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THE ANCIENT PARISH
OF BURY
The parish church of this market town stood close besides the
fortified manor house, once the home of the Pylkingtons. This
family found itself on the losing side of Richard III in the
War of the Roses and consequent on the battle of Bosworth in
1485 had their lands confiscated, Thomas Pylkington was executed
and the estate presented to the Stanleys, who were created Earls
of Derby. The Derbys still hold the advowson of St. Mary the
Virgin, Bury, even though the manor house which was one of twelve
Lancashire fortified halls was destroyed in 1644 by Commonwealth
troups.
The two main families connected
with Bury have each provided a rector, John de Pylkington was
incumbent in 1386 and the Hon. and Rev'd. John Stanley, the younger
brother of the eleventh Earl of Derby was a pluralist rector
from 1743 - 1778. The only tangible remains from any earlier
church is the eighteenth century font with its fine oak cover,
and the earliest picture of Bury's ancient church depicts the
quaint combination of the nave rebuilt by Rector Stanley in 1776
and the spire which still stands, built in 1842 to replace the
medieval tower. In 1870 the architect J. S. Crowther was the
successful entrant in a design competition for a new parish church.
He scorned the recently built steeple as "more suited to
a small village church than to an important parish church in
the centre of a large town", even so he was never allowed
to replace it.
The church stands today, substantially
as it did when it was opened for worship on 2nd February 1876.
It has been suggested that Crowther based his design on Tintern
Abbey and certainly the clerestory triforium passages travelling
the whole length of the nave and chancel is reminiscent of monastic
churches. Incidentally, this feature at Bury was the first to
be incorporated into a Gothic-Revival church.
It is the land, acquired by
the Stanleys, which has become a source of great benefit to the
diocese. A number of fields, neighbouring the church and rectory
grounds were given by the lords of the manor to the benefice
as glebe. In 1764 Rector Stanley saw something of their commercial
potential in the Industrial Revolution era and obtained permission,
by a private Act of Parliament for he and his successors to grant
building leases on the glebe land. In the process of time a considerable
proportion of Bury's commercial and business ventures have been
established and prospered on the land, which in turn have provided
a substantial income by way of rents for the rector. In 1953
a diversion order, confirmed by the Privy Council, allowed the
Bury Estate to transfer its income, over and above what is required
for the rector's stipend and other ministerial expenses, to augment
the Diocesan Stipends Fund. In 1955 over £90,000 was further
alienated from the benefice and applied to the benefice needs
of twenty-five churches within the ancient parish boundarie.
Bury had three chapels of
ease in medieval times - Holcombe, Edenfield and Heywood. The
first two, sometimes served by one Minister, covered an area
about one third of ancient Parish, although much of this was
part of the Forest of Rossendale. Holcombe began in the thirteenth
century as a chantry chapel and resting place for travellers
between the monasteries of Whalley and Monk Bretton. It also
served as a chapel for the locality and the nearby Hey House
hunting lodge of the de Trafford family where they entertained
King James I. In 1546 Holcombe Chantry was suppressed in common
with all others, and for over a century the hamlet had no minister
or chapel even though the rector continued to "gather ye
of my tythe corne money in the fforest". In the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I the prison building was consecrated as a chapel
although it was not entirely disassociated from its former use
and complaints were lodged in 1717 that the lords of the manor
continued to exercise their feudal privilege of executing prisoners
within its precincts. The "prison chapel" was demolished
in 1851 and a new "Emmanuel, Holcombe" consecrated
in 1853 by Bishop Lee.
One notable minister of Holcombe
was the Rev'd Henry Pendlebury born on 6th May 1626 at Jowkin
Farm near Bamford Church, which is in the ancient parish boundaries.
His early education was at Bury Grammar School and then he entered
Christ College Cambridge from where he graduated in 1648. In
1650 he was "ordained" to the sacred Ministry in Turton
Chapel and after serving for twelve months at Horwich Chapel
in the Parish of Deane, was, on 16th October 1651, inducted to
Holcombe. These were the uncertain days of Presbyterian ascendancy
and the ministry of this "painful godly preachinge minister"
came to an abrupt end in 1662 with the Act of Uniformity. Henry
Pendlebury left Holcombe rather than be inhibited by the spiritual
sanctions, and established in his home the first Non-Conforming
Meeting House in Bury and contrived to labour for the Gospel
of Christ where he could, deprived of his temporal living, having
"no mainteynance or sallery but only the benevolence of
the inhabitants". This worthy minister attracted many to
the chapel within his farm-homestead and left in his Will the
sum of 40s 0d a year "...to such minister as shall officiate
at the said Chapell ... and that the said Chapell may only be
used for the public worship of God and for no other purpose".
He died on 18th June 1695 and was buried at Bury Parish Church
after completing a ministry stretching forty-five years over
one of the most troubled periods of church history.
A Holcombe boy "who made
good" was James Wood who walked each day in his clogs, the
three miles from his home to Bury Grammar School. In 1760 he
became Dean of Ely and Master of St. John's College, Cambridge.
At the end of his life this Very Rev'd bequeathed £500
to his old school as an augmentation to the already established
Exhibition Scholarship.
Bury Parish ChurchWeb Site
The text has been taken from
the book` Like A Mighty Tortoise' by The Rev'd Arthur J Dobb
& Derek Ralphs. |
