A short history of the parish of Rainbow Hill

This account of the history of the parish was taken from a booklet published   in the early 60's to celebrate 75 years of St. Barnabas. Anyone interested in updating the more recent history of the parish, please email here.

THE PARISH

The growing number of houses on Rainbow Hill and Astwood Road showed the need of a more convenient church than Claines (the ancient parish to the north of the city centre). Under the stewardship of Mr. Charles V. Jones, Claines Church organized services in the cemetery chapel until 1881. In this year a new Mission Hall had been built at a cost of £440. This is the room that was known as the Iron Room in Albany Road.

The parish was legally formed when an Order-in-Council dated the 24th August 1883 made it an Ecclesiastical District, to be a parish on the completion and dedication of the Parish Church. This is the reason for the title of the "Parish of Rainbow Hill” and why it is not called by the name of the Parish Church.

The Rev. James Davenport was appointed Minister in Charge and on the dedication of the Church became its first Vicar.

When the parish was formed, its population was about 1,500. It is now rapidly increasing with the number of new houses being built and occupied, and now contains some. The parish also includes the Tolladine area, which was taken over in March 1958 when the present Bishop reviewed the parish boundaries.

THE CHURCH

The plans for the Church were the work of Mr. Ernest Day of Worcester. Messrs. Brazier and Weaver of Bromsgrove were the builders. It is built of red brick, with stone facings, in Early English style. Seating accommodation (exclusive of the Choir)   is for 380-400 persons. The building contract was signed on the 5th April and work began on the site on the Tuesday in Easter Week, 15th April 1884. The Church was completed in May 1885 and dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Worcester, The Rt. Rev. Henry Philpott, on St. Barnabas Day, June 11th 1885.

The cost of the Church was made up as follows : -

                                                                              

                                        Contractor      ...      3,477

                                        Architect, etc. ..          300

                                        Legal fees      ...            36

                                        Internal fittings ...           63

                                                                        £3,876

 The Church was practically free of debt when completed.

The present vestry was built to mark the Twenty-first Anniversary of the Church. The centre stained glass window in the sanctuary was given in memory of George Adam Bird by his wife in 1893 and the other two windows were given by their youngest son in memory of his parents in 1929. The stained glass window of Our Lord in the     present side chapel was given in 1890 by Mr. D. W. Barker, the People’s Warden, in memory of his wife.

The carved oak screen, erected in 1921, was given by Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Gibbs in memory of their two sons who were killed in World War I. In 1939 the sanctuary was renovated by Mrs. Gibbs in memory of her husband.

The font was the gift of the children and was designed by Mr. Forsyth. It is made of Painswick stone and cost £30 I2s. 4d.

The side chapel was furnished during the incumbency of The Rev. A. F. Dauncey, and was dedicated on the 31st March 1953. It. was the gift of members of the Parochial Branch of the Mothers’ Union.

The oak paneling of the sanctuary, together with a reredos is the gift of members of   the congregation and past and present friends of the Church. The sedilia and the Bishop’s chair was given by Mr. E. F. Cook. This work was done by the same firm    that built the Church. Mr. W. Halford is giving a book containing the names of those contributing, and in whose memory the panels have been given. The book was made and executed by Miss A. E. Gould of Worcester and is kept in the side chapel. The table on which it will stand was the gift of Mr. Weaver when he built the Church and     the case in which the book will be kept has been presented by his grandson. All   these gifts were dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester on Trinity Sunday.

THE ORGAN

Having completed the Church building work, attention was then turned to the inside of the Church. There was only a harmonium to provide music and no pulpit. The organ was first considered and so generous were the gifts that there was sufficient     for the pulpit as well.

“As I write the organ is standing at the Church gate, which is a very pleasant sight”.  So wrote the \/icar, The Rev. Jerram Hunt, in the February issue of the Magazine in 1891.

The organ was built by Nicholson and Co. (Worcester) Ltd. at a cost of £350, plus £2 7s. for stool and glass. It was dedicated, together with the pulpit, at a special  service on Monday, 13th April 1891. Until 1949 the organ blower was hand driven and a boy had to be employed for the Sunday Services. For his private practice the organist had to pay a boy to do the job and rely on him to turn up! In 1949 an electric organ blower was installed, being the gift of Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Cook, in memory of   their son who died in World War II.

The organ was first overhauled in 1910 when a piccolo stop was also added. It was last cleaned and overhauled in 1937 at a cost of £39.

THE VICARAGE

In his original gift of land the Rev. James OIdham had included sufficient to accommodate both Church and Vicarage. The building fund for the Vicarage was officially launched in November 1887. It was completed and the Vicar and his family took possession on Lady Day 1889. It cost £1,720.

THE CHURCH HALL

The Church Hall was built in 1940, and opened in August of that year. Previously the “Iron Room” was used as a Church Hall. The cost was met by a grant of £1,200 from  the Bishop of Worcester’s Appeal Fund and the sale of the Iron Room. Each organization using the Hall pays a small annual rent, which goes into the Hall Account and is used for repairs and redecorations. The City Education Department also rent the hall for school meals. 

THE DAY SCHOOLS

The building of the day schools was first proposed at a meeting held on Monday, April 18th 1887. The Local Education Committee approved the use of the Iron Room  as a suitable school for 175 children for five years from May 1887. Miss Annie Jones was appointed Mistress and the school opened with 31 children on Monday, August  8th 1887.

In 1893 and 1899 the present Junior Day School buildings were erected and   dedicated “to the Greater Glory of God”. The Infants’ School was built in 1913 and opened in May of that year.

The schools became voluntary controlled schools under the Education Act, 1944 on the 19th May 1950.

VICARS

                    THE REV. JAMES DAVENPORT            1883—1890

                    THE REV. C. JERRAM HUNT                   1890—1903

                    THE REV. W. J. WORSTER                      1903—1923

                    THE REV. R R. VERITY                              1923—1928

                    THE REV. G. H. SHARPE                          1928—1929

                    THE REV. J. T. CONAN DAVIES              1930—1937

                    THE REV. W, E. J. LINDFIELD                  1937—1946

                    THE REV. J. E. ROBERTSON                   1946—1951

                    THE REV. A. F. DAUNCEY                        1951—1955

                    THE REV. A. WOODS                                1956 — 1961

                    THE REV. C. HAND                                    1961—1964

                    THE REV. R. CRAZE                                  1964 — 1977