The stained glassof

Bolsover Methodist Church

Text by Reverend Sean Adair and Bernard HaighPhotographs by Dave Wharmby

We hope that this short booklet has introduced oneof the Bolsover community’s treasures to you. It is not just

the story of the building or the windows. It is the story of the people who have lived and continue to live here. They are

the true treasures of Bolsover, young and old, rich and poor. Bolsover Methodist Church continues to be a place where the individual’s story and journey matters, a place of grace and

of compassion. The people mentioned in the text played their part. The opportunity to be supported and to supportothers remains a strong value for all connected with

this place of worship and of service.

The text for the symbolism of each window has been written by Reverend Sean Adair and the historical notes on the

people commemorated by Bernard Haigh. The photographswere taken by Dave Wharmby LRPS, AFIAP.

We acknowledge assistance with the project fromHoward Woodhead, Richard Alexander, Diane Clarke,

Wendy Stevenson, Bolsover Civic Society, Derbyshire Record Office,descendents of the Sykes, Clarke and Ingram families.

Text and photos may not be copied or reproduced without permission.

Designed and printed by Dawson Print & Design Ltd. Tel: 01623 722522 50p

Buildings can tell stories and hold memories for people

in a unique way. This is true in a particular way of Church

buildings. Many times we pass or come into a church and we can

experience a flood of memories – baptisms, weddings, funerals,

times of fun, laughter, even moments of connection

with something beyond ourselves and what many would call

a sense of peace. How Churches are designed tells you a lot

about the beliefs and values of those groups of Christian

disciples who were behind them. This is true of the

Methodist Church on Hill Top in Bolsover.

In this booklet you will find out a little about the background

and values of this magnificent Late Victorian building just off

the centre of this wonderful north Derbyshire town.

Our particular focus will be on the stained glass windows.

We hope you’ll find it of interest.

We also invite you to visit and take a look around soon.

Sister Ruth Harrison of Birmingham, a Wesleyan Deaconess of the Methodist Church was appointed to Bolsover in January 1904 until a permanent Minister could be appointed.

 In addition to her duties as Deaconess she was elected as Leader of the Junior Society classes and on her death the same year, at the early age of thirty eight, this position was taken by Mrs Florence Sykes, wife of Abel.

 Sister Ruth was buried in Birmingham and a memorial service took place at Bolsover in September 1904.

 This memorial window was erected in 1910.

 Sister Ruth’s window depicts Jesus as the Good Shepherd, resonating with a number of Biblical passages that speak about the care of God in Christ for all people, even those who are often deemed, or feel themselves to be far away, isolated, lost.

 An important part of any Church’s life is to express the care of God in Christ in tangible ways, so that the people of the community in which that Church is set, experience that comfort for themselves.

Sister Ruth Harrison

Abel Charlesworth Sykes’s connection with Methodism in Bolsover stretched back to his worship at the original ‘Breck Chapel’, Hockley, later transferring in 1866 to the second chapel in the town, now the Assembly Hall.

 In 1896 Sykes gave land and finance for the building of the present chapel. Its position at the boundary of the grounds to his home, Sherwood Lodge, gave it locally the unofficial title of ‘Sykes’ cathedral’.

 Sykes was a landowner, farmer and had shares in the Bolsover Colliery Co. Ltd., a County Magistrate and in 1894 he was elected to the newly established Bolsover Urban District Council. An influential man in a growing colliery town.

Abel Charlesworth Sykes

 This window was removed from the Bolsover Congregational Church, Castle Street on its closure in 1981.

 Preserved by Alexander Senior’s daughter Marion it was reinstated in Bolsover Methodist Church with assistance from Bolsover Civic Society.

 In the past decades there has been a growth of concern for those with mental health problems. It is fitting that around a century after Alexander Senior’s death, that working with people with mental health issues and concerns is coming into sharper focus in both the nation and in the Church.

 Indeed, here in this very building where the Memorial window for Alexander Senior resides now, not a week goes by without the people of the present Bolsover community being supported in the midst of their personal crises and problems.

The central window in the Chancel of the Worship Area depicts Christ standing at a door and knocking.

 It resonates with a famous and much beloved picture by Holman Hunt ‘The Light of the World’. According to the Book of Revelation Ch.3:20 God in Christ seeks entry into our world and our lives.

 The door handle is only on the inside of the door in the painting. Hunt was making the point that God does not force Himself on us but longs to be given admittance into our communities and lives. Abel Sykes provided the Chapel on Hill Top to provide a place where people could come and make that connection with God.

 It is still the hope of the present congregation, over a century later to provide such a connecting place.

Alexander SeniorAlexander Senior was raised inDewsbury in the West Riding ofYorkshire’s heavy woollen districtin a committed Congregationalfamily in which chapel definedsocial and domestic activity.

 He was proud of the Church’sradical 17th century origins. In1894, aged twenty two he went towork at the new Bolsover collieryand engaged fully in Christianinvolvement including teaching at Sunday School. He played for the colliery cricket club in the Derbyshire Minor League as a notable medal award fast bowler. He volunteered as a bookkeeper for the church and several local organisations. He and his wife lived first in the Model Village, moving to the Villas and later Castle Lane, raising two children. His son Stanley died aged nine of diphtheria in 1912.

