forward word … a going forward together word,” and he called on St. Peter’s members to take action.

Certainly the magazines of these years show a very busy fellowship at both worship centres, led by Mr and Mrs Hughes, and by successive Curates, the Rev. G.Calder and the Rev. B.Morley with Church Army Sisters, Sister L.Branch and Sister J.Mason.  Notably, a branch of the Church of England Men’s Society was formed.  There was a flourishing Youth Group and Young Wives as well as uniformed organisations.  These included the revived Scout Group led by Mr Alan Mantle and the establishment of a Pathfinder Group in succession to the Boys’ club.

The work at Highfield Hall was also expanding; the first Communion Service was held there on November 22^nd, 1953, during a mission entitled “Highway at Highfield”.  In June 1954 the Bishop of Peterborough re‑hallowed Highfield as St. Mark’s Church and celebrated communion there.  Following that there were monthly communion services and baptisms were also permitted.

The Rev. E.T.Hughes was succeeded by the Rev. J.R.Aspinall in whose time the Golden Jubilee was celebrated, and then by the Rev. W.G.Muir who had worked for the Sudan United Mission in Africa for 21 years.  His inaugural letter suggested that St. Peter’s adopted as its motto for 1959 “Workers Together with God” (2 Cor.6v.1) and he continued the work of his predecessors with a special interest in missionary work.  During these years, St. Peter’s developed a strong link with the Rev. Charles Tett and Mrs Tett who worked for C.M.S. in Kenya.  A good deal of work was done in the Church Hall and Kitchen and the insurance company paid for a new curtain behind the Holy Table, following a fire started by a candle during a service.

The Rev. J.G.Langham and the Rev. G.Jessop were Curates, while Deaconess Brandon succeeded Sister Joyce Mason.  Mr Muir left at the end of 1965 and the Rev. G.T.Barber succeeded in 1966.

Jubilees

The Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1957, when the Rev. J.R.Aspinall was Vicar, with a series of special services and a Gift Day to pay for various needs of the church building and its surroundings.  Various needs were met including the provision of a new bell, a centre communion rail, a motor mower and a wall on the north side of the church.

Ten years later, with Rev. G.T.Barber as Vicar, the Diamond Jubilee was celebrated, again coupled with a Gift Day.  By the end of 1967, £621 had been raised and this was used to purchase a gas fired boiler.

The 1960s and 1970s

Life continued at St. Peter’s in the usual way with many activities, spiritual and social.  The 1970s were notable for the expansion of St. Mark’s as Mr Barber saw the needs of that area, where even more new building was taking place, along Grangeway and towards the Wymington Road.  At first most services at St. Mark’s were led by Readers – Mr Sid Pratt (continuously since the 1930s), Harry Dickens, Ken Gibbard and later Albert Knight and Mrs Ann Barber, with long standing and loyal support from Mr and Mrs John Jackson.

Curates’ Houses and St. Mark’s

By the end of the 1950s, when the Rev. G.Muir was Vicar, it became clear that if St. Peter’s was to have another curate, a house, rather than lodgings, would be needed.  By that time most newly ordained men were married with families, therefore No.2 Carnegie Street was bought in 1959, with a mortgage guaranteed by several members of the church.  The Rev. J.Langham was the first curate to live there, followed by the Rev. G.Jessop and the Rev. P.Williams.

In 1970, land in Church Hall Road that had been bequeathed to the church was sold and the proceeds helped to pay off the debt on 2 Carnegie Street.  When the Rev. P.Williams left, this house was sold and the proceeds invested pending the purchase of a new house in the St. Mark’s area.  Eventually No.1 Melloway Road was chosen and the Rev. Peter Jeffery became its first occupant in September 1973.  his work was to be centred mainly at St. Mark’s to develop the work in that area.  A permanent ‘man at St. Mark’s’ enabled regular Sunday morning Family Worship, Evening Prayer Services and Holy Communion to take place together with many other activities, notably a Men’s Group to begin.  An Advisory Committee was formed to organise the practical side of church life including fabric repairs.

1970s

During 1974 St. Peter’s was closed for worship for over a year following a fire in the heating chamber, which fortunately burnt itself out, but left a great deal of smoke damage.  A service of thanksgiving for the restoration of the church was held in September 1975.

These years also saw the introduction of the Anglican Hymn book and of red robes for the choir.  In addition there were discussions about the new Prayer Book Services (Series II).

Towards One Parish Again

In February 1975 the Rev. G.Barber announced that he intended to move to a parish in London.  The Bishop then asked the Diocesan Pastoral Committee and the PCCs of St. Mary’s, St. Peter’s and Newton Bromswold to consider “the best way of continuing the ministry of the Church of England in Rushden”.  Pending a decision, the living at St. Peter’s was suspended.  The joint working party of St. Mary’s, St. Peter’s and St. Mark’s recommended a united parish.  The matter was then referred to the Archdeacon and the Church Commissioners for the legal organisation of the united parish.  This was completed by the beginning of 1977.

By the new constitution there was to be a PCC for all three churches (Newton remained separately organised) as the legal body, but each church was to have its own clergyman, Council and pro‑wardens to organise its own internal affairs.  Under this arrangement, which came into force following a special annual meeting in February 1977, the Rev. Michael Wilson of St. Mary’s was Rector of Rushden, the Rev. P.Jeffery remained in charge of St. Mark’s and the Rev. J.Bateman was appointed to St. Peter’s.  Mr Les Priestley and Mrs Dorothy Anker were elected as Wardens for the new parish with 32 PCC members.

The Vicarage was sold and 45 Pytchley Road was bought by the diocese as the clergy house for St. Peter’s.  The Rev. Derek Walker succeeded the Rev. P.Jeffery at St. Mark’s a few months later.

St. Peter’s / St. Mark’s Amalgamation

The new constitution had operated for only a short time when decisions taken by the Diocese to reduce its man‑power led to a projected reduction of the number of clergy in Rushden.  This in turn led toa decision in 1979 to amalgamate St. Mark’s and St. Peter’s.  Soon afterwards the Rev. D.Walker left, the curate’s house at 1 Melloway Road was sold and St. Mark’s buildings remained in use for some years as a community hall only, which included such activities as playgroups, Brownies, Guides and dancing classes.  Eventually problems of maintenance and supervision led to a decision to close the hall.  Various ideas were put forward for its use but eventually it was decided to sell the building.  At the time of this publication the sale has not been completed.

The work at St. Peter’s continued with the Rev. Gedfrey Stone followed by the Rev. Robin Pritchard as Curates‑in-charge.

During this period the west end gable was struck by lightning (in 1984) and the main church roof was repaired (in Feb.1985).  The stone cross at the east end gable was removed because it was too heavy for the structure.

In 1993 a slight adjustment to the constitution was made, with the appointment of a Minister rather than a Curate for St. Peter’s to create greater continuity.  We welcomed as our first Minister, the Rev. Nick Denham from Chester‑le-Street in the diocese of Durham.

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