ST ANDREW’S, DEARNLEY
WE are talking marble, high altar, chancel this week – and whether we want the magnificent marble steps leading up to our high altar to be refreshed and repaired or carpeted as they have been for something like 50 years.
There are few people around these days who remember the marble chancel as it was and the big decision now is whether we want to re-carpet it or turn back the clock nearly half a century and leave the marble, which includes (in marble, of course) the signs of Alpha and Omega and what some think (not sure) may be the star of David.
One man who is convinced that marble should stay is Geoff Hirst, one of our Lay Readers, a man steeped in traditional Christian values and, co-incidentally, the chaplain of his beloved Rochdale Hornets.
Said Geoff: “I’ll fight tooth and nail for the marble because its unique, it must have cost a fortune when it was originally put down, and it was possibly a very expensive gift to the Church at the time.
“I don’t think it should be covered up again for those reasons alone.
“It’s difficult to know when, and by whom, the marble altar and chancel steps were first laid, but it very likely had some connection with Isaac Kilpatrick, head of a local firm of stonemasons, a great St Andrew’s Church man and benefactor, who died about 70 years ago.
His grandson, the late David Kilpatrick, who coincidentally became chairman of Rochdale AFC, was also a St Andrew’s man, having attended the Church primary school as a boy when he sang in the Church choir.
There’s a clue on page 47 of the book, “The First Hundred Years”, published in 1995. A picture on the front cover clearly shows the marble altar in all its glory and the words on page 47 tell us
(without giving the year): “A faculty was obtained for the magnificent marble altar presented in memory of Isaac Kilpatrick, the stonemason responsible for much of St Andrew’s stonework, including the pulpit.
“At the time this was only the second stone altar to be consecrated in England since the Reformation, the first being in the new Coventry Cathedral, built to replace the one destroyed during the Blitz.
The former wooden altar, together with the pews, removed at a later date, became the focal points for parochial bonfires, since burning is the recognised method of disposal for church fittings if they are not to be used in another consecrated place.”
So there you have it. Marble or carpet ? The big debate will rumble on. Watch this space for developments.
Our new Family
Service, meanwhile, has been put back, due to circumstances beyond our control, to Sunday, December 3 so this once-a month newcomer won’t be happening in November. Please note also that our Autumn Fair this year will be on a Friday, November 24, from 2pm to 6pm. We will have all the usual stalls, raffles etc with more news to follow.