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SECTION IV.

MATTERS ECCLESIASTICAL

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CHAPTER 1.

The Parish Church.

IF the stranger will trouble to take a walk to Clee village—a stroll beloved of the young folk on Sunday evenings after service—he will be rewarded for his pains by finding himself at once transported into the atmosphere of a by-gone age. Here are cottages of the picturesque Elizabethan period—a rural smithy—a road-side spring—farm yards, orchards, and gardens—a hall with portholes and stepped gables and clustered chimneys surrounded by the well-marked remnants of a moat—and above all a church of impressive proportions, grey and bent with age.

In enquiring into the history of this venerable pile it will be best first to let the stones speak for themselves. There is of necessity some little uncertainty about the exact age of its oldest part—the tower. It is of Saxon workmanship and few upon examination of its rubble-built walls would grudge it 800 years. It may, however, be of greater age than this and emanate from a time when the years of our Lord were reckoned by hundreds, and before the Danes gained a permanent footing in the land. Still, perhaps, it is safest to believe that somewhere about the time that Edward the Confessor was erecting his church at Westminster, our forefathers in this corner of his domain were gathering the larger cobbles of the sea-shore to serve in lieu of dressed stone with {66} a similar purpose in view. As we have already seen the beach was close at hand in these days and the tower of the new church was to serve—as church towers on the sea-board often did—as a beacon for vessels making for the “haven under the hill,” or for the neighbouring port of Grimsby.

If the tower—which is the only part of the existing fabric erected at this period—possessed a nave it was one constructed in the manner of those of the two neighbouring churches at Grimsby, of timber, plaster, and thatch, and has perished in the flames. The tower itself remains to-day a valuable example of the work of the period. The Western doorway has square edged jambs surmounted by square projecting impost blocks from which there springs a semi-circular head comprised of three rows of stone of which the outermost, standing away from the face of the wall, forms a rough hood-moulding. Belfrey windows composed of two narrow circular-headed lights divided by a rude baluster-shaft are set on each of the four faces. Of double windows of this order two other Lincolnshire churches—Waithe and Holton-le-Clay—also furnish examples. The topmost edge of the tower was probably plain: the present ornamental parapet being added a few centuries later. The arch on the Eastern face of the tower and leading into the nave is single soffitted and springs from square jambs with a plain abacus, in the manner of that at Holtonle-Clay. It is 5 feet 3 inches wide and 15 feet in height from the floor to the imposts.

The nave of the church with its two aisles, built in the time of Richard I., remains almost in its original {67} condition and is an excellent example of Norman work. The outer walls are composed more or less of rubble and that on the North is wedge-shaped in section, the interior surface inclining outward at a considerable angle and giving it a curiously unstable appearance. Square headed windows of three lights and a North door, all of the Decorated period, replace the original Norman lights of which the shape and size are perhaps preserved in the West window of the North aisle. The present roof has replaced an older one of lower elevation the marks of which may yet be traced above the tower arch. The Northern arcade of the nave is composed of three circular arches with chevron and other ornaments. The two columns are square and massive and set with angle-shafts. The Southern arcade is spanned by two arches of the same order ornamented with the billet and cable. The column in this case is circular and bears upon the Western face two stone tablets—one immediately above the other. The uppermost is inscribed:—

h’ eccl’ia dedicata eft
in honore sce tnitatif
et sce marie v iii n martii
a dno hvgone lincolni-
esi epo anno ab icarnati-
one dni mcxcii +
tepore ricardi regis.

Which translated is:—

“This church was dedicated in honor of the Holy Trinity and Holy Mary the Virgin the 3rd of the nones of March by Lord Hugh bishop of Lincoln in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord 1192 + In the reign of Richard the King.”

{68} The second tablet reads:—

+ h ecclia a dno hvgone
lincolnisi epo dedicata a.d.
mcxcii tempore ricardi
regis instaurata est ab
alexo gulo thd grant
thorald armiger et
inaugurata est a dno
christophore lincolnisi
epo die xx mensts julii
anno ab icarnatione
mdccclxxviii tepore
victoriae reginae laus deo.

