Holy Saviour RC Parish, Nelson:
A Brief History
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Foreword
Well done to the good folk of Holy Saviour's parish, Nelson! I want to congratulate you, as your parish priest, for keeping the dream and vision of your grandparents, mums and dads, brothers and sisters, alive and healthy.It was their belief in a loving tender God that gave them the tenacity and courage to build this church, the centre of this great parish.
It is your faith and prayer which keeps it alive and transforms the bricks and mortar into a living house where people feel welcome. You have made this possible because of your belief in a loving God, - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a God who reminds us constantly that 'He doesn't make rubbish'. How do we know this? We know it because God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity became man for us all, and He loved us so much He died for us and by His rising to new life on Easter Sunday, gave us all the hope of eternal life. That is why we, in this parish, rejoice and give praise that our parish is placed under the patronage of
THE HOLY SAVIOUR.
Here's to the next 100 years!
Reverend Father Michael Haworth (1993-2005)
The Historical Perspective
To fully appreciate the significance of the establishment of the new mission to be called Holy Saviour's in the Nelson area of Bradley, it is essential to briefly trace the Catholic revival in the area since the Act of Emancipation in 1829.The Act of Emancipation restored to English Catholics their chief rights as citizens. They could now vote and sit in parliament, they could hold posts of responsibility previously denied them and more importantly they could once again openly profess their Catholic faith and have a church and a priest without fear of severe fines, imprisonment and even the death penalty. The Act promised full freedom of communication with the Pope and imposed no veto on the appointment of Bishops, thus paving the way for the restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850.
For almost three hundred years, English Catholics had endured the effects of The Act of Supremacy, The Act of Uniformity and the many Penal Laws which had been designed to stamp out the Catholic Faith.
Priests who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy were declared guilty of High Treason - the penalty for which was the cruel death of a traitor by hanging, drawing and quartering.
Hearing Mass was a crime - incurring a fine and one year's imprisonment.
Catholic parents could not engage a Catholic tutor for their children without laying themselves open to heavy fines. If parents sent their children abroad to be educated by Catholics, they were fined even more severely and their children were disinherited.
Non attendance at the newly devised weekly service (intended to replace the Mass) became the crime of Recusancy. Those identified as Recusants were fined, forbidden to travel more than five miles from their homes under pain of forfeiture of all their goods. They could not hold any civil or military office, practise Law or medicine nor could they act as witnesses, executors or guardians. They could not be employed except by an employer who was prepared to pay a monthly fine.
A Catholic woman could enjoy no share of her husband's goods and could be kept in prison unless redeemed by him with a fine of £10 per month or the surrender of one third of his lands. Catholics were also subjected annually to a double land tax and were obliged to submit even their most private financial transactions to scrutiny.
Despite these most severe difficulties local Catholics welcomed, supported and protected their priests who lived in secret hiding places in Carr, Broughton and Towneley Halls and at Stonyhurst. At secret venues, Mass was celebrated and the sacraments administered to those who valued their Faith more than their worldly goods or even their lives. Because they had to avoid all clues of their whereabouts even baptismal registers of that time could not specify names or addresses for fear of reprisals.
It is impossible to estimate at its true worth the part played by the Towneley family in keeping the lamp of the Faith alight in the Colne Valley throughout these difficult times. The chapel at Towneley was in the woods, the hall itself offered a hiding place for the priests who came to serve the Catholics of the area. These priests were hunted, some were imprisoned and some put to death and thus martyred for professing their Faith. By 1817 the little Towneley chapel, which also served Colne, Nelson, Padiham, Todmorden, Bacup, Rawtenstall and all the intervening villages, could no longer accommodate the number of people who wished to attend the services, so with the permission of the Bishop and land and money donated by the Towneley family, a church and presbytery were built and Father Charles Lupton became "the first rector of Burnley".
Within a year of arriving in Burnley, Father Lupton had visited every Catholic household in the area and recorded over 260 people attending church services. Sadly however, an entry in 1820 in the Towneley Hall Priests Register of Parishioners, states that there was not to be found a single surviving Catholic in Great and Little Marsden (Nelson and Brierfield), whilst Pendle Forest had one and Colne had two.