 He worked for the colliery for twenty three years, rising from lamp cabin junior to Head of Sales and Chief Bookkeeper at Hatfield Colliery, Doncaster, whilst retaining a role at Bolsover.

 During World War I, with mining classed as a reserved occupation, he was under massive pressure to meet wartime imperatives, carrying two demanding jobs at once. In April 1917 he was promoted to Company Secretary at Hatfield from 1 June. On 30 April he cycled from Bolsover back to Hatfield but never arrived. His body was found in a quiet country lane.

 The coroner concluded his death was ‘by suicide whilst temporarily insane’. He concluded that ‘this death is as much a casualty of the war as any man’s on the battles of Flanders’. . . it was a tragedy just as the deceased had got his foot on the ladder of a successful career a breakdown of his health should have driven him to take his own life’.

George Palmer Sykes and Elizabeth SykesThe father of Abel Sykes, local benefactor to the town. George Palmer Sykes began work in Bolsover as a saddler. He was a member of the chapel at Hockley, taking an active part in the building of the 1866 chapel and in 1873, the adjoining Sunday School, where for twenty years he was a class leader and Sunday School Superintendent.

The window to the left of the Chancel, dedicated to George & Elizabeth, conveys one of the most enduring pictures of God in Christ in the New Testament part of the Bible. Jesus welcomes little children. Children and infants are examples of the most vulnerable people and vulnerable people still find a welcome in God. Infants particularly have no concept of God or appreciation of His love. In other words, those who can give nothing back in return are welcome.

 This enduring conviction is most powerfully portrayed not just in this window but even more so in the regular services of Infant Baptism where amongst other things we say: ‘All this for you, before you could know anything of it’. God’s grace, Christians believe, always takes the initiative and is universal in its scope – it’s for everyone!

In July 1846 George Palmer Sykes married Elizabeth Charlesworth. After her death in 1879 he lived with his son and family at Sherwood Lodge following its erection in 1897.

George and Elizabeth are buried in the family vault in Bolsover Parish Church graveyard.

The window was dedicated to them by their children Abel and Rebecca.

George and Adelene IngramGeorge Ingram was born in Bolsover and worked as a miner.

His wife Adelene was a staunch churchgoer, who for many years was church choir mistress. She was well known as a singer locally and conducted the Bolsover Excelsior Choir.

The Ingram window speaks volumes about what Christian people believe about God, particularly in the Methodist tradition.

 The open hands of Jesus express welcome, and the words from the Gospels, ‘Come unto me’ push the message home, that in Christ we discover God to be for us, not against us, God who invites us to know Him and to find real rest, peace, purpose, and meaning as our story intersects with His.

Henry SmedleyHenry Smedley was born in Handsworth, Sheffield, later moving to Bol-sover. He was the son of Henry and Sarah Ann Smedley who at the time of his death lived in the Market Place.

 He enlisted in the Artillery but later joined the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry ‘D’ Company 6th Batallion. On 16 September 1916 he was killed at the battle of the Somme. His body never found.

 Henry Smedley, like so many others of the Great War, has ‘no known grave’. His name is inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial, with over 72,000 others who lost their lives at the battles of the Somme.

 The window was erected by his parents.

This window reminds us that often human life is brought to an end by violence. Warfare and inhumanity still plague our human experience. Astonishingly, the generation that has most intentionally tried to declare itself free from religion and even wants to blame religion for the state of the world, is also the one that has seen more death through warfare than any previous century since Christ. Abandoning God has not made things better. In fact, it could be argued that it is worse. Smedley’s window reflects the account in the New Testament of Mary encountering the risen Christ in the garden.

 In the midst of grief and the chaos of her life she goes beyond belonging to or having just a religion, to having a genuine connection with God which is life altering. It is often in the midst of life’s most difficult moments that we discover the reality and personal connection with God that hitherto we’ve not known.

Frederick and Maurice Clarke  At the turn of the 20th century James and Hannah Clarke and their six sons moved from Ingleton, Yorkshire to Bolsover, where James sought employment with the newly formed Bolsover Colliery Company. Originally they lived in a cottage in Brockley Wood.

 Frederick was one of the sons. He became a miner and gas lamplighter, attended the Methodist Chapel and became a local Circuit preacher, devoting himself to the cause of Methodism locally, especially in Bolsover.

 Frederick’s son Maurice inherited his father’s devotion to Methodism and the Bolsover church. He held many posts including that of Circuit Steward and was involved with the union in 1973 of the Hill Top Church with the Primitive Methodist chapel at Town End. Maurice was instrumental in the compilation in 1996 of the centenary history booklet.

“I am the resurrection and the life”, words of Jesus, often read at funerals, go with the Clarke window. The Sun’s Spring rays focus on the Church on Hill Top, a place where each year, hundreds of people experiencing bereavement come to say thanks and fare-well to those they love. The words of Jesus point us to life beyond life and thus to hope of our lives somehow continuing beyond life, held by the God of love.

 The window was designed by Maurice and Gwendoline’s granddaughter Helen, inspired by Maurice’s love of Spring flowers with the sun radiating from a church which was such a focal point of his life. The final design was made by stained glass artist, Judith Orchard of Higham, Derbyshire.

 Maurice was married to Gwendoline, a highly respected Head of Music at Bolsover Girl’s School and later at Hasland Hall. She was chapel choir mistress for many years and a local piano teacher