CHURCHTOWN VISIT – Thursday 11 April 2013
On an overcast, chilly, but fine day a group of Friends met at St Helen’s Church,
Churchtown, near Garstang. The church is dedicated to St Helen, mother of Constantine the
Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor. It is a Grade I listed building known locally as the
Cathedral of the Fylde. It is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, but that doesn’t mean it
wasn’t there. The building is irregular and seems to have been altered and added to over the
years. It contains architecture of almost every age since the Normans. Vicars of Churchtown
can be traced back to 1190 and their names appear on a board in the church. The early vicars
would have been known as priests as this was a Roman Catholic Church until the
Reformation. Denis Livick, a former churchwarden, gave us interesting information about the
structure of the church, its history and some of its contents.
The pillars on the north of the nave are probably the oldest part of the building, dating
from about 1200 AD. They are circular with circular capitals, whereas those on the south
have octagonal capitals. One of the pillars on the north side leans rather a lot, but we were
told not to worry as it had probably been like that for hundreds of years. Denis told us the
peal of bells, weighing about 21/2 tons, was rung every Sunday and on special occasions. The
pulpit is a good example of carved Jacobean workmanship and bears the date 1646. We also
saw carved misericords under some seats in the choir stalls. The roof of the chancel and nave
were raised in 1811 to admit clerestorey windows which made the interior of the church
much brighter. We saw a magnificent stained glass east window and, a little to the north, a
small window through which lepers would have watched the services.
The churchyard is almost circular and, until 1746, it was almost completely
surrounded by the river Wyre. In 1746 the river burst its banks flooding the church. As the
church had flooded on other occasions it was decided to hire a contractor to dismantle the
church and rebuild it on higher ground. A price was agreed and the contractor paid in
advance. The contractor then suggested a better solution would be to leave the church where
it was and to re-route the river away from the church. A new channel was dug, the river rerouted and the church has never flooded since. The contractor made a handsome profit and in
return he presented the church with a splendid 18 candle, brass chandelier. This hung in place
for over 200 years then it was stolen, twice. The first time it was recovered, but the second
time it wasn’t. The church is open all day, every day and stands at the end of a cul-de-sac
with houses on each side of the road. On the second occasion it was stolen on a Sunday
afternoon between 2.00pm and 4.00pm. It would have taken four men to take down the
chandelier and a wagon to transport it away. It was a wet afternoon, so the residents of
Churchtown would have been indoors and nobody saw the men or the wagon.
We were shown the tapestry covered kneelers, all of which have been stitched with
pictures and patterns to illustrate the history of the church and its neighbourhood.
Brenda Fox took us on a short walk around Churchtown. She pointed out the cobbled
pavements which are remnants of cobbled surfaces which once extended across the whole
street. Old Churchtown consisted of just three streets: Church Street, The Green and Ainspool
Lane, with The Green and Ainspool Lane being the main thoroughfare. The village by- pass
was built in the early 1930s making this a quiet village in which to live. We saw several
Grade II listed houses. In Ainspool Lane there is a mixture of ancient and modern housing
standing side by side. A row of semi-detached houses was built by the council, in the 1930s,
to house agricultural workers and their families. As the number of people engaged in
agriculture decreased the houses were sold and are now privately owned. The focal point of
the village, at the intersection of the three roads, is the village ‘cross’, which has only ever
been a cross in name only; it is an Etruscan column standing on a square base with a sundial
at its head. Leading off The Green are two cul-de-sacs, one built in the 1960s and the other in
the 1980s, both containing houses built in the style of the day. Another cul-de-sac, Vicarage
Lane, leads to the new and former vicarages as well as two private dwellings. We saw two
public houses called the Punchbowl and the Horns Inn. The Punchbowl was, many years ago,
called the Covered Cup. Some former landowners, the Butlers (early spelling – Boteler) had
as their family crest three covered chalices (covered cups) and the pub probably took its name
from that. After passing the school and schoolhouse, where the headmaster used to live, we
crossed the very busy by-pass road into Nook Lane. A short distance up Nook Lane we came
to the pinfold or cattle pound which was restored some years ago. It actually stands in a
private garden, but Denis Livick had sought the owner’s permission for us to go and have a
closer look at it.
In the 20th century Churchtown village expanded with Grade II listed and more
modern houses sitting comfortably together. It is a closely knit village consisting of about 80
properties. The three village shops and post office have closed, the two pubs are now the
main commercial enterprises.
Social activity revolves around the church, the school, the two public houses and the
Memorial Hall at the junction of the Avenue and A6. Churchtown comes to life each year
when it celebrates the patronal festival of St Helen. This year the theme is ‘Let’s Sing’. It
starts on Saturday 18 May with stalls etc. in the square and lasts until Wednesday 22 May.
Throughout the celebrations there is a flower festival in church, together with a model
railway display and other exhibitions. Refreshments are served daily in the parish room. The
following Saturday, 25 May, sees the children’s Whitsuntide festival with rose queens, brass
bands, fancy dress etc. This event is based mainly at the Memorial Hall.
We ate our packed lunches in the parish room (formerly a school) and were refreshed
with tea or coffee provided by Denis and his wife. Following lunch Brenda gave us a talk
about the Great Ejection of 1662 when 2,000 Anglican vicars were ejected from their
parishes for having Nonconformist views – ie. they refused to follow the Book of Common
prayer during church services and refused to recognise the monarch as the head of the church.
Isaac Ambrose, vicar of Churchtown, was one such vicar whose life has been well
documented. We looked at photocopied pages from the church register, 1661 – 1663. The
originals are on microfilm in the Lancashire Record Office. We also saw transcripts of the
relevant entries. Brenda pointed out that each year began on 25 March; this was Lady Day, or
the Feast of the Annunciation, exactly nine months before Christmas Day. Traditionally this
was the day on which year-long contracts between landowners and tenants began. The Julian
calendar (named after Julius Caesar) had been in use since 42 BC. It consisted of 11 months
of 30/31 days and a 28 day February (29 in each leap year). It was quite accurate, but differed
from the lunar calendar by 111/2 minutes each year. Over the centuries even this small
difference added up. By the late1500s the Julian calendar differed from the lunar calendar by
ten days. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII decreed ten days should be cut out of the calendar to
bring it into line with the lunar calendar. Britain was slow to change; it didn’t change until
1752. The previous year, 1751, a Calendar Act was passed so that the day after 31 December
1751 would be 1 January 1752. As a consequence 1751 was a short year lasting from 25
March to 31 December. By 1752 it was necessary to cut eleven days out of the calendar.
Wednesday 2 September was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. Riots broke out,
“Give us back our 11 days”. Tenants had no wish to pay rent for non-existent days. To
placate people the treasury decreed that the beginning of the tax year should be moved from
25 March to 6 April, and this is still the case today.
There were several interesting documents on display including a collection of
Churchtown postcards, dating mainly from around 1906, a book of recorded monumental
inscriptions and several photocopied documents relating to the history of the church, originals
of which are in the Lancashire Record Office. All in all this was a very successful,
informative visit.