Show on map Leake church now stands alone by the A19, it once served the now deserted Medieval village of Leake; it now serves the two villages of Borrowby and Knayton.
Mass dials are a type of medieval sundial found on churches, they were used to show the time of services held during the day before the advent of clocks and watches.
They are also known as Scratch dials because many are scratched into the stone. The hole in the centre held a rod that cast a shadow, known as a gnomon.
Show on map On the corner of Walkers Row and Union Street, nestled next to a tumble drier vent is a fragment of Gisborough Priory. It actually looks like the base of a small column, perhaps from a window ?
Many chunks of the priory were reused across the town after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, although how this one ended up in a relatively modern building is a mystery.
The foundation stone for St Peters in Redcar was laid on Monday 30th June 1823, with the events of the day being reported in detail in the Durham County Advertiser.
I wonder if the ‘time-capsule’ of documents and coins is still inside the building, or whether it was disturbed by later changes, a rough translation of the Latin inscription is :-
The first stone is placed
Feast of St Peter 1823
King George IV Ruling
Edward Venables Vernon, Archbishop of York
Baron Lawrence Dundas, Lord of Manor
Joseph Harrison, Vicar
Fund raising and completion was a major a problem and the £1100 costs had become £2700 by it was finally finished in 1829.
This etching is said to date from 1826, so the church was incomplete at this point and it may have still been an impression of what it should look like.
Things to notice about this compared to St Peters today are that no clock is visible (this was added in 1835) and there are only 4 sets of windows at the side not 5 (the church was extended in 1848) and no Lady Chapel at the rear (built much later in 1926)
The current travel restrictions mean i’ve been able to take a closer a look at things very close to home in a lot more detail.
The East Cleveland Baptist Church has a large number of inscribed stones on the Stanley Grove side that I had never noticed before. Mr A R Doggart J.P is named as the President in 1928, so I suspect that’s the date the building was erected.
Arthur Robert Doggart was President of the Baptist Union at this time and remained so until his death in 1932. Doggarts owned a chain of department stores based in Bishop Auckland.
Fortunately I have found a news report about the ceremony in which these stones were laid on Saturday 15 December 1928. The building cost £3170.
Show on map West End Methodist Chapel was built in 1877 for the Wesleyan branch of the Methodists. It was built for a congregation of about 500 people at that time.
The final service took place on 14th October 2012 and the building is now home to Puma Cheer and Dance.
Show on map Primitive Methodists split from the Wesleyan Methodists in 1807 and continued until the Methodist Union in 1932. They became known as the “‘Ranters” due to their evangelical preaching.
They had a strong following among the poor and working class, which perhaps explains the involvement of local ironstone mine owners Pease and Bell Brothers.
There’s an account of the opening of Skelton Primitive Methodist chapel by H Pratt in the Primitive Methodist magazine of April 1866
The cost was around £259, Donors included Jos. Pease, Mr Bell, Earl of Zetland, J Wharton, J Pease MP, G Pease, Captain Challoner, FA Millbank MP and Jos Fawcett.
The Primitive Methodist Chapel was built on Chapel Street in 1860 at a cost of £425, the plaque now worn flat and painted blue presumably once carried the name and date.
In 1907 they relocated to much larger premises on Westgate at a cost of £4000, which is still a Methodist church. The site is now the Guisborough Cons Club .
The Methodist chapel in Skinningrove dates from 1873 and is still active today.
PRIMITIVE, METHODIST CHAPEL AT SKINNINGROVE. FOUNDATION STONE LAYING. The ceremony of laying the foundation of a new Primitive Methodist Chapel at Skinningrove took place on Monday. For many years the Primitive Methodists conducted services alone in Skinningrove. When there were little more than a dozen houses they held cottage meetings, and it has had a place on the circuit plan for thirty years. When, through the enterprising firm of the Messrs. Pease, the population had increased to near 1,500, it was felt that this long toil should not be thrown away, but that there should be a fresh effort to meet the spiritual requirements of the population, and a site was generously granted by the late Earl of Zetland, The day being fine, there was a large gathering, and a procession, composed chiefly of working men, sang through the streets. The Rev. W. BAITEY, superintendent, began the service by giving out a hymn. The Rev.J. Wilson, Congregational minister, offered prayer. The Rev. J. G. Binney, from the Theological Institute, recently appointed as second minister, read suitable portions of scripture. The Rev. W. BAITEY, addressing Mr. W. Cockburn, who had kindly consented to lay the stone, remarked that it gave them all pleasure to see Mr. Cockburn in their midst, with his excellent lady, and likewise Mr. Francis. Mr. Cockburn had been permitted, through the providence of God, to aid in laying the foundation of a thriving industry in many village, and memorials of his devising mind would be found when he was gone. Today, he came to aid in laying the foundation of another house of prayer. Mr. Baitey then handed to Mr. Cockburn a bottle to enclose in the stone, and a silver trowel and mallet. The bottle contained a copy of the Primitive Methodist paper the Northern Echo of that day; the .British Workman, having a, portrait of Gurney Pease, Esq.; lines written by Mr. Horsley on the death of Charles Pease, Esq., a Circuit Plan, the names of the Trustees, and Members in Society, letters of Mir. Cockburn and Mr. Francis expressing their readiness to assist in the undertaking, and which, if ever exhumed, which they might be after cenrturies have gone by, all show how worthily the early managers of the firm represented the well. known spirit and principles of the masters. There was also a short record of those who took part in the services, and gratitude expressed to Mr. D. Trotter and Mr. D. Maclean, agents of the Earl of Zetland, for their kind assistance.
Mr Cockburn next deposited upon the stone a cheque for 10 shillings. Mr. J. Tyerman, a working man, and one whose devoutness is known in all the villages round about, laid on the stone the handsome donation of 5 shillings. Numerous other donations were laid on the stone, from two pounds to the child’s sixpence, making a total of over 38 shillings. Nearly 300 sat down to tea in the old School-room. The evening meeting was presided over by Mr. W. Cockburn, who spoke of our intellectual, social, moral, and spiritual duties. Other gentlemen and ministers also addressed the meeting. The total proceeds of the day amounted to about 60 shillings. The building is a Gothic structure. The architect is T. Southron, of South Shields.
Show on map St Andrews Mission at Thornaby is still a functioning church, their website states that St.Andrews was a mission station started by the much larger Presbyterian Church in Stockton, originally as a Sunday School. When the Presbyterian Church and the Congregational Church joined together, it became part of the United Reformed Church
The date stone above the building carries the date 1893, it cost about £950 and could seat 200.
One foundation stone was laid by Mrs Bouge of the Manse on October 1st 1892, presumably the wife of Rev. J Bogue
The second stone is heavily eroded and difficult to interpret, but my research shows it to be Mrs G Y Blair who laid the stone. That would be the wife of George Young Blair who managed the Fossick & Hackworth Locomotive Engine Works which he came to own after 1866 as Blair and Co. who manufactured marine engines.
The Northern Echo from Monday 03 October 1892 report on the events in full.
