Shropshire farmer of faith's annual Christian conventions

Travelling from all over Britain and even abroad, they would rough it in the farm buildings and hold meetings in a large tent.

Their host was the farmer, Herbert Rollings, who put the whole farm at their disposal. He would take his horse and cart to collect their luggage when they arrived at the railway station and transport it back to the farm, with the travellers themselves walking the two miles or so.

Mr Rollings was a well-known south Shropshire farmer, and a man of faith, and the conventions at Rowton Manor, near Craven Arms, were to continue until he died in the late 1950s at the age of 76. His wife had died a couple of years previously.

Now Mr Rollings' grandson, Edward Rollings, has told the story of those conventions, and dug out some rare - perhaps unique - pictures taken both at Rowton Manor and at the previous venue near Knighton where Herbert had started it all.

And he has also put the record straight following the recollections of some readers who thought - wrongly - that the gatherings involved Mormons.

An old photo we carried recently showed people arriving at Broome railway station, near Craven Arms, and a number of people rang in to say they were Mormons, although Mrs Olive Fish of Market Drayton, who attended one of the events as a child, said they were in fact undenominational Christians.

"I can confirm that the people pictured are not Mormons but undenominational Christians," said Edward, who lives in Lichfield.

His grandfather Herbert, commonly known as Bert, died shortly before he was born. Edward's father was also called Herbert, but was more often known as "young Bert" while his father was alive.

Herbert senior's association with the undenominational Christian faith began around 1912 or 1913 when two ministers arrived in his home village of Knucklas, near Knighton.

"Prior to that Herbert was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and very zealous as a lay preacher in addition to enthusiastically undertaking pastoral work," said Edward.

"Herbert had not been settled naturally or spiritually despite his efforts. From his first encounter with undenominational ministers Herbert felt a new power at work in his life and from then on was devoted to leading his life in the way that God had shown him through these ministers.

"Around 1925 Herbert made his small farm at Knucklas available to host a gathering of fellow Christians. This continued until about 1932 when Herbert and his family moved to Rowton Manor, Aston-on-Clun, near Craven Arms.

"The Christian gatherings continued until the farm was disposed of shortly after Herbert’s death in the late 1950s.

"Around 300 to 400 people would make their way mostly by train to take part in the Christian convention meetings. Typically the gatherings would last around four days. The attendees would undertake all the activities necessary to support their wellbeing while on the farm.

"Meetings were held in a large tent while basic temporary accommodation was created in various farm buildings. Trestle-style tables were created for dining, with benches.

"Both the farms were in relatively close proximity to the railway stations at Knucklas and latterly Broome. At the time the railways were a primary means of transport over any distance so many attendees would arrive by train.

"As each would bring their own provisions Herbert would arrange to meet trains with his horse and cart to transport the luggage to the farm while the travellers walked some two miles or so in the case of Broome station to the farm.

"The less able would be carried on horseback or horse-drawn carriage."

Mr Rollings added: "Incidentally Ministers of the undenominational Christian group are still active in the Shropshire area today."