(set: $vStAlk to false)
(set: $vStJohn to false)
(set: $vPres to false)
(set: $vWHC to false)
(set: $vMeth to false)
(set: $vStCath to false)
(set: $vURC to false)
(set: $vStPrim to false)
(set: $vBap to false)
(set: $vtot to 0)
You are in Whitchurch on a research trip for a university report and are looking to find out about the different historic churches around the town. You know that if you go to the Bullring there will be 4 churches to the north and another 4 to the south.
[[Head into the Bullring -> Bullring]]
You are currently standing in the Bullring. There is a few shops and a bank along with a free standing clock. There are two exits, one goes onto the [[High street->Highhist]] heading North whilst the other goes to [[Dodington->Dod1]] heading South. You know that your friend will pick you up from this point later.
Do you:
[[Go to the High Street-> Highstreet]]
[[Go to Dodington->Dodington]]
[[Call a friend and finish researching for this trip-> Finish]]
The High Street has many different buildings from various periods of history, with the oldest being from the 16th Century. It is part of a Roman Road called Watling Street.
[[Back-> Bullring]]
Dodington was originally called Dodtune (‘the settlement of Dodda’s people’) by the Saxons. It was a seperate township to Whitchurch with the boundary being Staggs Brook.
[[Back-> Bullring]]
You are standing on the High Street, it has various styles of architecture from the 17th century to the present day. There are various local shops alongside cafes and banks. You know that the churches in this part of town are at the top and bottom of the high street and down its side streets. You can see the largest church of St Alkmunds at the top along with a square fronted antiques shop which is the former Baptist church at the bottom. You also see signs for the Heritage Centre (a former Wesleyan Chapel) and St Johns Street with its Methodist church at the far end.
[[St Alkmunds Church-> StAlk]]
[[Wesleyan Methodist Chapel->WHC]]
[[Baptist Chapel->Bap]]
[[St Johns Church->StJohn]]
[[Back to the Bullring-> Bullring]]
You are standing in Watergate Street. To your left the street continues past some small shops and pubs into Dodington, and to your right is Castle Hill and Mill Street. On Castle Hill there is an imposing Victorian Methodist Church which is now the Masonic Lodge. On Dodington there are three churches, two are easily visible but the other is down an alley and looks like a barn this is the old Presbyterian Chapel.
[[Presbyterian->Pres]]
[[Methodist Church->Methodist]]
[[Dodington United Reform Church->URC]]
[[St Catherines->StCath]]
[[Back to the Bullring-> Bullring]]
(If: $vStAlk is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(Set: $vStAlk to true)
St Alkmunds Church
The accepted date of the foundation of the church, named for Alcmund of Derby, is 912, although the earliest record of a church on the site is 1089.This church was built in white stone, giving the name to the town. Towards the end of the 15th century the body of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who had been killed at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, was removed to the church. On 31 July 1711, the central tower of the medieval church, which dated from the 15th century, collapsed and the church had to be completely rebuilt. The foundation stone was laid on 27 March 1712 and the new church was consecrated on 8 October 1712. It was built by mason William Smith of Tettenhall to the designs of John Barker (1668-1727) of Rowsley.
The church was restored in 1877–79 and again in 1885–86. In 1900–02, the brick internal walls were refaced with stone and the apse was redecorated. The porch was rebuilt in 1925. The north and south galleries were removed in 1972.
[[Back to the High Street-> Highstreet]]
(If: $vWHC is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vWHC to true)
Wesleyan Chapel, St Marys Street.
In 1810 a purpose built chapel was opened in St Marys Street. Money had been raised to construct a 3 bay 2 storey building of sandstone or ashlar blocks. It has a hipped roof, arched windows and a first floor venetian window. The land it was built on was originally owned by John Brereton a liquor merchant who sold it to John Parsons to build the chapel for £110 (around £6212 in today's money). The congregation remained here for nearly 70 years.
[[Back to the High Street-> Highstreet]]
(If: $vBap is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vBap to true)
Baptist Chapel, Green End
A Baptist congregation existed in Whitchurch in 1798 and meetings are known to have been held in houses on Green End. Money for a purpose built chapel was raised during the late 1820s. Between the years 1862 and 1889 considerable improvements were made. New windows were put in, gas was installed and the premises enlarged by extending towards the street and forming a lobby as the entrance with a schoolroom above.
