The Story of the Mission Church Bell
The Mission Church, Sunderland Point: From the collection of Alan Smith
On a wet and dismal Sunday afternoon, instead of sorting out the website photos, we were lazily leafing through the newspapers when this caught our eye. It comes from the Lancaster and Standard Advertiser dated Friday the 20th of September 1895.
‘New Church Bell. - By the generosity of Mrs Sproat of Lancaster, the old church bell from Scotforth has been secured for Sunderland Mission Room and so enthusiastic were the natives when they saw it that they had it hung in position in much less time than it would take to get down from its old quarters. So smartly was the work done that the Vicar and many parishioners some of the latter not knowing that the bell was even presented, were not a little astonished though pleased to hear it summoning them to worship on Sunday last. There was quite a scramble amongst the boys for the post of bellringer, each one being allowed a short turn. The ringing was heard at Thurnham by a gentleman who formerly belonged to Scotforth parish and he at once recognised the bell though not knowing its position.’
Interesting, but really? ‘A gentleman in Thurnham recognised the Mission church bell as the same one he had known in Scotforth.’ Can that be possibly be true, we had to find out. And who was the intriguingly named Mrs Sproat?
A mental bell rang and we remembered that the Mission Church trustees have the original presentation plaque from the wall of the church, it has been removed for cleaning - here it is.
Original presentation plaque: By permission of the Trustees.
The date fits, September 1895.
The father, ‘a very important individuality in the life of the county town’
Thomas Swainson was a distinguished figure in the history of Lancaster. He was Town Clerk for 34 years between 1858 and 1892 - a period of major municipal improvement in the town.
Born in 1813, he was the youngest son of William Swainson, Harbourmaster and clerk to the Port Commissioners of Lancaster. Thomas qualified as a solicitor in 1834 and in 1846 was elected to the Borough Council. During his long period of office as Town Clerk, he was particularly associated with the widening of China Street, sanitary improvements, and the clearance of cottages in front of the Castle.
Mr Swainson was solicitor to the Charity Trustees and the Port Commissioners and was associated with many other public bodies including the Bible Society.
In 1884 in recognition of his services to the town his portrait was painted and hung in the Town Hall ‘along with other local celebrities’. In 1891, when he was 81, there was the distinction of the freedom of the borough.
Thomas Swainson died at 20 minutes to 12 at night on the 23rd of December 1893. His wife Sarah died on the morning of Christmas day. They had been married for almost 60 years.
And here they are.
Thomas and Sarah Swainson: From the collection of the Gilchrist family.
The flag on the Town Hall flew at half-mast until the day of the joint funeral and there were lengthy obituaries in the newspapers. We can read between the lines.
On December 31st the Lancaster Gazette recorded rather stuffily.
‘He was a churchman of the evangelical school and strongly opposed to high church ritualism. However light the departure from the old forms of public worship he was sorely troubled. Mr Swainson was a good man, a prudent legal adviser to the corporation and one who made the interests of the town one of the great objects of his thought and labour’.
His daughter, Eliza Sproat who dedicated the bell.
Here she is.
A studio portrait of Eliza Sproat: From the collection of the Gilchrist family
Born in 1842, Eliza was 26 when in 1869 she married William Hugh Sproat, ten years her senior. They lived in Skerton, Lancaster. We don’t know much about Eliza other than newspaper clippings of charitable good works, one mentioning a piano duet with one of her sisters in a concert raising funds for the school in Overton.
Hugh was the lease holder of Skerton fisheries which included the permit for fixed nets catching salmon and trout. He is better known to us as he was for many years a (very) vocal member of the Lune Fishery Conservatories Board.
He frequently pointed out the high level of poaching at Skerton and insisted on the appointment of more watchmen. In the Lancaster Guardian of July 10th, 1869, the minutes of a conservatories board meeting recorded.
‘Mr Sproat stated that one night lately he was on the weir with a gentleman of Lancaster fishing with a fly rod and at midnight a gang of nine men came onto the weir. They came up and one of them… seized upon his (Mr Sproat’s) basket, and he had to struggle for the possession of the fish he had caught. He sincerely believed that if he had been alone, they would not only have robbed him of his fish but have pitched him into the river.’