In just a few short years, even this church became too small as the number of Catholics increased and Father Lupton's successor Father Hodgson with the support of his congregation determined to build on a larger scale. The foundations of St. Mary's were laid in 1846 and the church was formally opened on 2nd August 1849. Thus Burnley was ready to take its place as one of the chief centres of Catholicity in the new Diocese of Salford.
Nelson, Colne, Brierfield and Barrowford were a part of the mission of St Mary's Burnley, as the Catholic families living there here had no priest or church of their own. It is difficult for us in 2004, with a church within easy reach, to realise that this area was, in those early days, a true mission territory.
It is recorded (Illustrated History of Nelson District) that; with the exception of a few years when the upper room over the stables in the Angel Inn at Colne was rented as a chapel and Sunday school and served by the Burnley clergy; the Catholics of these areas "might be seen every Sunday morning tramping with their children from Colne, Barrowford and Great and Little Marsden to St. Mary's Burnley. It was no small test in all seasons of the year of their earnest faith, especially when they were shouted and thrown at times on their way."
By 1881 Nelson families conceived the idea of renting a room over the Newtown Co-operative in Every Street, to use as a Sunday school and as a religious centre and persuaded Father Reynders to agree to this. The project proved so successful that Father Reynders saw Nelson as a promising centre for the building of a School Chapel. Within a year the School Chapel was opened - 16th December 1883 and the Day School opened its doors to its first scholars - 7th January 1884. Later that same year Father Reynders came to live in Nelson and was joined a year later by Father Mom who took charge of Colne.
By 1887 Father Reynders was to leave Nelson for the Punjab. He was succeeded by Father Bramer who continued to develop the parish by adding a vestry to the School Chapel and a presbytery in 1882 before he left the area in 1894 to go to Rochdale.
The care of Nelson and its surrounding villages then became the responsibility of Father Robert Smith. Apart from the large debt on St. Joseph's mission, which he had inherited, Father Smith also had to recognise the needs of ever increasing numbers of Catholics as the population of Nelson rapidly grew.
At the same time as he was building St. Joseph's church (foundation stone laid 24th October 1896 - and opened 4th July 1897), he was also busy promoting the other missions in the area. Whilst the generosity of local Catholics was never in question, Father Smith realised that they needed help from more prosperous parishes. After seeking and being granted permission from the Bishop, Father Smith and his assistant Father Chronnell travelled to parishes in Manchester, Darwen, Blackburn and Ashton-under-Lyme to preach and to beg for financial donations. Thanks to the support of Catholic families both local and those belonging to the wider Catholic community, the legacy of this priest's energy and inspiration can be seen in every Catholic building in Pendleside today.
At Brierfield he secured a site and a two storey barn which became the Chapel and School opened in November 1895.
The site of Bradley Hall Barn was obtained for £50 and Holy Saviour's School was opened on 24th October 1896.
The Church and School at Barrowford were opened in 1897.
At Red Syke, Pendle Forest, the Oratory of Our Lady and the English Martyrs was opened 3rd December 1899.
The building which was to become St. George's had plans prepared by Father Smith. The upper portion was opened as a church on 3rd December 1900, whilst the lower portion was partly used as a convent and the school opened 12th May 1902.
The foundation stone of the Chapel at Holy Soul's Cemetery Barrowford was laid 1st December 1900. The first internment took place on Good Friday 1901, and the Cemetery and Chapel were consecrated in September 1906.
Meanwhile in Colne, Father Henry Mom was busy building the church of the Sacred Heart which opened in 1897.
The Early Years
The stable and barn which had originally been part of Bradley Hall was transformed into a school for infants. On 24th October 1896, the Right Reverend John Bilsborrow (third Bishop of the Diocese of Salford) officially blessed the school and pronounced it open. In his address following the ceremony, Bishop Bilsborrow rejoiced in the efforts of local Catholics to create an excellent school from an old building and to establish yet another centre of the faith in this area of East Lancashire. He went on to express his sincere desire that parents and children of the area would now avail themselves of the opportunity of having a Catholic school and continue to support Father Smith and the teachers appointed by him.The school actually opened on 29th October 1896 and within three days 72 children were on the register.