Which is translated:—

“ + This Church, dedicated by Lord Hugh bishop of Lincoln AD 1192 in the reign of Richard the King, was restored by Alexander William Thorald Grant-Thorald Esquire and re-opened by Lord Christopher bishop of Lincoln on the 20th day of the month of July in the year of the Incarnation 1878 in the reign of Victoria the Queen. Praise the Lord.”

There is a canopied niche intended presumably for an image of the Virgin set in the angle of the wall and pier at the Eastern end of the North aisle but it belongs to a later period. Upon the wall between it and the transept is a stone mural tablet which until the restoration in 1878 was in the porch. It reads:—

“Hic jacet Thos Kygger & Alicia
uxor ejus olim manetes in
howle qui obierut XX die mes
decebris anno dni M°CCCC°XLV°
henricus Kygger fili Thos Kygg(er)
predicti obiit XV die mes mar-
tii anno dni M°CCCC°LVII° &
alicia uxor hnci Kygger predicti obi
it XXII die mes decebris a dni
M°CCCC°LXXX qui aias p’pier ds”

{69}

“Here lie Thomas Kygger and Alice his wife formerly of Hoole (Howle) who died Decr. 20, 1445. Henry Kyggcr son of the aforesaid Thomas Kygger died March 15, 1457, and Alice wife of the aforesaid Henry Kygger died December 22, 1480. Upon whose souls God have mercy.”

The church which Hugh Grenoble dedicated may have terminated in a line with this spot; in which case the transepts would be added a few years later in the Early English or Lancet style of architecture. Subsequent alterations have changed the ground plan of the transepts slightly and whether they now occupy their original position it is difficult to say—though the probability is that they do. The dog-tooth ornament is very effectively introduced into this part and in the Eastern wall of the North transept there is a good example of a holy-water stoup.

The restoration of the church in 1878 as recorded in the inscription was though thorough in character attended by less vandalism than is usually the case in modern church “restoration.” The transept ends were set further out and the walls for the most part re-built; the lantern was re-constructed and the chancel restored, the triple lancet windows at the East end being introduced. It was at this time that the porch was re-built.

The monuments in the church are surprisingly few. A marble mural tablet in the chancel reads:—

“To the glory of God and in memory of the Rev William Thorald who died 11th August 1814 aged 67 years. Also of Frances Thorald relict of the above who died 29th January 1824 aged 63 years. Also of Frances Thorald daughter in law of the above who died 5th March 1858 aged 81 years and wife of Richard Thorald Esq of Weelsby House in this Parish. Also of the above Richard Thorald who died 18 March 1864 aged 74 years.”

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Arms—Sable 3 goats springing argent, Impaling Azure a chevron between 3 mullets argent. Crest—A horse argent.

Below is a brass plate inscribed as follows:—

“In loving remembrance of Jane daughter of the Rev William and Frances Thorald. Affectionate, true, charitable, devout, after a long life unselfishly devoted to the service of others she peacefully fell asleep in Jesus Jan 31 1880.”

At the West end of the North aisle is a flat tombstone:—

“Frances the wife of the Rev Joseph Stockdale Vicar of this Parish who died July 12 1811 aged 68 years.”

While on the wall above is the following memento mori:—

“Here lies an honest man the noblest work of God Andrew Mott Post Captain in his majesty’s RN who died 12 Novr 1819 aged 67 years.”

The tower contains three bells. The first and second bear the inscription:—

“James Harrison of Barton fr 1793.”

The third is marked:—

“Rev Joseph Stockdale, Vicar, George Parker, Churchwarden, 1793, James Harrison, Barton, Founder.”

J. G. Hall, “Notices of Lincolnshire.” A modern writer states that the bells were re-cast in the above year from old ones mentioned as existing in 1553. The bell frame is dated 1729.