We have digressed and must get back to the story.
Connection to Sunderland Point
In 1872 Thomas Swainson purchased Hall End (number 22) as a summer residence for his family from James Williamson of Lancaster (the father of James Williamson, ‘The Lino King’, later to become Lord Ashton). The story is told that sailing down the estuary on Port Commissioners duties, Thomas pointed out Hall End admiring the property, and was offered it for purchase by James Williamson. Thomas agreed a price of £230 on the spot and the following morning sent his son William with the cash to Williamson’s office on Water Street. Significantly perhaps, a pew at St Helens church in Overton came with the house.
The Mission Church
Interior of the Mission Church shortly after opening (note the goose leaning against the lectern to the left): Courtesy Lancaster City Museums.
Although Thomas died the year before the Mission Church opened in 1894, There is little doubt the devoutly Christian Swainson family took a deep and persuasive (and perhaps financial) interest in the foundation of the Mission Church. The eldest son William was one of the original trustees.
Another early photograph of the church interior: From the collection of Wilton Atkinson.
But what about that bell?
So, we dig deeper, remember the newspaper article said, ‘the old church bell from Scotforth’.
Looking more closely at the Swainson biography we find in 1873 he was elected the honorary solicitor to the trustees appointed to construct the new St Pauls Church in Scotforth - but that building was completed 20 years before our Mission Church.
However, St Paul’s gained such a large congregation that the west end of the church was extended in 1891. The architects were again Austin, Paley and Austin, the designers of the original church and who, almost immediately after this job was finished, were the architects of the Mission Church. Although a tantalisingly close connection, combing the on-line records finds no evidence of a bell or of Eliza or of Thomas. A dead end.
The sign from outside the Mission Church: From the collection of Alan Smith
We needed help and got in touch with St Paul’s Church in Scotforth and asked politely if they had any knowledge of old bells. Luckily, our enquiry fell into the hands of Michael Haslam, a historian with an interest in Lancaster churches.
Michael uncovered something of great significance.
In 1879, a new school was built adjacent to the new St Paul’s Church. This replaced the second of two previous older schools located some distance away in the old Scotforth market square – where the Boot and Shoe is today. Now it gets warmer. In 1872 a bell was installed in the old school.
Could it be, Michael speculates, after the new school opened, the old school was dismantled and the bell (which was only fifteen years old) was put in store at St Paul’s (or elsewhere).
So perhaps the architects, Austin, Paley and Austin, so recently involved with the St Paul’s extension in 1891, would have known about this ex-school bell and thought it ideal for the small mission church at SP and included it in their design of 1893. Brilliant.
Maybe. It’s speculation but a reasonable working hypothesis. Amongst ideas for further research Michael suggested a close examination of the bell itself, to find casting marks which could identify when and where the bell was cast.
The Mission Church Trustees
We asked the trustees if it was possible to look for casting marks on the bell. We are grateful to Philip Smith who has recently surveyed the structural condition of the bellcote and bell and who took these photos.
Here is the bell.
Mission Church bell side view: Photo Philip Smith
Underside of the bell: Photo Philip Smith
Philip tells us he carefully checked the bell and could find no casting marks before repainting the bell and bellcote.
The Mission Church bellcote and bell repainted: Photo Philip Smith
So back to the story. The important question you and we have been asking ourselves, and it is on this the whole story stands or falls.
Could the Mission Church bell be heard in Thurnham?
We consulted the map and asked Paul Hatton if he could provide a diagram. He sent us this wonderful image which also includes the probable route taken by the bell from Scotforth to Sunderland Point.
Image showing the distance between the Mission Church bell and Thurnham. Base map Ordnance Survey - Crown Copyright: Image creator Paul Hatton
No problem at all - on a calm day. So, a school bell with a distinctive sound rather than a bigger church bell. And perhaps, the listener living in Thurnham who wrote the letter was an ex-pupil of the school to whom the daily ringing, the calling to school, was an indelible memory from childhood. Of course it was.
We are grateful to Michael Haslam for his knowledge and advice, the Gilchrist family for photos and information, the Mission Church Trustees in particular Philip Smith for their kind assistance and to Paul for the image.