The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-27 00:00:00

RE-OPENING OF BIDSTON CHURCH.

The ceremony of re-opening of this parish church,
after its restoration, or, as we may more properly say,
its re-construction, took place yesterday, and, as ai

matter of course, created an unusual amount of excite -

went, not only in the township, but. in the adjoining

f this parish possesses peculiar
interest, from the fact that it contains a lighthouse,
built in the year 1771, which stands on a hill, and is a

localities

In its

- - •
beacon mark to ma►iners to the port of Liverpool. This

lighthouse, it is stated, was erected on the site of an old
summer house, in which Moamouth met his brother
conspirators previous to the rebellion of his time.

Beyond this, the parish has little to boast of, if we except
the telegraph, which communicates with Liverpool and

other stations westward to Holyhead to a distance o
about 100 miles. The Hall, which was built by the
sixth Earl of Derby, and in !reference to which strange

tales of gambling transactions are recorded, is not
unworthy of 'notice, and to histor ans, archaeologists,
and antiquarians, the district contains many subjects
well worthy of their attention. The parish itself pre•
sents but few objects of interest to a casual observer:
Its buildings are of a most unique description, and
reminds us of the days of yore, before the science of
architecture had made such rapid strides as has been
shown by the erections of the present day. The
parsonage house, which adjoins the new church, from its
appearance, would seem in former times to have been a
portion of the church itself, minus the steeple. The
original church of this parish, it would appear, was
erected about the thirteenth century, but ponions of it
were rebuilt in the sear 1547, of which some of the
debris bore inscriptions of that date—the gateway and
the tower, bearing the arms of the Derby and Stanley
families, to whom the land at that period belonged. The
old church had fallen into such a state of delapidation,
that in September last it was deemed actually necessary
that the roof should be replaced with a new one, for the
purpose of securing to the attendants of public worship
anything like comfort. This suggestion was at once
made to R. Vyner, Esq., the. Lord of the Manor, whd
proposed that the whole structure should be levelled
to the ground, he agreeing to give .4.2 out of his oWni
purse to every £1 that was raised by the parishioners.
Tais proposition was at once concurred with, and no
sooner had the suggestion been made, than the church-
wardens succeeded in raising a sum of £525, which,
added to the liberal donation of the Lord of the Manor,
augmented the sum by £1,05), the entire cost of the
building being about £1,500. No sooner had this
amount been raised, than it was determined to pull
down the former ancient fabric, and rebuild a new
structure, convenient and suitable to the wants of
the (lay. Accordingly, the old church, with the
exception of its ivy-covered tower, was levelled
with the dust. To erect a new edifice, Mr. J.
Had, of Liverpool, was selected to be the architect,
and that gentleman has succeeded in replacing the old
that is not only an ornament to
edifice, by a builair ;; district. The exteriors of
the parish, but a credit to a.
the building has a very neat apraarance, and i • erected
almost entirely of the materials of the o'.ld church. The
the seats
interior contains seats for 400 worshipper.
being funned of red Baltic deal varnished. jy,o old
trippled roof with nave and aisles, polished stone pillars
and arches moulded and chamfered, divide the nave and
aisle, the encaustic tiles for which were presented by
the daughters of Lady Cast. The floor is well drained,
and a powerful heating apparatus has been introduced,
by Mr. Alderman Bennett—thus giving comfort to
temporary occupants of the sacred edifice. The com-
munion table cloth, and the fittings for the pulpit, which
are of red cashmere cloth, with yellow silk embroidery,
were presented by the lady of the Right Hun. Major-
General, Sir Edward Cust, as was also the beautiful
bible and prayer book. The window over the communion
table, which is of stained glass, embodying a scriptural
text, was presented by J. H. Hind, Esq., and Thomas
Martin Blyth, Esq. It cost upwards of £lOO, and was
designed and executed by Mr. Watson, of Dunfermline,
Fifeshire, after a competition, in which J. Ballantince
Esq., of Edinburgh, was a candidate. The com-
mittee, which consisted of the Hon. Sir Edward Oust,
Messrs R. C. Shaw, Robert Vyner, Thomas Webster, d.
11. Hind, J. M. Myth, acid H. Bell, presented the font,
a very neat design, and made of St. Helen's stone.
Yesterday being the day appointed for the re openifie•
of this structure the Lord Bishop of Chester attended
for the purpose of preaching the inauguration sermon.
There was a very large attendance on the occasion, and
amongst the congregation assembled were the clergymen
of the surrounding districts, the principal families of the
neighbourhood, and a large number of visitors. The
Rev. C. A. Graham read the service, after which the
Lord Bishop of Cheiter preached the sermon, taking for
his text the words contained in the 54th Psalm, and the
6th verse, viz., " I will freely sacrifice unto thee ; I will
praise thy name, 0 Lord ; for it is good." His lordship
delivered a most etureetic discourse, after which, a col-
lection was made in aid of the building fund, and was
most liberally responded to.
It is only just to say that the contractors were : —for
the masons' and joiners' work, Mr, H. Fisher,of Bieken-
head ; for the plumbing, painting end glazing, Mr.
James Holt, of Liverpool; and for the plastering and
slating. Mr. W. Goodhall, all of whom have succeeded
in completing the works to the entire satisfaction of the
committee an the parishioners.
On Sunday next two sermons will be preached by the
Rev. V. F. Taylor, incumbent of St. John's, and the
Rev. R. P. Blakeney, incumbent of Christ Church,
Claughton, in aid of the funds of the building society.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, DUBLIN.—A meeting of
the Fellows of this College was held on Tuesday, to take
into consideration the provisions of the Medical Bill
now before Parliament. The meeting was private, but
we understand that the Fellows were unanimous in their
condemnation of the bill, and a petition is in course
of preparatiou for the purpose of being forwarded
against it.
YOUTHFUL CURIOSITY.—A Glasgow paper publishes
the following :—We are told that three youths from the
Gallowgate district went amissing ten days ago, having
left home no one knew whither, to the great anxiety of
their relatives. One of the youths, a mere lad, has re-
turned home, and states that he had walked all the way
from Glasgow to Stafford and back, for the purpose of
witnessing Palmer's execution
GENERAL WlLLlAsts.—The Queen has been pleasad to
honour Sir W. F. Williams with a command to sit to Mr.
Mayall for a full-length photographic portrait, in the dress
worn by the gallant general at Kars. Accordingly Mr.
Mayall took a sitting after the levee on Wednesday, and
succeeded in producing a tine and characteristic likeness.
The picture forms one of a series of portraits of distin-
guished men, photographed by the same artist for her
Mjest%'s private collection.
THE CHARGE AGAINST A CLERGYMAN AT BIRMINGHAM.
—On Wednesday. before the Birmingham magistrates, the
charge against the Rev. Patrick King, one of the curates
of Aston, of attemp.ing to destroy the life of a child, was
further investigated. The facts elicited were in the main
as stated in our impression of Tuesday. The male prisoner
made no defence. The step-sister (Ann Dounes) was dis-
charged on plying the cost of maintaining the child in the
Solihull workhouse. At the conclusion of the case, the
magistrates resolved on committing King to take his trial at
the en,uitig Warwick assizes on the charge of an " attempt
at murder." The prisoner maintained the greatest cotta-
ware throughout,
BREACH OF LAW BY THE LORDS OF JUSTICIARY.—The
and Lord Handyside, when at Inver-
' invited the Provost to dine with
ord of the Caledonian Hotel
ne; such a palpable infringe.
mhe superintendent n'