In the ringing chamber there is a wooden tablet on the wall, on which the following is printed:—

“Orders to be observed and kept by the bell-ringers in ye town of Clee, in ye county of Lincoln, from this 27th day of novr. 1793, with ye consent of the Rev. J. Stockdale, Vicar; Richd. Rowston, Churchwarden.

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1. Any person y^t shall ring a bell with a hat upon his head shall forfeit and pay 6^d. to y^e use of ye ringers.

2. Any person y^t shall ring a bell with his spurs on shall pay 6d• to ye use, &c.

3. Any person yt shall ring a bell and break a stay shall make it good and forfeit 6^d. to y^e use, &c.

4. Any person y^t shall pull a bell off her stay and cannot sett her again shall pay 6^d. to y^e use, &c.

5. Any person leaving y^e rope on y^e floor forfeit 2^d., &c.

6. Any person, or persons, who shall swear, lay wagers, &c., in y^e ringing room shall forfeit for every offence 3^d. to y^e use, &c.

7. Any person y^t shall read any of these orders with his hat upon his head shall pay 6^d. to y^e use, &c.

Clee, Printed by Geo. Parker, in the year 1793. Reprinted by W. Holson, 1874.”

It is interesting to notice that in the eighteenth century it was twice as wicked to swing a bell off its stay than to swear or curse or bet. The position and terms of the last order are a work of undoubted genius.

The antiquity of the font is apparent to the most casual observer. Of a piece with the nave it is a relic of Norman times, and slants as much as some of the walls.

We now turn to gather together the shreds of history which attach themselves to the fabric.

It is noteworthy that Clee Church is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey. This would point to its {72} not being in condition for use. The wooden nave had most probably been demolished in the Conqueror’s devastating raid upon the North, and not been restored. Rot. Chart. The first time that it appears in the records of the country is in the reign of John, who granted it along with the Church of St. James, at Grimsby, to the Augustinian Abbey of Wellow. Catalogue of Anc. Deeds. Still Clee was not reckoned among what were known as “regular benefices,” for later on we find it served by a “secular” priest.

Pope Nicholas IV., about the year 1291, caused a list of Churches and Abbeys to be compiled with a view to future taxation, and from this document the Church and Vicarage of Clee appear to have Taxatio Eccles. exceeded in value either St. Mary’s or St. James’, Grimsby, or the Church at Humberstone.

At the time of the Dissolution the Church was still a possession of the Wellow Abbey, which drew all Valor Eccles. Henry VIII. the revenues and paid a vicar not quite a quarter of them for fulfilling the pastoral oversight. Money was of much greater value in those days, so that while Goldsmith’s country parson was “passing rich with forty pounds a year,” the parson of Clee does not appear to have been poor on a fifth of that sum. The living seems to have always been in the gift of the Bishop of the Diocese, and the monks during their tenure had to pay an annual fine for the right of appropriation.

The 700th anniversary of the Dedication was observed on June 14th, 1892, Bishop King officiating. It was from this parish that there arose the great ecclesiastical case of modern times, “Read and others {73} versus the Bishop of Lincoln.” Mr. E. de Lacy Read was the people’s warden. The Vestry-meetings and Election of Church and Parish Officers at this period were stirring events. The appointment of the people’s warden for 1889 came to a poll of the parish, which resulted, with the help of the Nonconformists, in an overwhelming victory for the evangelical party.

A List of the Vicars and Rectors of Clee.

* Also Vicar of St. James’, Grimsby.

† Buried in St. James’ Church, Grimsby.

{74}

CHAPTER 2.

The Parish Registers.

IN the year 1538, Thomas Cromwell, as vicegerent of Henry VIII., issued an order that “every officiating minister shall for every Church keep a book, wherein he shall register every marriage, christening or burial.” But whether it were that Cromwell was unpopular among officiating ministers, or that the machinery of the law was even slower in operation then than now, very few of the ecclesiastics involved seemed to have adopted the order with promptitude.

In what year the Clee Parish Registers commence cannot now be known with certainty. The earliest entries are so faded, that over against them there might be inscribed the words which a sixteenth century redactor wrote upon the Parish Registers of Thirsk, “In initio desunt queda quæ obscurata legi non poterant.”

