Friends of Woodthorpe Grange Park 2023
Press Cutting from the Nottingham Guardian
16th December 1935
FOUNDATION STONE LAID
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SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF HOUSING ESTATE
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JESSOP BEQUEST
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OPENING FREE OF DEBT HOPE
For some time, St. Martin’s Church, Sherwood, which was dedicated by Archdeacon W. J. Conybeare in November, 1927 has been too small to serve the needs of a district taken out of the parishes of Carrington and Daybrook, and on Saturday Brigadier General Sir Edward Le Marchant, in the presence of Bishop N. S. Talbot, Vicar of St. Mary’s clergy from the diocese, and parishioners, laid the foundation stone to the new church.
Inside a cavity of this stone were copies of two Nottingham morning newspapers, a copy of a London morning newspaper, and some newly minted coins of the realm.
This permanent church, when completed, will seat about 700 people. At present, owing to a lack of funds, a start is being made with the chancel, chapel, two vestries, and three bays of the nave only, with seats for about 400 people. This will cost £12,000 and there will be roughly £6,400 in hand, including a diocesan grant of £2,000 from the Jessop Bequest Fund. A sum of £5,600 is therefore needed if the church is to be opened free of debt.
A feature in connection with the building of the new church is that a system of “direct giving” is being relied upon. No resort has been made to bazars, sales of work, whist drives, or other means, and an appeal is being made to the public so that the church will be opened free of debt.
St. Martin’s was dedicated in 1927 in honour of St. Martin, the patron saint of soldiers, who forsook the Roman army and devoted himself to building up the Church in western France. The name was chosen because practically all the men who assisted in the building up of the church in Sherwood were ex-servicemen. It is thought that, as there’s no war memorial there, many who returned from the Great War will regard the permanent church as their thank-offering for peace and their safe return.
By permission of Lt-Col A. A. Walton, the band of the Robin Hoods, under Bandmaster T. Harrison, accompanied the hymns at the service, which was held in the open air on the site.
The service commenced with a Litany of the church in procession from the present building, a short distance away, to the site. The procession comprised the choir of St. Martin’s, clergy from the diocese, Archdeacon W. J. Conybeare, the vicar of St. Martin’s, Rev. E. Lysons. The vicar of Carrington, Rev. C. D. Hart and Bishop Talbot.
On arriving at the site, a suitable prayer was offered by the Archdeacon, and after the singing of the 84th Psalm, the lesson was read by the vicar of Carrington.
After further prayers, Bishop Talbot blessed the stone, the hymn, “Christ is made the sure foundation,” was sung while the stone was being prepared, and then Sir Edward Le Marchant laid the stone. Further prayers and hymns followed.
DIOCESE ENRICHED
In the centre of an address, Archdeacon Conybeare said that what they were doing that day was just an incident in what had begun and was to be continued in Him. The friends of St. Martin’s, for years, had been looking forward to that event, and it had been his privilege to take part in a dedication service eight years ago.
Since then, the people had worked hard, funds had been raised, and they would continue to work hard, and look forward to the time when their work would be ended, and the church would be free from debt.
Therefore, that day marked the close of the beginning. It also marked the start of the next stage. They must not forget that they had been greatly encouraged by a considerable grant from the Jessop Bequest, and it was only right that they should be grateful to that generous Nottingham citizen. The event that day did not merely concern Sherwood. The whole diocese was enriched by what the laying of the foundation stone represented – the provision of a church in a newly built area, and proof that they were trying to meet the spiritual needs of the new population which was springing up so rapidly around the city, and other places in the diocese.
The Archdeacon said that the Bishop of Southwell would have been present at the ceremony had it been possible, and he had bade him, the Archdeacon, express his regret, for this was an event of diocesan importance.
They rejoiced that day as they thought of what God had enabled them to do so far, and they rejoiced in the hope that he would accomplish the good work that he had begun in them.
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