[[Back to the High Street-> Highstreet]]
(If: $vStJohn is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vStJohn to true)
St Johns Methodist Church.
This church with seating for 400, was opened in 1879 to replace the earlier chapel on St Marys Street. It cost at the time £5000 (around £434,000 today), this included building an adjoining house for the minister. It was built in Gothic style out of sandstone with a tiled roof. Between the World Wars the Wesleyan and the Primitive Methodists re-emerged as part of the Methodist Union, both congregations then met at St Johns.
[[Back to the High Street-> Highstreet]]
(If: $vPres is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vPres to true)
Presbyterian Chapel, Dodington
This was the first licensed purpose built non-conformist chapel built in whitchurch. It was built in the garden of Thomas Yates’ house in 1707 and [[Matthew Henry]] preached the first sermon. The chapel was burnt down by Jacobite rioters in 1715. The government of George I paid for a replacement chapel on the same site. By 1720 the congregation numbered 300 and continued to rise in use until 1824.
[[Back to the Dodington->Dodington]]
(If: $vMeth is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vMeth to true)
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Castle Hill
Primitive Methodism emerged as a movement within the Wesleyan connection. The first congregation built a small chapel further down the hill then the present building. When the congregation increased the current building was built in 1866 and registered for marriages in 1870. A sunday school was added in 1924.
[[Back to the Dodington->Dodington]]
(If: $vURC is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vURC to true)
Dodington URC (former Congregational Church)
This chapel was created when there was a split within the congregation of the Presbyterians in 1797. They converted a small currier's shop into a chapel that was directly across the road from the presbyterian chapel. This was considerably enlarged and fitted out as a chapel in 1813. The vestry was enlarged in 1815 with a school room added on the first floor. The chapel is brick built with an ashlar facade, dated 1846 and has a gabled shallow roof.
[[Back to the Dodington->Dodington]]
(If: $vStCath is false)[(Set: $vtot to $vtot + 1)]
(set: $vStCath to true)
St Catherines Church, Dodington
This was built as a chapel-of-ease to St Alkmund’s Church in 1836. It is named after Catherine the widow of the 7th Earl of Bridgewater. Catherine was the patroness of the church. It is built from brick in a neo-classical style, with a stone facade and a graded slate roof. A central portico projects from the five bay frontage and an octagonal tower from the roof. The tower clock was said to be the oldest surviving Joyce clock in England The congregation declined and the church was deconsecrated in 1974.
[[Back to the Dodington->Dodington]]
You have visited $vtot of the 8 churches on your map.
(If: $vtot <8)[You decide it might be worth another visit to [[Whitchurch-> Bullring]].
You decide to [[write your report->End1]] with your current research.]
(If:$vtot is 8)[You feel fully prepared to [[Write a report->End2]].]
(Set: $vtot to $vtot * 4 + 50)
Your report covers all the churches you have seen and goes into a fair bit of detail. Unfortunately though your lecturer asks why it is missing some churches. You receive $vtot% for your report.
Go back to <a href="http://www.allourstories.whitchurch-heritage.co.uk/">All Our Stories</a>
Congratulations, your report is well researched and you receive the highest marks in your class on it.
Go back to <a href="http://www.allourstories.whitchurch-heritage.co.uk/">All Our Stories</a>
Matthew Henry (18 October 1662 – 22 June 1714) was born at Broad Oak, Iscoyd. His father, Philip Henry, was a Church of England cleric and had just been ejected under the Act of Uniformity 1662. Matthew went first to a school at Islington, at that time a village just outside London, and then to Gray's Inn, in the heart of the capital. He soon gave up his legal studies for theology, and in 1687 became minister of a Presbyterian congregation at Chester. While in Chester, Henry founded the Presbyterian Chapel in Trinity Street. On 22 June 1714, he died suddenly of apoplexy at the Queen's Aid House (41 High Street) in Nantwich, while on a journey from Chester to London.
[[Back->Pres]]