Though there are items more or less legible before it, the first entry bearing a decipherable date is one in the year 1558—fully twenty years after the publication of Cromwell’s order.

The register up to the middle of the present century has been bound in four folios of varying sizes. The first ends with the burials for 1699; the second with those for 1797. Folio III. is headed “The Parish Register of Clee, 1798.”

{75} The pages containing the records from 1700 to 1719 are missing, and judging from the fact that bound up with the second folio there is a section of the register of some other parish dating from 1670 to 1686, it is likely that they may have been crossed in the binding.

Entries mentioning the various townships in the parish are numerous. Hoole—usually spelled Howle—occurs as frequently as any. In 1599 we have among the baptisms:—

“Novr. 29, Elizabethe, y^e daughter of Chfr Humston, of Howle.”

And in the same year:—

“Jany. 22, Willm. Lowe, of Houle, was buryed.”

Among the “Burials, Anno 1604,” we find the item:—

“Robert Johnson, of Hool, was buryed y^e VI. day of September.” And fifty years later (1655):—

“George Johnson, labourer, and Elizabeth Boult, spinster, both of Hoole, married, etc.”

Itterby is a name of less frequent appearance. It occurs in various entries made during the period of the Commonwealth, which fall for quotation later.

Vide Sect VI., Chap. 3. Thrunscoe is mentioned occasionally with orthographical freedom as Thrunscoe in 1654, Thrunskoe in 1655, and in various other shapes.

The spelling “Clea,” which obtained for a while during the 18th century, seems to have been adopted in error. In the register its use synchronizes with the incumbencies of S. Prince and T. Micklethwaite.

Itterby and Hoole begin to lose their identity in this connection at the close of the 17th century, and {76} to be classed together as the Thorpes of Clee or Cleethorpes. The following entries are interesting:

“John Hewson, of Tetney, and Katharine Smith, of Cleethorpes, were married Nov. y^e 23^d, 1721.”

“Thomas Parker, Junior, of Thorps, aged 28 years, buried 7 April, 1792.”

The Commonwealth is marked in the Register by the election of a “Parish Register” or “Registerer,” a functionary who officiated in much the same capacity as the Registrars of to-day. Here is the record:—

“William Low, of Clee, being elected by the inhabitants of that parish to be their parish Register, was approved of & sworne the first day of May, 1654,

by mee,          

Theoph. Harnesse.”

Then occur entries which reveal the raison d’etre of the new office. Marriage has become a civil contract to be entered into before the magistrates—the Churches being at a discount for a while, in the eyes of Oliver the Protector.

“Thomas Ditchbourne, blacksmith, and Jane Rogerson, spinster, both of Itterby, in the Parish of Clee, were married at Laceby the — day of June, 1654, before Theophilus Harnesse, Esquire, one of the justices of the peace for the parts of Lindsey, after thrice publicacon in the Parish Church of Clee, on three several Lord’s days, namely the fourteenth, the one-and-twentieth, and the eight-and-twentieth days of May last past; and no exception alledged to the contry,

Before me,          

Theoph. Harnesse.”

{77} “Richard Robinson, laborer, and Dorothy Cooper, spinster, both of Thrunscoe, in the Parish of Clee, were married at Great Grimesby, the three-and-twentieth day of May, 1654, before Thomas Morley, one of the justices of peace for that corporation, after thrice publicacon in the open markett at Grymesby, on the three several weeks, and noe allegacon to the contry.”

“1655. Thomas Robinson, of Itterby, labourer, and Ann —, spinster, of Thrunskoe, married the ii^d day of October, before William Booth, Major of Greast Griemsby.”

The book is signed by William Low, as register, for the last time in 1656. The stress of the Protectorate has been reduced, and the minister or clerk is being allowed to fall back into his old place. The register’s last entry bears every trace of the transition.

“John Halton, gent., and Anne Woods married in Clee Church by Will. Woods, clerke, before Will. Booth, Justice of Great Grimsby.”