Very shortly, a quite understandable desire on the part of many Catholics of the area to have Mass celebrated in the school made itself felt. The request for the school to become a Mass centre was eventually acceded to and so from 1898 another new chapter in the Catholic life of the district was begun. Father Smith with the help of Father John Connor continued to serve this mission from St Joseph's. Further hopes of becoming a separate parish were realised when on Whit Sunday 1899 the Bishop gave approval for Holy Saviour's (and Ss. Peter and Paul Barrowford) to be worked and financed as distinct from St. Joseph's. Father Connor was formally appointed as the first rector of the new parish of Holy Saviour's in 1900 but resided as before at St. Joseph's presbytery until June 1902 when it was arranged for him to take up residence near the school at Holy Saviour's.
The Catholics of Holy Saviour's were soon anxious to build their own church. Through their enthusiasm, their hard work and many personal sacrifices they rejoiced and gave praise when the memorial stone of the church was laid on 13th August 1904 and the church was opened on the Feast of St Joseph 19th March 1905 by the then Bishop of Salford the Right Reverend Casartelli.
Within a year the church was registered for solemnizing Marriages.
The first marriage took place in the same year between Cissie Hart and Robert Isaac Hesketh. Also pictured are the twin bridesmaids, Jim Hesketh (Best man), Father Connor, and Cissie's brother (seated).
A further improvement and much admired adornment to the church took the form of a beautiful high altar which was dedicated by Bishop Casartelli on 21st May 1911. This altar was the gift of Miss Halliwell, and was made in memory of her mother and as a thanksgiving for her reception into the Church.
Throughout these early years Father Connor had not only inspired and encouraged the parish to build a church and a presbytery, he had also negotiated the passing of the plans by the Board of Education of the new school and collected over a thousand pounds towards its enlargement. He was succeeded by Father Thomas Henshaw 1913-1915 (later to be the fifth Bishop of Salford), Father Charles Radcliffe 1915-1917 and Father Joseph Rees 1917-1927.
Each of these priests continued the sterling work begun by Fathers Smith and Connor and each has left an enduring record of splendid achievement.
The parish was fortunate in these early years to have the services of Henry (Harry) Nixon as organist and choirmaster up until the outbreak of the First World War, when Mary Gibbons took temporary charge.
Harry Nixon returned to the parish at the end of the war for a few years before he and his wife Elsie (nee Tunnercliffe) emigrated to the United States of America in the late 1920's. He established his own piano tuning business in New York and he and Elsie remained there until the late 1950's when they returned to England to spend their retirement in St. Anne's.
Harry Nixon in his Army uniform and with his wife Elsie in later years.
Choir members included:-Jack Callaghan, Florrie French, Billy Cooper, Henrietta Nixon, Elsie Tunnercliffe, Annie Callaghan, and Joe French.
Few records exist of the early years of the Infant school, except an acknowledgement, (in the parish golden jubilee souvenir booklet), of the original teachers Misses C. Callam and A.T. Ryan.
What are recorded is the extraordinary efforts made by parishioners throughout these early years to raise funds for the purpose of enlarging the school, at the same time as they were building their church. One such event was a Grand Bazaar which was held in the October of 1903 over five days and which realised the princely sum of £500. The school was closed to enable this to take place. This was proved so successful that another similar Bazaar was held the following March.
Eventually the school expanded. The older children now attended school on the Bankhouse Road site and the infant school, in Priory Street, was recognised as a separate department in February 1916, in the charge of Miss Mary Nolan (head teacher) and her assistant Miss Ethel Foster.
The infant school log book gives little insight into the day to day activities but records average weekly pupil attendances, movement of staff, reasons for exceptional school closures and dates of visits by school inspectors whose opinion was that Holy Saviour's was "An excellent little infant school" [May 1916]. Interesting reasons given for these exceptional school closures included:- another five day Bazaar held in October 1916 to raise funds for the parish, celebrations on 11th November 1918 for the Declaration of Armistice, a very extended Christmas holiday in December 1917 due to a measles epidemic, a three week closure in February 1919 brought about by an influenza epidemic, and a month closure in April/May 1923 for a smallpox epidemic!
© Holy Saviour R.C. Parish. Nelson, Lancashire.
Holy Saviour RC Church - Nelson