OPENING OF THE QUINTA NEW CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

REPORT FROM THE OSWESTRY ADVERTISER AND MONTGOMERYSHIRE MERCURY, OCTOBER 1858

We have before reverted with much pleasure to the enterprising spirit and the interest displayed in all schemes of religion and moral progress, by the inhabitants of the Lodge, and have now to notice the successful completion of an undertaking which has long engaged the attention of the neighbourhood, and which cannot fail to be an inestimable boon to all in the vicinity who attach any importance to the ordinances of religious worship. We refer to the dedication to the service of God of a new Congregational Church, which, by the liberality of Mr Barnes, has been erected on a part of that gentleman’s estate, a few hundred yards from The Lodge.

In the design of the church, the aim of the architect has been to combine a simple but tasteful architectural effect, with moderate outlay, yet with a due regard to complete stability, and their employment of the very best materials and workmanship. The design is “Flowing Middle Pointed,” or the decorated style prevalent in the 14th century, and consists of a nave, 56 ft by 24 ft; choir, 15ft by 10ft; vestry, at north-east of nave, 9ft 6in. by 8ft; south porch, 9ft by 5ft 6in. At the south-west angle is an engaged turret, with ringing chamber below, recessed into an effective octagonal stone belfry and spire, the whole height being 60ft. The church forms an agreeable group from the road, and there are several nice points of view from the Quinta park and terraces. Internally, the effect is harmonious and substantial; the roof is of the description called “waggon headed,” that is, instead of being open to the apex, it is ceiled at the intersection of its diagonal braces, the void space above being used for the purposes of ventilation. The principal trusses are supported by arched ribs footing upon moulded stone corbels. The sittings, which accommodate 231 persons, are entirely finished in pitch pine, having cut and moulded stall ends, of suitable design, the most prominent having carved poppy-heads and elbow-bosses. An effective ornamental screen separates the choir from the nave; the open panels of this and the pulpit, being lined with crimson damask. The aisle floors are laid with Minton’s octagonal red, buff and black tiles, in patterns. The ornamental locks, hinges, pulpit lights, &c., were supplied by Messrs Hart and Son, London. The church is warmed by a circulation of warm air in fire clay tubes, on a simple, effectual, and most inexpensive system. The whole work has been executed in a very complete and masterly manner, in the short space of four months, by Messrs Hugh Yates and Edward Hughes, of Liverpool, the contract being for the moderate sum of £1,030. The church has been erected from the designs, and under the superintendence of Mr Thomas D. Barry, architect, 47, Bedford-street North, Liverpool.

The day appointed for the opening services was Thursday last, and the weather on that day was, fortunately, propitious, with the exception of a little rain which fell in the afternoon. During the morning large numbers of people arrived in the village from Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Chirk, Wrexham, and other places, many of whom had been invited to partake of Mr and Mrs Barnes’s hospitality, and by eleven o’clock, the time fixed for commencing service, the chapel was quite full. Many others arrived afterwards, so that the building was densely crowded, and several were unable to gain admittance. The Oswestry Old Chapel Choir had kindly given their services for the occasion, and the excellence of their singing, combined with the admirable manner in which the accompaniment on the fine-toned harmonium was played, added not a little to the happiness of the day.

The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr Raffles, who delivered a very eloquent discourse from a part of the 12th verse of the nineteenth chapter of Revelation,—“And on His head were many crowns.” Want of room prevents our reporting the sermon fully, and we give a brief outline of it. The reverend doctor said:—The Book of Revelation is confessedly a mysterious book, and it behoves us to be content with ascertaining the general scope of its contents, and the outline of its occurrences, while we draw from it those doctrinal principles and practical lessons with which it is so richly fraught. We have in the chapter before us a figurative representation of Christ, in which He is re-presented as having on His head many crowns, and, as the crown is an emblem of empire, we are led to conclude that many empires are subject to Him. To number them all were beyond a mortal’s, perhaps an angel’s, power, for when we have done our utmost to grasp the grand total, it may be said, “Lo, these are a part of His works.” There are four sceptres, however, which we are certain the Redeemer holds, and these may suffice for an illustration of my text:—the sceptres of Creation, Providence, Grace, and Glory. First, the sceptre of Creation. This belongs to Him by right, as the maker and proprietor, for “by Him were all things made,” and who has so just a right to possess and govern all things as He who created all? Wherever we turn, whatever our eye rests upon,—the animalculæ which find their world in a drop of water, and the countless morning stars which stud the sky, the flower which blooms unseen in the sequestered valley, and the stately cedar which crowns the hallowed brow of Lebanon,—the atom on which we tread, and the Alps whose lofty summits seem to bid defiance to man,—each and every one is a department of the redeemer’s empire, and the crown that indicates the possession of all adorns His brow. Not less does the sceptre of Providence belong to Christ. What but the possession and administration of this empire is implied in such words as these: “Beholding all things by the word of His power, and by Him do all things consist?” All things being beheld by Him, and consisting by Him, can denote nothing else than His providence over all things, by which they are made to subserve the grand ends for which they were brought into existence. Thirdly, the Kingdom of Grace belongs to Christ. This empire He has purchased with His blood, He possesses by virtue of His mediatorial intercession, He performs its high functions in His character as mediator. And how great a work does He accomplish in this kingdom. He accomplishes the redemption of His people. This he has effected by the offering up of himself as a sacrifice and propitiation for their sins. Lastly, I spoke of the Kingdom of Glory as belonging to Christ. But of that empire how can I speak, who am still in the body, when “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those that love Him;” who with a mortal tongue can presume to speak of that world where sin exists not, where death never smites, where friends never separate, where sabbaths never end, where the sun shall no more go down, but all shall be the peace, and the purity, the rapture, and the blessedness of an uninterrupted, perfect, perpetual sabbath, and on the head of Him who shall be the light of that perennial sabbath, there are many crowns.

