MSCC Penley - A History of Penley Church

EXPLORE THE HIDDEN TREASURES IN OUR RURAL CHURCHYARDS

Sacred Space is an exciting project which will help to conserve the churchyards through a variety of activities which include:

recording and photographing gravestones
carrying out wildlife surveys
carrying out conservation activities to encourage wildlife
producing interpretation material such as leaflets
activities to explore the variety of wildlife and history

For more information about how you can get involved in the Sacred Space project telephone 01978 298386 or email sacred-space@hotmail.co.uk

ST MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH, PENLEY

This is the third, or possibly fourth, church or chapel on this site. The earliest dates from the 15th century and was constructed of timber, lath and plaster.

It was demolished in 1793 and replaced the following year by a plain brick building 70ft x 30ft with wooden bell turret constructed in the debased Gothic and Georgian Italian styles. That church had no chancel, choir or organ chamber. Music was provided by an harmonium. Inside the church were box pews seating 262 and a three-decker side pulpit. The building was enlarged in 1819 by the insertion of a gallery. An architects report of June 1897 showed it to be in a very poor state of repair and recommended a new building on a fresh site. Those two earlier churches were located closer to the road. Their position can be determined today by the grassed area clear of graves in front of the present church, underlain by 3 burial vaults.

In 1859 the churchyard was extended at the rear by the purchase of 630 sq yds at a cost of £12. It was further enlarged by one acre in 1898 through the generosity of John Evans Vaughan of Oswestry to facilitate the construction of a new church. A further extension was donated in 1901 by a deed of gift from Mrs Charles Evans Vaughan in memory of her husband who had died of typhoid. The northern-most part of the churchyard was purchased by the Parochial Church Council in 1968.

The present church was constructed of red Abenbury stone and red clay tiles in 1899-1901. Building stone was carted by voluntary effort from Overton railway station. Construction works were in the hands of the Gredington Estate Office under T A Boscawen, agent, and J Davies, clerk of works. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Kenyon. The church is of a simplistic design as befits a church built with a struggle on a shoestring budget. The chancel is marked merely by a slight contraction of the nave on the outside and on the inside by two steps, oak chancel arch and differentiated roof trusses. The roofline is broken by a bellcote growing out of a central buttress at the west end of the nave. The building was designed by architect C Hodgson Fowler, of Durham. T D Atkinson and Charles Evans Vaughan had earlier been involved in drawing up schemes for a new church. However, neither of their designs was pursued.

The stained glass east window was provided by the Dymock family as a memorial to the late Lt Colonel Theophilus Vaughton Dymock. Dedicated in October1905, it has 3 lights depicting scenes from the resurrection - in the centre the risen Christ in Glory, with an angel at the open empty tomb saying He is not here. He is risen; on the left, Mary Magdalene carrying the bowl of spices saying Rabboni; and on the right, St Thomas acknowledging My Lord and my God. The two stained glass west windows were installed in March 1916 and dedicated to the memory of 2nd Lieutenant Robert Townsend Vaughton Dymock KSLI who died of wounds received in Flanders on 27 October 1915.

The pulpit is the top tier of the 1794 three-decker. Decorative panels were inserted in June 1914, carved by parishioners. On grounds of economy, cathedral type chairs with rush seats, flat arm rests on the back and a receptacle for prayer book or hassock had originally been installed in the church. Ten dozen were supplied at a cost of 22s 6d per dozen. In January 1934 the church was reseated with pews costing £300. The eagle lectern was presented by the Hon George Kenyon, Llannerch Panna, in January 1905 in memory of the Hon Henrietta Kenyon who had initiated the carving. The new church was built with an organ chamber off the north side of the choir and chancel. The tiny harmonium from the old church proved unsuitable and in May 1907 an old organ from Criftins Parish Church was installed. This soldiered on until September 1919 when the bottom bellows burst and it was declared worn out. In 1965 a new organ was installed by Charles Whitley & Co, Chester, at a cost of £750, the church having been fortunate to take over at a substantial discount a frustrated unfulfilled order. The church had originally been conceived with a chancel closed off by a timber parclose choirscreen, but this work was never carried out because of cost constraints. Instead, the chancel rails taken from the 1794 church used to define the sanctuary now fulfill that function.

Outside in the graveyard the most significant feature of Penley Church is the substantial number of Polish graves. This requires explanation. In 1942 two sprawling US Army hospitals were built in the parkland of local grand houses - Penley Hall (No 129 General Hospital with 1,000 beds) and Llanerch Panna (No 83 Station Hospital with 800 beds). With the departure of the Americans in July 1945 Penleys two hospitals or camps were occupied by a quick succession of British Army holding units. Then in August 1946 detachments of the Polish Resettlement Corps arrived with former Polish Army field hospitals in tow - No 11 Polish Hospital to Llanerch Panna and No 3 Polish Hospital to Penley Hall (later absorbing No 4 Polish (TB) Hospital from Iscoyd, following retrenchment in 1956). As these camps have in turn closed - No 11 in 1953 and No 3 in 2002 - you will see that the land has been put to other uses. The Penley Hall site has given way to new housing, a low-key industrial estate, and a small community hospital. The Llanerch Panna site has been partially redeveloped with housing while the remainder has reverted to woodland. Other proposals for warehousing and an open prison came to nothing.

There are some 62 graves of Polish babies and infants in the churchyard. These are located to the left of the main path when facing the church. Most of the graves are unmarked, the mounds having been leveled in 1968 to help maintenance. These children were born to parents in a poor state of health after the ravages of war and concentration camps, disease and malnutrition. The first baby to be buried was Eva Maria Aynewska, aged 8 hours, buried 19 November 1946. There would be 21 other infant deaths in 1947, 13 in 1948, 2 in 1949, and 3 in each of 1950 and 1951. The adults did not fare much better. The north-west corner of the churchyard carries 118 Polish graves, November 1946 November 1957.

The final features to note in the churchyard are the yew trees. While nowhere near as large, mature or ancient as those in St Marys Churchyard, Overton-on-Dee, they were transferred from the Vicarage garden by the Rev Richard Spoonley in 1868. Unfortunately, a further 7 mature yew trees were lost along the road frontage, and 13 graves moved, when the A539 was realigned in 1968 and a new footpath provided.