Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Guided tour of St Thomas

St Thomas

Golden pipes. Photos by Bill.
St. Thomas (C of E), Wellington Road South was founded in 1825 as a chapel to St. Mary, becoming the parish church for Bramhall and parts of Stockport and Stockport Etchells in 1827.

The Rev. Ken Kenrick gave us an excellent tour of the church, with fascinating historical information. It is a very impressive church and once must have been a very impressive civic statement, when Hillgate was still the main thoroughfare into Stockport.

Inside the paintwork needs attention, but at least the most urgent repairs are getting attention. The tower is being repaired, with most of the money coming from English Heritage but £19,000 still had to be raised by the church.

doorAmongst the fascinating historical trivia Ken told us, was that he is still the official St Thomas Workhouse chaplin and paid for the post, though the work house was done away with long ago. (Though the payment is deducted from his salary as rector of St Thomas and St Peters.)

Clock mechanism
The clock mechanism states "J. Smith & Sons. Midland Steam Clock Works. Derby"