Although the entry occurs in the Parish Register, the history of the past few years made necessary to relate that the wedding took place in Clee Church; and it takes a Justice, a Parson, and a Registrar to perform the ceremony. William Woods is the new minister of Clee. Is it his daughter’s wedding which inaugurates the changed order of affairs? History is cruelly silent, but the event is noteworthy as suggestive of new things in a Nation, a Parish, and a Home.

“He was a veray parfit gentil knight” sang Chaucer of the foremost of his pilgrim band; and 300 {78} years later a hand more used to the oar than the pen slowly traced in ungainly characters the line:—

“A Thue and parfit Regester of Clee and Thorps—those were baptised y^e yeare 1690.”

So lingers an old time tongue in a quiet corner of the world.

Secure from the din of battle and the bloody struggles of political factions, sorrow has often risen like Aphrodite from the sea to hail this parish. How many women have mourned the loss of husband and sons who put out “to occupy their business in great waters,” to be seen no more till the sea gives up its dead. And we have tokens too that mothers and wives in other towns have bidden a long farewell and never known where the bones of their loved ones rested. Death, even more tragic than his wont, wrote entries such as these:—

“A seaman found on our shore, bur. ye 28 of October, 1656.”

“Buried 1737, 3 sailors drowned on March 15, supposed to belong to Wisbeach; John Batchelor y^e name of the master, but the names of the other two are unknown. Mar. r6.”

“Two men and two boys found dead upon the shore were buried Nov. 22, 1744.”

Bound up all out of place is an interesting account of an induction ceremony.

“Octobr 17, 1603. Memorand^m y^t upon y^e 17th day of Octo^r . Robert Burwell, clerke, was inducted into ye vicaradge of Clee and y^t day runge y^e bels; {79} having possession given by Robert Lord, vicior of Grimsbye magna in y^e p’sense of Ric. Johnson, John Burwell and others.

Item, he y^e said Ro. Burwell read y^e articles appointed in y^e Parish Church of Clee aforesaid in y^e audience of y^e whole of y^e congregacon then and there p’sent upon y^e 23 of October, 1603.

Matt. Pomfrett and Will. Wilson, Churchwardens.

Robert Holdsworth ....”

Two hundred years roll their course before the record of another induction occurs. This time it is of the worthy antiquary—the author of “Ye Byrde of Gryme” and other works. On the fly-leaf of the fourth folio is the legend :-

“The Revd. G. Oliver was inducted to the vicarage of Clee on Sunday, the 30th of July, 1815. Richard Rowston, Churchwarden.”

There remains to us but to notice a few odd entries of varying value and significance.

On the fly-leaf of Folio IV., beneath the record of Dr. Oliver’s induction, occurs the following:—

“From the census of 1811 it appears that the population of the Parish of Clee is as follows:—Clee and Wheelsby, inhabited houses 19, families 21, aged males 30, aged females 33, children males 26, females 26. Total 115.

Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe Itterby:—Males 114, females 124. Total 238. Hoole:—Males 82, females 82. Total 164. Thrunscoe:—Males 16, females 9.

Total 25. Grand total 542.”

Then another hand has written:—

{80} “Memorandum, December 17, 1847, a row of trees was planted nearly all round Clee Churchyard by Charles Wildbore, son of Charles Wildbore, the vicar.”

Upon the terminal fly-leaf of Folio IV. is a memorandum of agreement entered into between James Wright and the Vicar, dated 1824, and concerning a narrow strip of land to the South side of the Vicarage at “Clee thorpe.” It is unsigned. Beneath it is the following:—” In the year 1828 the Rev. Mr. Momssey was permitted to enclose a road at the back of his house, after agreeing to pay an acknowledgment of 2s. 6d. a year.

(Signed) Geo. Oliver, Vicar.”

“The Clee Parish Book” is an interesting volume of business items—a minute book and common-place book all in one. It is in the possession of Mr. John Locking, of Clee, the present representative of a long line of parish clerks of that name. One extract is of value as recalling the names of old natives:—

At a Vestry, held this 1st day of July, 1819, pursuant to public notice, for the purpose of appointing certain new pews lately erected in Clee Church at the general expense of the parish.

