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LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONES…

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LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONES OF ST DAVID'S CHURCH. INTERESTING CEREMONY. "DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW CHURCH. <vf^nf°Dndation st(nes fcke new Church much «?eJ!ere lai?' on Mond*y kst- Bitl> thorough «cc"L The Procee,],'°«s we™ at one lime S.d T'l T7' u ™w,er k.,«. • 8,8 it would spoil the cetem 'n good tioie prevent this, ,t modw.ted and was fi„ 5here WM a great concourse of persons, old and youn». who took a most mtellig-eut interest in ali the proceedings, here and there being seen members of some of the Nonconformist bodies. The facts connected with this new church re to well known tq our readers that we Ileed no. here touch upon them. ''he work has not beeii in hand long", and much for the) enterprise oi the Mr Samuels,[ vthat such progress stones^ nia^e as to alloV the ioundation T-^q^0 ^aid at so early\a date. in the w were theVone ia the nave and it is in- laid was the *^ent*cm that tfte stone the^e I <?\he chancel8 stone whicHv was laid in .Irs Mostyn>e^ Rof the original church by nd who placed who e year 1B38. TM?.8kone in pd^ition in Jifr Samuels' men was re-dressed by a further interesting'ttbus used aSaiP and laid bjr the niece 5 f*ture was thai, it was tnt late Mrs Moatyn, namely, Miss Townshend, of Cae Dai, and the fact was recorded on the stone thus This foundation stone, laid hy Mrs Mostyn of Segrwyrf, in 1838, was re-laid by her niece, Miss Tovmshend, in 1894 Of course, the usual cavity was made in the under stone, and in this was placed a bottle containing the following doewnonts: The old parchment found under the stone when recently excavated, and a description of which we gave in our columns; an exterior and interior view of the old church; a plan of the old church, shewing the ground and gallery floors; a plan 9f the proposed new church; a copy of last Satuidays Denbighshire Free Press and a copy of the service used at the ceremony; together with a description of the new church as it will be finisked (particulars of which we give below). To enable Miss Townshend to perform her interesting task, a platform had been erected, and here she took up her position in good time for the purpose, accompanied by several friends. The other foundation stone was that of the chancel, which the committee had re- quested should be laid by Miss Tumour, Grove House, the daughter of Dr Tumour, who has so generously undertaken the cost of the chancel. This stone was placed in the outer wall of the chancel nearly to the Park-street entrance to the church. In the cavity underneath the stone was placed a bottle which contained a similar description of the church to that in the other bottle (and given bolow); am exterior and interior view of the old church, and a copy of the first appeal issued as to the restoration, with the illustration showing the three decker pulpit; a copy of the service, and a copy of last Saturday's Denbighshire Free Press, &c. At this spot a platform had been raised to enable the lady builder to properly ac- complish her task. She was accompanied by her father and other friends (and in the procession of clergy we noticed her brother, the Rev A H Tumour), and the part she took in the ceremony was thus recorded on the stone This foundation stone was laid in 1894 by Miss Turnour, daughter of Arthur E Turnour, Esq., M.D, at whose cost the chancel was erected. To enable the ladies to build with perfect stability they were providsd by the builder with mallets, which had been made out of some of the oak taken out of the old church, and on which a suitable inscription had been placed. They were alpo the recipients of silver trowels, on whieh the donar (Mr R Lloyd Williams, the arohitect), had had placed the following inscription: Pro- sented to Miss Turnour on the occasion ot her laving the foundation stone of the 9 chancel of St David's Church, Denbigh, 23rd April, 1894." A similar inscription, with alteration to Miss Townshend, appeared on the other trowel. Long before three o'clock every position, from which anything could be seen, was taken possession of, and there were very many quite unable to see anything whatever of what was being done, so great was the crowd; all they could do was to listen to what portion of the service they could now and again hear, and stay to have a look at the stones when the service was over. A PROCESSION waa formed at the Church House, at three o'clock, in the following order:- I nstrumentalists, The Choir (in Cassocks and Surplices), The Clergy, in large numbers (all in surplices) and including the Ven Archdeacon H Jones, The Lord Bishop (who was attended by his Chaplain, the Rev E M Roderio, M.A.), The Building Committee, and the General Public. On the way to the Church the hymn— "Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our Grod," was sung with orchestral accompaniment. On arriving on the ground the choir were placed on a raised platform, whilst on a more elevated part, the Bishop, the Rector, and all the other clergy. The organiat (Mr Roberts) was also on this raised portion, so that the English and Welsh choirs were closely surrounding him. All things being ready, the Rector said Our help is in the 7< k°r<* responded Who made heaven and earth." Other