Sunday, 6th September, will be a big day at St. Philip’s Church. The Bishop of Chester, the Rt. Rev. Peter Forster, will conduct a special service at which the church will be re-dedicated under the name of St. Philip and St. James.
The new dedication is being adopted to celebrate the role of the mission church of St. James in the life of the parish in the 20th century. St. James’s church stood on the corner of Heyes Lane and Moss Road, opposite Grantham’s shop.
It was built in 1908 to provide a convenient place of worship for people who lived in the Heyes Lane area , which was being developed at that time. During the Second World War services were discontinued, though the Sunday School continued to meet. After the war, the growth of the population of that part of the village with the building of the council estate prompted a campaign to resume regular services.
The building was completely renovated and in 1949 Sunday evening services recommenced. For many years it flourished: there were weekly services led by Mr J D Bird, a Lay Reader, and a thriving Sunday School, which many older inhabitants remember with affection to this day. By the 1970s, however, it was becoming increasingly difficult to finance a mission church in the parish and in 1975 St James was closed.
With hindsight this decision was inevitable but at the time regular worshippers were bitterly disappointed. It is hoped that the incorporation of the name of St. James into the dedication of the parish church will perpetuate the memory of an important part of the story of the parish.