It was resolved ... . etc.

The pew A has been undertaken by Mr. Benj. Chapman, the present occupier, to be enlarged for the accommodation of the tenants of the following cottages in consideration of No. 14 being appropriated to the use of his own family. The following are the names of the occupiers of Cottages in Hool, in the {81} parish of Clee, to which pew No. 27 is now appropriated:—W. Betts, Jno. Appleyard, Jas. Paddison, Rd. Starke, Wm. Larmouth, Jno. Green, Thos. Waumsley, Wm. Appleyard, Benj. Taylor, Mich. Potts, Jos. Mackrill.

(Signed) Geo. Oliver, Vicar.

R. Rowston—B. Chapman—William Wardle—

Robert Temple—Churchwardens.”

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CHAPTER 3

The Free Churches.

THE true spirit of the Reformation in England, as distinct from the personal quarrel which Henry VIII. had with the Pope and its direct consequences, is to be traced in the movement which in its various aspects was comprehensively styled Puritanism. With Puritanism the State Church has had but little sympathy, and if the policy of Henry VIII. and his children, Edward VI. and Elizabeth, involved some measure of it, and the violence of Mary’s reign, in the reaction, favoured it, yet the Puritan sections, representing the English wave of that Reformation which was surging over Northern Europe, was at no time more than a strong minority in a Church, which, when, generations later, it did admit their spirit, had long before ousted their name and them from its communion.

Dissent as a development of Puritanism began to manifest itself during the reign of Elizabeth, indicating that even so early the more ardent reformers were finding the via media of the Tudors too tortuous. Still, though open secession did in a few cases result, by far the greater number of the Puritans were not without hope of eventually dominating a Church unsettled in doctrine and not very definite in polity; and it was not until the more conservative element prevailed and armed itself with Acts of Uniformity that nonconformity became a potent factor in English life.

{83} It is not likely that in its early form Puritanism found much favour in the county which had originated the Pilgrimage of Grace, and if the parish of Clee is to be linked on to the greatest religious movement of English history it will probably be in the elucidation of a fact which at present is shrouded in darkness.

The Act of Uniformity under which no clergyman was to be allowed to hold any benefice or office in the State Church unless he subscribed to the Thirty-nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, came into force in the year 1662. In this year not fewer than 2,000 ministers resigned their livings and went forth with their families to endure, even then, bitter persecution at the hands of the High Church party.

Now 1662 is the year in which the then Vicar of Clee, Henry Hool, disappeared from office. That he was one of the silenced ministers cannot be affirmed without more evidence, but when it is considered that it was only the second year of his incumbency the coincidence becomes the more remarkable. He was succeeded by Abraham Bates, who had been Vicar of St. James’s, Grimsby, since i66o, and who continued to hold both livings for several years.

*      *      *      *      *

The first home for Methodism in the Parish was found in Thrunscoe at the house of a Mrs. Allison, “a pious benevolent and useful person,” in the year following the first Conference. It was perhaps to be expected that the county which produced the Wesleys should early come into their thoughts, but still it speaks volumes for the fecundity of the movement that by 1745 a Society should be found in so small a village as Cleethorpes then was.

{84} For ten years Methodism enjoyed the hospitality of its foster-mother in this place, and held class meetings and occasional preaching services. John Wesley, visiting Tetney in 1747, would doubtless see there the faces of those who were bearing the burden of the work in the fishing village across the “Ings.”

In 1758 the meetings were transferred to William Dean’s dwelling in Itterby, or High Thorpe, which remained the head-quarters of the Society for four years. The opposition which had met the earlier Nonconformists was now extended to the Methodists, and was not without its agents here. Hostility in these days—the days of the Deists and of the reign of “reason “—was almost always unreasonably physical and violent. Orthodoxy took up bludgeons and stones, and so doing added the one element needed to establish a spiritually virile movement—persecution. How many times the opposing faction broke up the meetings it is difficult to say, but so frequent were the interruptions that William Robinson registered his house for preaching in order to be able to claim the sanctuary of the law. This same William Robinson died in 1814, having been an active and devoted Methodist for sixty years and more. The name of Amos Appleyard also belongs to the Methodism of this period; he died in 1813.

