The commemorative tablet unveiled by Samuel Rider, showing the names of the
ministers.Brookfield Church's Interior Plaques and Memorials.
Click on the pictures for a larger view.
The commemorative tablet unveiled by Samuel Rider, showing the names of the
ministers.
This tablet was unveiled by Samuel Rider on Sunday 18th October 1903, to commemorate the bicentenary of the opening of Gorton Chapel. It shows the names of the ministers from the Old Chapel, to the present church. A proposed plan for this, traced on June 12th 1903 by Thomas Worthington and Son, Architects, can be seen on the main page.
The ministers are:- Nehemiah Reyner 1707-1732. Samuel Hanson 1733-1763. John Atchison 1765-1788. William Dodge Cooper 1788-1801. Joseph Ramsbotham 1801-1806.
Joseph Jeffries 1806-1827. Charles Danvers Hort 1829-1835. George Henry Wells 1837-1881. Dendy Agate 1882-1893. George Evans 1894-1911. Albert Thornhill 1911-1920.
Fred Cottier 1920-1953. Maurice Bonner 1953-1964. Lionel Orlando Reed 1966-1970. John Stanley Keggen 1971-1973. Patricia Ann Richardson 1974-1981.
David Charles Doel 1982-1995. Ann Sonja Peart 1995-2000. Andrew Robert Parker 2000.
Tablet to the memory of John Grimshaw.
The tablet came from the Old Chapel, and bears the names of John Grimshaw. Mary Ann Grimshaw, his wife, and his twin brother Joseph Stanfield Grimshaw. John Grimshaw lived at High Bank House on High Bank, near Tan Yard Brow, and also previously at Audenshaw Lodge. He was important to Gorton as a magistrate and deputy lieutenant of the county. He died aged 78 in 1861. There were also Grimshaws at Gorton House in the late 1700s. John’s twin brother Joseph Stanfield Grimshaw lived at Stanfield Lodge, which became part of Debdale Park. Their brother built High Bank Mill on Ogden Lane.
Memorial to George Grimshaw, and other family members.
This memorial bears the names of a number of the Grimshaws. At the bottom of the tablet, the Grimshaw family coat of arms can be seen. This is the family crest of John Grimshaw of High Bank House and Audenshaw Lodge and of his twin brother Joseph Stanfield, who owned Gorton House and built and lived at Stanfield Lodge. The Grimshaw family also provided the parsonage for Brookfield Unitarian church at the top of Tan yard Brow and gave financial help to the Sunday school. Joseph Stanfield was involved with the building of the Gorton Schools in 1863. It is possible that this tablet was removed from the Old Chapel.
Tablet in memory of George Daniels.
This picture is of the tablet in memory of George Daniels, who was a member of the church, and a scholar of the Sunday School. He was killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on 20th November 1917. His father, also named George, is mentioned in some of the earlier church magazines. He was the pew rent collector for the church, and lived at Oakdene, Hyde Road, Gorton.
Tablet in memory of George Worthington.
This tablet is in memory of George Worthington and his wife Bridget, and was erected by their surviving daughters, Ann Taylor and Alice Bowler. This may have also originated from the Old Chapel, as it bears the dates 1828 and 1846, which is before the present church was built. The gravestone of George Worthington is situated in the old graveyard, and can be seen on the Short History page.
The church baptismal font.
This is the church baptismal font, which was erected to the memory of Rev. George Henry Wells, minister from 1837 to 1881, who saw the transition from the Old Chapel to the present church.
Peal
board from the bell tower.
This photo shows a peal board, which once hung in the ringing room of the bell tower. The ringers of the church rang a peal of Grandsire Triples, with the bells muffled, on February 2nd 1901, in memory of Queen Victoria, as a tribute of loyalty and respect.
Plaque unveiled by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester.
This plaque was unveiled by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO on 22nd October 2003, during her visit to Brookfield Church, to commemorate the tercentenary of the church. The plaque was intended to bear the names of any future ministers, as the one that stands next to it from 1901, and shown at the top of the page, appears to be full.