petitions followd, and then was sung the Psalm commencing— O how aniakle are tby dwellings thou Lord of hosts 1" Then after a number of appropriate petitions and the Lord's prayer, led by the Rector, he offered the following prayers "0 Alaiighty Lord God, Whom the heavens and eirth cannot contain, let Who disdainest not to dwell with Thy Chircll here on earth Merci- fully grant that all evil miy depart from this niece whereon we are about to lay the foundation ,)f a house to the honour and praise of Thy most Holy Name; threngk Jesus Christ our Lord, Who ever liveth and reigaeth with Thee, in the unit, ot tn Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. ADeQ." II 0 Lord Jesus Christ. Son of the Living God, W 1.0 set the brightness of the Father's glory, and th AiD-es* image of His Person; the chief corner- .f tne h«wa'roul the mountain withoat hands; the fable foundation; Strengthen these stones ,mm ta Th Name: and Thou, Who art .nd t». by Wkom i. U. I« in-ia* God creatsd all things, bt», we beseech Thl. IX beaiai"0*'th8 ,ncrea8e' aB(1 c°t* aAu;. 0ur work, which is undertaken Slfc1111!0 W J TkJ Nmw, Who. with the Father U i.BlS3y Spi"<. li'«« »"d r81gn' a,i' trt? "r r,e to pace far a foundation in tne > of Hi* Wbo is the tried and pr*cl0U9 IT ant that a!l they who 'o the th • work shall have faithfully offered t» Th»« of their awbuaace, m*y ever be preserved, bo h in body aed^soui, tbroH^h Je*u8 Christ our Lord. Amen. Then was sung the Psalm, commenting "I w.*s glad when they said unto me: ^VVe will go into the house of the Lord. At this point the Bishop, accompanied by his Chaplain, the Rector and Archdeacon Hugh Jones, proceeded to the stone in the Nave, which was to be laid by Miss Townshend. Mr Lloyd Williams, the architect, handed her a. silver trowel, with which she carefully spread the mortar, and the stone having been lowered into its place, Mr Samuels, the contractor, handed her a mahogany mallet, suitably inscribed, with which she successlullycouipleted her work, saying, In the faith of Jesus Christ, I place this Foundation stone, in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and I God the Holy Ghost. Amen." I The Bishop, Rector, Archdeacon, &c., then proceeded to the stone i. the Chancel, and here Miss Turnour was handed a similar silver trowel by the architect, with which she dexterously spread the mortar, and the stone was then lowered, Mr Samuel, the contractor, handing to her a mahogany mallet, bearing appropriate inscription, with which she well and truly laid the stone, saying, In the faith of Jesus Christ, I place this Foundation-stone in the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen." The Bishop then said:—Here let true faith, the fear of God, and brotherly love ever remain; this place is consecrated to prayer and to the praise of the most holy Name of the same our Lerd Jesus Christ, Who ever liveth with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. „r Then was sung the Welsh hymn commencing- Un sylfaen fawr yr Eslwys, Yr Arglwydd Iesu yw The Bishop then read three appropriate Welsh prayers. The Rector then announced that at this point it had been intended that the Wardens and Sidesmen should receive the offerings of the Worshippers en behalf of the Building Fund, but the crush being so great they felt it would be impossible to do so, and there- fore the collection would be taken at the gates as those present left, and he reminded them that the committee were still Zi,ooo short of completing the work as they desired, and they trusted those present would contribute liberally. The hymn, We lova the place. 0 God," was then sang, and the Bishop pronounced the Benediction. The procession reformed, and returned to the Church House, singing the hymn— Lord of the world above, How pleasant and how fair." The people soon afterwards dispersed, the interesting proceedings having been a thorough sHecess. The collections at the gates amounted to X15 15s. A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW BUILDING. We are indebted to the archit9ct for the following copy of the description of the Church, which was deposited underneath the stone The Church, of which the foundation stones are laid this day, is being built on the site of the original Church, which was com- menced in the year 1838. The old Church was taken down (with the exception of the tower) in consequence of its unswitability for the services of the Church. The follow- ing is a description of it :A. nave, 74 feet by 40 feet, with a single span roof over the whole width, under which there was a plaster ceiling in the form of a Tudor arch. It was lighted by five single lancet shaped windows, with cusped heads, on each side, the width of same was 8-feet 6-inches, and they ran fro:n a height of 6 feet from thg ground floor across the back of galleries, to a height of 19-feet G-inches, finishing in small gablets. The pews were narrow, high, and extremaly uncomfortable, and a gallery ran on three sides of the nave. The organ was placed in the West end gallery. The accommodation was supposed to be 828, but in reality the available sittings were far less than that number. The chancel was of very limited size, and stood out from the chancel arch some 8-feet, the width being 16 feet. It contained a large window of a late perpendicular character, which wai filled with pointed glass by Ballantine, of Edin- burgh. The window was put up by