John Wesley himself visited Cleethorpes on the occasion of his eighteenth visit to Grimsby—if not previously. On this occasion he preached from Galatians v., 1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ bath made us free,” and his record of the visit runs:—” Tuesday, 3rd July, 1781, I {85} preached at Claythorpe, three miles from Grimsby. Here, likewise, there has been an outpouring of the Spirit. I was reminded of what I saw at Cardiff about forty years ago. I could not go into any of the little houses but, presently, it was filled with people, and I was constrained to pray with them in every house or they would not be satisfied. Several of these are clearly renewed in love, and give a plain scriptural account of their experience, and there is scarce a house in the village where there is not one or more earnestly athirst for salvation.”

The first Chapel was built, at the cost of £100, in 1802, upon land in Hoole given by Benjamin Chapman. The site is still named Chapel Yard. Not twenty years later—i.e. in 1821—a more commodious building was erected in High Street, costing more than thrice as much as its predecessor. It was here, in 1826, that the Sunday School was inaugurated. The steady growth of the work is indicated by the fact that very little more than twenty years again elapsed before a still larger edifice became necessary. This time a site in Hoole Road (now St. Peter’s Road) was chosen, and again the cost more than trebled the previous outlay. Around this place for forty years the religious and much of the social life of the Society centred, until once more the need for greater space prompted an effort which resulted in the opening of the present bright and commodious Chapel in 1885. The building, which is of brick relieved by stone courses and parapets, is of a style which may perhaps best be described as a modification of the Early English, having lancet windows, a wide central span, shallow transepts, and a small Western spire.

The organizations of the Church at the present time include ten classes and a Sunday School of over 300 scholars and teachers.

The Reverend John Rossal was supernumerary minister for seven years. He was followed in 1889 by the Reverend William Shaw.

*      *      *      *      *

The beginnings of Primitive Methodism in Cleethorpes crystalize around the name of the Reverend H. Knowles, who inaugurated a mission about the year 1846, and formed a Society, the first meetings being held in the house of Mrs. Appleyard, in what is now Cambridge Street. A name associated with these earlier days is that of William Driffield, who was born at Cleethorpes in 1799. He laboured among the Wesleyan Methodists for several years, his first “appointment” upon the plan being at his native place in 1819. Five years later he became a candidate for the ministry, and even attended the district meeting, at Hull, with others who had passed their examination; but being deeply impressed by a dream that it was his duty to attach himself to the Primitive Methodists, he joined them, and was sent by William Clowes into the ministry at Hull. He finished a very active and useful career at Banbury, in 1855, and was buried at Wooton Bassett.

The first Primitive Methodist Chapel in Cleethorpes was built in 1848, at an outlay of £280, in the same road in which their first meetings had been held, and at the corner, facing Joseph Parker’s cottage, between Nottingham Terrace and the Town Street. It was during the time that the Society worshipped in this {87} building (viz. in 1850) that the Sunday School was started. For eleven years their first Chapel served them, and then, crowded out of it, a new one was erected at the very beginning of Mill Road, on the site occupied to-day by its successor. This edifice had a seating capacity of 450, and was constructed at the cost of £900. Some twenty years elapsed before the growth of the work compelled a still further advance, and the present Chapel was raised to seat 1,000, and at the cost of £4,000.

The numerical strength of Primitive Methodism is no less remarkable than that of her sister denomination. The Society, which numbered 50 members in 1846, now claims that fifty-six times over. The Sunday School, which began with four scholars in 1850, has grown into a company—scholars and teachers—of all but 500, and has connected with it a flourishing Band of Hope and a Christian Endeavour Society.