After service, those who had been invited to be the guests of Mr Barnes proceeded to the Quinta, and amused themselves, till luncheon was ready, by looking over the magnificent rooms of the mansion, and the tastefully laid out grounds belonging to it, the spacious greenhouses, which contain many specimens of choice and rare plants, being especial objects of attraction. About two o’clock the company sat down to a most bountiful repast in the very beautiful dining saloon.

When luncheon was finished,

The Rev. Dr Raffles rose and said—I would not for a moment interrupt the pleasant conversation which is going on in coteries in different parts of the room, but I feel that you will sympathise with me in the motive for which I rise. It would ill become us, after the fashion of the world, to propose toasts and with loud and jubilant noise to give expression to our feelings, but as Christians there are sentiments of gratitude which it would ill become us to ignore. I feel that we are all under a deep debt of gratitude to our worthy host for his princely hospitality; to-day we are greatly honoured—I feel myself so, and I am sure you all do—in being guests on this occasion. I feel a weight of obligation in connection with bygone days, and in connection with the interests of the kingdom of Christ in that populous county (Lancashire) with which our host is partially connected. I know that the neighbourhood of Farnworth, where he formerly resided, owes a deep debt of gratitude to him—how deep I cannot tell; nobody will know it but He who sees in secret, and who has reserved his reward till another day. But I do know that they cherish the memory of his living amongst them, and I hope they will not lose him altogether; he will be present by his acts of kindness, by his warm wishes and fervent prayers. I would tender to him the thanks of this assembly, and especially of his tenants. I do most heartily tender to him their grateful acknowledgements for all he has done for them in conjunction with the Word of God, in the erection of that neat, that commodious, that simply elegant structure, in which we worshipped this morning. I know I am only expressing the feelings of the whole neighbourhood, the sense they cannot but entertain of the service which he has rendered to them in the dearest interests of themselves, their children, and their children’s children. I know that only the pure Gospel will be preached there—the true word, by which alone sinners may be saved and God glorified; I know he will secure that. And may the Gospel and its ordinances, introduced there this day, be handed down to the remotest portions of time. Mr and Mrs Barnes, may God bless you, and may we all meet you in heaven!

