Village protest that saved the bell

It was all part of a plan, they felt, to demolish the old church, and they held a well-attended protest meeting in the churchyard at which they resolved to send off their objections to the bishop and call him to put a stop to it.

That was back in July 1863 and the villagers won the day because not only did the church stand for almost another 100 years, albeit unused for most of them, but the bell was put back.

And Graham Hollox of Jackfield, who has been looking into the history of Jackfield's long-disappeared Red Church, has made a discovery which adds a further twist to the tale - because he has found the present whereabouts of the bell.

The other day we told the story of the 18th century church, which acquired its name through the reddish tint of its brick.

There is folklore attached to it, including of a ghost which kept pulling it down during building work until its alignment was changed. The building was abandoned after becoming unsafe through ground movement and was demolished in the early 1960s, with 1961 being given by one source as the date.

Graham said: "I must tell you more about the bell. I have recently found it at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge. In your article it was said that it had a sweet tone. It is a beautiful note. I have a short recording of it. In view of the ghost story, I am trying to resist the temptation to go along to the site at midnight and start playing this."

Old St Mary's stood on a knoll near Broseley but in 1863 a new St Mary's church was built further down into Jackfield village as a memorial to a local worthy, George Pritchard.

The bronze bell was cast by Thomas Rudhall of Gloucester in 1766 and inscribed "The gift of Mrs Brown 1766."

Some time in the 1920s it was taken from old Jackfield church and bought by Lord Fairhaven who wanted to install it at the parish church at Lode, near Cambridge, but it turned out to be too big and heavy. It ended up in the grounds of Anglesey Abbey - according to an inscription it was placed there in 1934.

The abbey is a Jacobean-style house bought by Lord Fairhaven in 1926 and gifted to the National Trust on his death in 1966.

Graham said: "There’s a lot more about the old St Mary’s. The new St Mary’s certainly contains oak from the old church and also a couple of memorials that used to be in the Red Church. One is to the renowned ironmaster Alexander James Brodie of Calcutts iron works.

"The other is to 29-year-old Thomas Carter Philips and his wife who died in 1783 and this contains one of more sinister messages I have ever seen on a plaque ending 'Reader, forget not to observe how transient their days and that such may be thy own. Go thy way and prepare accordingly.' So far I cannot find anything about this gentleman!"

An account of that protest meeting carried in the Wellington Journal said: "For some time past there has been a feeling of dissatisfaction on the part of the inhabitants of this locality, with the proposal to take down the church, which has now stood 104 years, and which is certainly an ornament to the locality.

"This feeling has been intensified by the removal of the bell from the tower and its quiet transference to the belfry of the Pritchard Memorial Church."

It passed a resolution protesting against anything that "would tend to desecrate the last resting place of our fathers" and also complaining about the removal of the bell without the knowledge or consent of inhabitants.

Incidentally if the church had been standing 104 years at that time, it puts its foundation date at 1759, rather than the 1779 given in some sources.

Graham added: "My interest in St Mary’s started with my house which lies on the site of the old John Doughty & Son. Finding old tiles in the garden marked JD&S started me on local history and trying to find out as much about the old works as I could, which has resulted in a small book which I’ve sold to interested parties.

"It also led to the new St Mary’s Church which has such a fabulous history, designed by one of Britain’s most accomplished Victorian architects, Sir Arthur William Blomfield, who used bricks and tiles reputedly donated by Doughty, who was also one of the founding churchwardens.

"There is also an intriguing possible link to Thomas Hardy who was Blomfield’s assistant at that time. The link has now gone back to the old St Mary’s Church and its much neglected graveyard so I’m trying to put together as much of its history I can find.

"I have recently compiled a small pamphlet on the new St Mary’s. While I am not a churchgoer, I find that this very attractive church is a neglected asset of The Gorge and am keen to do as much as I can to foster its fortunes."

Also getting in touch was Mrs Margaret Beddow, of Broseley, who sent us a painting and photo of the Red Church.

She said: "The painting is original and was given to me by a friend. It is by James Edward Hartshorne, 1841-1917. It is a watercolour painted about 1874.

"He was a painter at Coalport, Derby & Salopian Pottery at Benthall and I think an art teacher."

The photo she sent was taken by her brother and shows the church as she remembered it.