A resident minister—at the present time the Reverend J. Hall—and ten local preachers are attached to this Church, which is associated with seven others in the Second Grimsby Circuit.

{88}

CHAPTER 4.

New Parishes and Chapels of Ease.

St. Peter’s Chapel of Ease, Cleethorpes.

A STURDY edifice of stone, of the Geometric Decorated style of architecture was commenced in 1864, when the foundation stone was laid by A. W. Grant-Thorold, of Weelsby, Esq. It consists of a clerestoried nave, aisles, chancel, an embattled tower at the Eastern end of the North aisle, and a South porch. It is a trifle heavy in appearance, and the introduction of brickwork into the arch-mouldings gives the interior a somewhat unusual appearance. Bishop Jackson, of Lincoln, consecrated the new Church on St. Peter’s day, 1866.

That the tower is no higher is due mainly to the nature of the ground, which was found to be incapable of sustaining a great weight. As it is, the inmost corner of the tower and the first column of the Northern arcade have sunk several inches.

In the Chancel a stained window of two lights representing the Raising of Lazarus commemorates the Rector, to whose untiring energy the Church owed its completion. The brass tablet beneath bears the following inscription:—

In Memory of
William Price Jones, M.A.,
For thirty-five years Rector of this Parish,
Died at Cheltenham, 1886, aged 66,
And is interred at Hope Bagot, Salop.

{89} The only other stained glass is in the East window, in which there are three lights depicting the Ascension, and bearing the words:—“To the Glory of God. Presented by Henry James Morley, in memory of his beloved wife, Ann Elizabeth, who died July 9, 1880, and their only child, Henry William. The above Henry James Morley died January 23, 1882. Not unto us O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give the praise, for Thy loving mercy and for Thy truth’s sake.”

The Parish of the District Chapelry of St. John the Evangelist, New Clee.

During the incumbency of the Reverend Wm. P. Jones, M.A., a mission-room was opened in the rapidly growing district of New Clee, and the work was placed in charge of the Reverend Charles Warren, M.A., of St. John’s College, Cambridge, in the year 1872. Five years later the foundation-stone of a new Church, to be dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, was laid, and in 1879 the consecration took place. The building, which is of brick, is in the Early English style, and consists of a clerestoried nave and chancel, aisles, an organ chamber and vestries, and a vestibule at the Western end. The cost of erection was £5,000.

The new parish of the District Chapelry of St. John the Evangelist was assigned in December, 1879, and the Reverend Charles Warren became the first incumbent.

{90} Stained glass in the East and West windows commemorate members of the family of Mr. James Meadows, while another window in the North aisle was placed there by the St. John’s Y.M.T.S, in memory of the Rev. John Chubb Baker. The windows of the South aisle are intended to be filled with representations of the famous Bishops of Lincoln, Doctors Wordworth and King being already in position.

District Chapelry of All Saints, Weelsby.

A small room in Hainton Street was acquired for Church work in Weelsby during the rectorate of the Reverend John Peter Benson, M.A., and the Mission was placed under the control of the Reverend A. W. Ballachey in 1887. To meet the rapidly increasing needs of the work thus inaugurated, a Church of corrugated iron was erected in 1891; and subsequently large Sunday Schools were built at a cost of £1,320.

By an order in Council, dated July, 1898, a separate Ecclesiastical district was assigned, which will become a Parish so soon as a permanent Church is erected.

St. Aidan’s Church Institute.

During the incumbency of the Rev. J. C. Munday, M.A., a new part of the parish was opened out to Church work. This was developed under the rectorate of his successor, Canon Hutchinson, and in 1897 Sunday School and Services were inaugurated in the Lovett Street Board School, New Cleethorpes, while for other parochial purposes a small room was rented in Barcroft Street. The Sidney Sussex {91} College having presented land sufficient for a Church, Schools and Vicarage ; as the first instalment of a scheme which is in course of being realized, the Saint Aidan’s Church Institute was erected and opened in 1899 by the Bishop of Lincoln (Dr. King). Here the Services and Sunday School are held.