Arthur E Turnour, M.D., of Grove House, Den- bigh, in memory of Mrs Tatlock, of Plas Clough, Denbigh. On the south side of the chancel there was a small vestry, and on the north side a porch, both being placed angle wite. The pnlpit, which stood immediately in front of' the centre of chancel arch—forming a gigantic obstruction—was of the old-fashioned three- decker type, viz.: Clerk's desk on the floor level; above it the reading desk, the pulpit sarmouating the whole. The upper portion of the tower was added, and the bell given, by the late Thomas Hughes, of Ystrad, in 1850. The architect was the late Thomas Penson, of Oswesiry." The church now being built has a nave the same length ps the old one; but the building covers considerably more gronnd by reason of the addition of aisles and transepts, the lengthening of the chancel with organ chamber and vestry. The following is a more detailed description There is an en- trance from the west tower, as heretofore, into the nave, which is 74 ft. long and 83-ft. G-in. wide. There is a main passage of 5-ft. wide along the centre of nave, with two side passages, which occupy the whole width of the N. and S. aislei, and are continued across the transepts. The aisles are divided from the nave by three arches on each side, above which are Clerestory windows, and N. aad S. transepts are divided off by large arches rising nearly to the level of cornice of nave roof. The chancel is 21-ft. wide and 38 ft. long, in- ternally the chancel arch being the full width of chancel. Smaller arches on either open from the nave to a vestry on the north side and the organ chamber on the Routh, and there is a larger arch opening from each to the chancel. On the north side there is an imposing porch, with doors opening into transept and veatry. The altar is raised seven steps above the floor of nave, giving considerable dignity to the east end. There are small Lancet windows in the aisles, and larger ones at the west end of nave large three-light lancets in each transept; and the organ chamber and vestry are lighted by single lancot windows. The east window is also a three-light lancet window, and is so arranged that the painted glass from the old east window can be re- used with very little alteration. The glass in the' tracery portion of the old window is intended to be used iip and the single lancet windows which are placed on the N. and S. sides of the sanctuary, are also to be filled with painted glass. A seiilia and credence niehe are provided in the south wall. The whole of the interior of the church is to be lined with cind the owl side faeed with stonework in irregular courses, the old stone being used up as far as possible, whilst all the door and window dressings (except- ing those in the crypt) are of Freestone from Cefn, Ruabon. The roof over nave is open up to the level of the upper collar. The portion from the cornice to the level of lower eollar of principals is covered and plastered betweei the timbers, whilst the i space between the lower and upper collars takes the form of a semi-octagon, and is boarded over with timbers. The chancel and transept roofs are boaried and have cornices and moulded ribs dividing the lengths into bays. The floors of nave, transept, aisles, and vestry are to be of wood blocks upon a concrete founda- tion, the chancel is to be paved with encaustic tiles. The Church is to be heated with hot- water pipes, the heating apparatus being fixed in a chamber below the vestry the engineer for this work is Mr T A Wynne Edward?, The Foundry, Denbigh. Fresh air will be admitted through fines formed in the walls and entering the Church through gratings fixed in the window seats. The vitiated air will be extracted by means of a trunk carried from above the collar of nave roof and continued up the inside of the tower. The building will be lighted by gas. For the present chairs are intended for the sit- tings in nave and transepts. The accommo- dation is a little over 600. The font which is the gift of the Ministering Children's League, is to be placed on the south side of the west doorway. The old orgtn, which originally came from St Hilary's Church, having been presented by Lord Kirkwall, is to be 0 placed in the organ chamber. The choir stalls, in the chancel, are intended to be of oak. The pulpit is to be placsd on the south side of chancel arch, and there will be a reading desk on each side of chancel im- mediately underneath the arch. The fall in the ground, eastwards, has been taken advantage of to form a room under the chancel (the floor of which is carried upon iron girders and concrete arching). This room, it is hoped, will be found useful for various church purposes. The church (with the exception cf the ehancel, which is the gift of Arthur E Tumour, M.D.) is being erected by public f substription, the total coat being about £4500. The contractor for the building is William Edge Samuel, of Wrexham; and the architect, Richard Lloyd Williams, of Denbigh. Denbigh, 23rd April, 1894. It was originally intended to erect a new chancel only, but this meeting with strong opposition from a number of Churohmen, Dr Turnour generously offered to erect the chancel at his own cost, pro- vided the Building Committee re-erected the body of the Church. This offer was gratefully accepted, and hence the present building came to be erected."

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