St Nicholas Church, Halewood
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St Nicholas Church, Halewood
History of St.Nicholas |
The original church of St.Nicholas erected in 1839.
Halewood lies approximately seven miles south of Liverpool bordering on to the greenbelt. It was part of Lancashire until 1974 when the boundaries were altered and it became part of Merseyside in the newly formed Borough of Knowsley.
St.Nicholas was built to be the focal point of worship for Halewood and nearby villages in 1839. The Earl of Derby donated the land and the church was built cheaply out of sandstone from a local quarry (the same quarry that most of the stone for Liverpool Anglican Cathedral was hewn) for the grand sum of £900. It was described as a "simple oblong building, without transepts or tower with a plain bell turret on the west gable".
Reverend Jabez Jones, first curate of St.Nicholas 1839-1864
In those days the local population of around 900 were mainly farmers or their labourers. Then in 1864 when Rev.Thomas Chambers came to the Rectory of Halewood from a position at Childwall, he was so well favoured that some of the wealthier families followed him. As a result in 1882 a bell tower was donated complete with clock and in 1883 a peal of 8 bells were added at a total cost of £2300. Since then the church has been greatly altered with the addition of its greatest asset the stained glass windows designed and produced by the William Morris Company (Click Here for William Morris pages).
A church school was completed in 1847 adjacent to the church along with a schoolhouse. Over one hundred years later the population was rising due to a private development nearby and to the overspill from the City of Liverpool. The population rose incredibly from 3,791 in 1961 to 26,850 in 1971. In 1964 a new church school was completed to house extra classes, but it wasn't until 1980 that the whole school moved into the new buildings (the funds for the new school were raised entirely from the church congregation - no mean feat).
A church hall was badly needed as a central meeting place for the increasing community. A room at the rear of the church had been created but the now empty old school with its proximity to the church formed the ideal Church hall with two additional meeting rooms.
The 1970's and 80's were a period of great change for St.Nicholas and Halewood after a century of peaceful existence. In 1972, our sister church St.Mary's Methodist, which had been built to meet the needs of the increasing population, was burnt down. This church was only 5 years old but the disaster served to unite the relatively new community. Two days after the fire the new building fund was launched and £4,000 raised within 6 months. The new church was re-dedicated in 1974.
Our Rector, Owen Eva, retired in 1986 after 25 years and a new team minister was inducted. When the church inspection took place in 1989 the Church Council were faced with the fact that the church was badly in need of repair. The church meeting rooms, formerly the school, also needed renovation. Plans were formulated to sell off the old school buildings and schoolhouse to a developer who would have no difficulty in reselling the picturesque old buildings, protected by a conservation order.
The money raised would go towards the building of a new purpose built church hall and much needed repairs to the church. A building fund was launched and an architect brought in to draw up plans. Shortly afterwards a children's home (which 10 years earlier had been built on land bought from the church by the Borough of Knowsley) sadly closed. As this site was adjacent to the church it became obvious to some farsighted members of the Church Council that it would make an ideal church centre. Kwowsley were approached with a business plan, and after protracted negotiations the St.Nicholas Church Centre was opened in 1995.
The funding for this huge project was raised through the sale of the old school buildings and a mortgage paid for by covenanted monthly giving from our church family. The new
Centre consisted of three wings of rooms and a central hall, kitchen and meeting rooms. Two of the wings were converted into student accommodation to help towards the running costs. Two years ago the three wings were changed into six self contained flats for use by single parent families and the disabled. The
Centre is also the base for the charity "Listening Ear Merseyside" which is
voluntary organisation that provides a free listening and counselling service to the people of
Merseyside.
At present our overall Development Plan is over 50% complete and includes the
renovation and protection of our William Morris
windows. The project for the improvements for the rear of church is
due to commence early 2007. This will give better access to the church,
provide a much needed toilet and give secure crèche and meet and greet areas.
The cost of The Development Plan is estimated at £375,000.00 and to date we
have raised over £180,000.00 through grants from The Ibstock Environmental
Trust, The Heritage Lottery Fund, Biffaward and our own in-house fundraising.
The people of Halewood love and treasure their church and intend to restore
it to its former glory as a central hub of the local community.
If you can help in any way, please visit our appeal pages.
Researched and written by Pam Beesley
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