Mr Barnes then said—I do not know whether I shall be able, with any degree of propriety, to acknowledge the very kind manner in which my highly esteemed friend has brought my name, and the names of my wife and son, be-fore you, and in which you have responded. He has expressed more than I know how to reply to, and I can only say that I feel extremely obliged to him, and that we are all glad to see him here. We have been enabled to open this house, and the other house in which we worshipped this morning. I am glad that the first party here has been one of Christian friends, assembled to upon a building dedicated to the service of God. It is my wish that this should be a house entirely devoted to the service of God and the promotion of true religion. I wish it to be the home of Christian principle. I can aspire to a higher state of things than I can ever hope to reach; I should like to make it the home of intelligence and piety. We are not our own, and all we do should show that we think of this, and that we are endeavouring to make all things converge to this one point—God’s glory on earth and man’s good. I am very glad that my esteemed friend Dr Raffles has introduced the conversation as he has, for it relieves us from proposing toasts and then calling upon persons to respond. I must offer to you our thanks for honouring us with your presence to-day; and there are some to whom I am under special obligation for their services in connection with the church. I must mention Dr Raffles, Mr M’Gregor, Mr Thomas, and Mr Martin, of Westminster, who all responded instantaneously and cordially to my request that they would preach at the opening; the architect, Mr Barry, and the builders, Mr Hughes and Mr Yates, to whom I am obliged for the very rapid manner in which the work has been accomplished, for the beauty of the design, and the excellence of the workmanship; and the Oswestry Old Chapel choir—who, though I name them last, are by no means least;—by the readiness and heartiness with which they have rendered their services, I feel exceedingly gratified: concerning the goodness of their singing I need not say one word. We have erected a building, for the worship of God, and have called it a church. This, I know, will be looked upon as an invasion of an old custom, which designates all places of worship not exactly connected with the Church of England, as chapels. I mean to break through that rule (Hear, hear). I do not understand why the name of “Church” in England should be confined to one denomination. In other countries it is not so; in Scotland and America, and also in those parts of the Continent where more than one denomination exists, every place of worship is called a church, and why England should be an exception to this rule I do not know. It can only be a relic of those bygone times when oppression and persecution existed, and I see no reason why we should not break through it. And we have called the building a Congregational Church. I need not say why I have done so, because all who know me know, that if I did build a church, I should build for that form of worship which I practise. I have called it a Congregational Church be-cause I think the congregational style of worship the simplest and most in accordance with that practised by the early Christians; I call it so because I like the congregational form of worship and government best. I do not say it must be the most scriptural; I know there are various opinions on that point, and all we can do is to have our own opinions and go on in peace. I hope the pure gospel will be preached in the church as long as it stands, and I desire that it shall not be shut to any other denomination. It must have a name that we may be known who and what we are, but I do hope it will be open to preachers of any denomination whatsoever who preach the gospel. I should like to see a clergyman of the Church of England there (Hear, hear). One reason I can mention why I call it a Congregational Church, if it were an Episcopal Church, its doors would be closed against every other denomination. I would leave it to any man, whether my plan is not the best—to have as broad a plat-form as possible. Unfortunately it has been the opinion in this country, but I hope it is now dying out, that the building of any other church is an attack on the Church of England. I think that a great error. I look upon all the orthodox denominations as strong buttresses outside the Church. We feed the Church, we sustain it, and I believe it has, for the last hundred and fifty years, been greatly indebted to other churches. I believe it is better than it would have been if there had been no dissent. I consider the Church of England as an integral and very important part of the Protestant Church; we cannot dispense with; we must, as Christians, try to purify it, and make it more valuable. I believe there is not one denomination of true Christians which can be dispensed with without doing harm to Protestantism. I will say no more, but merely again thank you for being our guests, and thank Dr Raffles for the service which he has rendered; it would be out of place for me to say anything concerning his sermon, but I feel thankful that the first discourse in the church has been one so calculated to exalt our Saviour, before whom I hope that all of us may cast our crowns. I will depart from our rule by giving one sentiment, and will leave you to drink it in water or wine, sitting or standing,—Health, long life, and a successful reign to the Queen, and health and long life to the rest of the Royal Family (Drunk with applause).

Mr Barnes next introduced the Rev. J. Denham Smith, of Kingston, Ireland, who, in a very excellent and humorous speech, expressed the pleasure he felt at being present on the occasion.

When luncheon was finished, the guests again dispersed over the mansion and grounds, and the afternoon was rendered exceedingly pleasant by the kind courtesy and affability of the host and hostess and their son. In the evening they again partook of the hospitality of the family in the repast of tea, and afterwards proceeded to the Congregational Church, which was once more crowded to overflowing. The preacher on this occasion was the Rev. G.D. M’Gregor, who gave an admirable discourse from Romans viii. 32—“He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him give us all things.” This concluded the proceedings of the day, and great satisfaction was evinced at the good taste and comfort that characterised all the arrangements.

On Sunday, the 17th, the opening services were continued. In the morning, at 11 o’clock, the Rev. Samuel Martin, of Westminster, preached a highly impressive and eloquent discourse from Acts iv. 12—“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved.” In the afternoon at 3, the Rev. R. Thomas, of Bangor, preached in Welsh from Rom. v. 6. In the evening, at half-past 6, the Rev. S. Martin preached, taking for his subject John xii. 27 and part of 28. The attention of the audience from the beginning to the end of his sermon was rivetted by the lucidity of his exposition, and the simple power, force, and eloquence with which he illustrated and applied the truths of his text. On each occasion the Church was crowded to overflowing, every available standing, as well as sitting space, being occupied, and many remaining outside, or going away, quite unable to gain admittance. In the evening, the congregation had begun to assemble as early as half-past 5, and at the commencement of the service there could not have been fewer than 500 congregated in the Church.