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Repairing and Beautifying the Church: One Saturday, late in July 1771, the ratepayers of Clun Parish met at St George's Church to discuss the 'Repairing and Beautifying' of their church. More money was required for essential church repairs, which would mean an increase in the rates for that year. In addition to the annual Poor Rate, which supported the poor of the Parish, ratepayers paid a Church Rate each year, known locally as the Lewn. This was used to pay for church repairs and the ratepayers set the rate themselves. Everyone knew that what was required was more than the charge for annual maintenance. Sitting in the great Norman nave of the church, anyone could see that both its walls were leaning outwards, and they had lived with this problem for several years. Twelve years earlier, in 1759, measurements with a plumb line had shown that both these main walls of the church leaned outwards by over two feet. Four years before that, in 1755, there had been a nationwide collection for, 'Rebuilding Clun Parish Church'. This had been done by means of a Brief, a royal mandate authorising a public collection for a charitable cause. Briefs were addressed to church ministers, to be read from their pulpits, and donations were made at the end of services. The final collection of these donations was slow and time consuming, but Thomas Heighway, one of Clun’s churchwardens, had devoted himself to this task. With all this in mind, notice of the meeting, called for 27th July 1771, came as no surprise to Clun's ratepayers. It would have been recognised as just another 'crisis meeting'. However, something was different that day, perhaps difficult to define. There was a good attendance, expectations were raised and there was a resolution to get on with the job. While the meeting was taking place, it was recorded directly by the Parish Clerk into the Church Wardens' Minutes and Accounts Book. Sometimes, he could take his time and choose his words carefully, sometimes he had to rush along and the words tumbled out onto the page. His account provides a vivid record of that meeting, especially as it was followed immediately by the signatures, or 'marks', of as many as eighty-seven ratepayers of the parish, who were in St George's Church that day. The Meeting and its Resolutions: One can imagine the Clerk sitting down at his table, checking his quill pens and nodding to those who sat nearby, waiting for the meeting to start. He did not record who the Chairman was, but began by stating their present meeting place, the date, the purpose of the meeting and those present. These were the ‘parishionors', who knew exactly what they wanted and he wrote at their direction: 'that the said parish Church of Clun shall Immediately be repaired'. A detailed list followed: 'and New pews built and the several Ayles be New flagged the windows New Glazed A New pulpit and Reading Desk the top and walls of the said Church to be plastered and Ornamented’. While they discussed how this was to be done he had time to relapse into his usual wordy style: 'and that the said Church Wardens or one of Them as soon as may be shall purchase and procure all sort of Materials and Other Necessarys for Repairing and beautifying the said parish Church of Clun'. The parishioners thought of the work it would bring to the town: 'and also hire workmen Teams and other Necessarys for that purpose and Call in and pay the several Bills'. They did not hesitate about the cost, but it must be properly authorised: ‘and also we doe hereby Order a Lewn to be made Immediately by the said Church Wardens Thomas Heighway and John Lewis or one of them in order to buy Materials pay Workmen and Other Necessarys towards the repairing and beautifying the said parish Church of Clun' They were eager to sign their names: 'to which we approve and Consent to as Witness our Hands being the Majority of the parishioners attending this Meeting no Person Opposing.' Then followed the eighty-seven signatures of those who approved the proposals made at that meeting, many of them ancestors of those who live in Clun Parish today. The Signatures: John Lewis Church Warden; Edw'd Fleming; W'm Morris; Matt Powell; Richar Beamond; Richard Parry; Edward Jones; William Gough; Wm James; W Richard Wellings; Richarmidleton; Rog'r Bryan; Mary Cemond., Thomas Probert; Mark of Dannal X Prise; Mark of Mareth X Grifits; Ric’d Turner; Benjamine Howard; Jn'o Gough; Edw'd Swain; William Lucas; Thomas Howard; Moses hamar; Jeremi Lewis; Samuel Bayliss; Salomon Lloyd; Jn'o Gwilliam; John Price; Jno X Glace his mark; Catherine Jones; Mark I Edward Lewis; ye mark X of Mary Gough; Richard Cadwallador; Jn'o Evans; Tho's Williams; Willm Edwards. Jhn Whittall; Thomas Selley; Edward Moris. Mark of Richard R Bryan; Rich’d Owens; John Bow; Josiah Crump; Humphry Smith; John Abley; Samuel Evans; Richard Abley; John Lellow; John Brown; W'm Edwards; W'm Lloyd; Wm Huffer; John Rogers; Thomas Pearce; Tho's Jacks; Thomas Morgan; Cha’s Lucas; John francis; Thos Pearce senar; Geo'g Hamar; Rich Edwards; the Mark of / Jno Down; ye mark of X Jno Meredith; Edward Bird; Richar Williams; Edward Clee; John Bowen; John Pryce; Edward francis; Tho's Meyrick; John mitton; the Mark X of Samuel Wilms; Tho Bowen; John moris; John Lello; Thomas Lello; John Olivers; David Goff, John Wellings., ye mark X of Jno Bowen; ye mark X of Matthew Bowen; Rich'd Edwards; ye mark of X Tho Lanset; Thomas Wall; Richard Smith; Aaron Morgan; Ephraim Hamar. The Years Went By: Sadly, the records which follow on from this meeting do not record what rate was set for that year, nor whether any significant restoration work took place. Certainly, the nave walls continued to lean outwards. A later entry, made eight years later in the Church Wardens' Minutes and Accounts Book, stated: 'By an Order from the Bishop the Church was plimm’d and found to be exactly the same as in that taken in 1759'. Though existing records do not record when money was raised, nor by how much, there appears to have been an unspent surplus. Twenty years later, in January 1791, Lord Clive (the same Lord Clive who built Clun's Town Hall) opened an Account, in the names of three Trustees of St George's Church, Clun, with his own London Bankers, Gosling and Sharpe. The sum of £271 was invested in Government Stock, 3% Consols, and it was referred to as, 'the Balance of the Brief Money'. This investment, made so far away from Clun in a London Bank, was almost forgotten and dividends accumulated. The money was not drawn upon until the major restoration of St George's Church took place in 1876-77, just over one hundred years after that parish meeting of July 1771. By that time, the balance stood at £2,210-12 shillings. These savings, made over a period of eighty-five years, made a very valuable contribution to the final bill, which came to almost £8,000. St George's Church was virtually rebuilt, including both walls of the nave. For decades these had been propped up with unsightly timber buttresses.
Conclusion:
It is tempting to
wonder why the restoration of St George's Church took so long to achieve.
Certainly, it needed more money and more expertise than was available in
Clun in the 18th Century. It needed also, determination and
leadership. The next century was nearing its end before the matter was
resolved. This came with the Institution of Reverend Charles Warner,
Vicar of Clun, 1868-1898. He wasted no time. He found the 'lost
savings', still referred to as the Brief Money, appointed a well-known
architect, G.E. Street, submitted plans to his Vestry Committee and, with
their approval, applied for a Faculty from the Diocesan Court. They
decided to delay work on the Tower, and Messrs Fisher and Dyson were
appointed to restore the main building. This was a major work, which took
almost two years. When St George's Church was reopened for its
congregation on 6th October 1877, many of them would have been
the descendants of those who had attended century before, on 27th
July 1771. Fortunately, the Jacobean Pulpit, which their ancestors had
voted to replace, was still there, to be used by Reverend Warner and every
Vicar since! Sources: Vestry Minutes and Accounts Books, 1687-1909, St George's Church, Clun; Chapter on St George's Church, Clun, in 'An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire', D.H. S. Cranage; 'The Parish Chest', W.E. Tate. |