Naomi Bell reveals why St James helped parishioners at Chilvers Coton after the Nuneaton blitz of 1941

On the World War 2 memorial just to the north of the main entrance to St James’ church, writes Naomi, is an intriguing inscription to the help given to the rebuilding of All Saints Church Chilvers Coton following its destruction in the blitz.  It reads as follows:

Members of this parish have also furnished the chancel of the Chapel of the Three Kings in the rebuilt Parish Church of Chilvers Coton in the Diocese of Coventry destroyed by enemy action in May 1941.

Beneath the war memorial is a small brass plaque recording the thanks of the people of Chilvers Coton.  Beneath two shields representing the two churches of St James and All Saints’, it reads:

The parishioners of Chilvers Coton have placed here this token of grateful acknowledgement of generous aid in the rebuilding of their church given by the Vicar (the Rev Norman Cooper MA) and parishioners of the Church of St James Hereford after the war of 1939-1945.

Chilvers Coton, now a suburb of Nuneaton, was originally a village lying between Coventry and Nuneaton, chiefly famed for being the birthplace of the novelist George Eliot.  Coventry and its neighbourhood were heavily bombed during WW2 and on May 17th 1941 a string of incendiary bombs fell on the church, setting it alight.  Shortly afterwards a high explosive bomb in the churchyard brought down the walls and burning roof.  Many other buildings in the parish were damaged or destroyed and there was considerable loss of life.  The church remained a derelict shell until its rebuilding in 1947 at a cost of £40,000.  £20,000 of this came from the War Damage Compensation Board and £5000 had been raised locally leaving a shortfall to be raised by other means which obviously included a contribution from St James.  Interestingly the rebuilding work was carried out by German Prisoners of War from the nearby Arbury POW camp, who were paid at the standard rate for British workmen.

My interest in this link was aroused when our vicar, Preb Paul Towner, asked if anyone knew why, from the large number of war damaged churches, had the parishioners of St James chosen to help with the rebuilding of Chilvers Coton church.  Not many records from St James past have survived.  Herefordshire Record Office had the PCC minute book covering most of the 1940’s.  It recorded a resolution of the PCC to contribute to the rebuilding of Chilvers Coton church and the formation of a subcommittee to oversee the project.  Presumably the subcommittee took minutes but these have not survived so there is very little detail of the project in the PCC minute book.  Frustratingly the minute book ended shortly before the project ended and successive minute books have been lost.  I contacted the Chilvers Coton vicar who told me that all their existing records had been transferred to the Warwickshire Record Office, and that he didn’t think anyone in Chilvers Coton would have memories of the project.   On searching the Record Office website it would seem that the only Chilvers Coton church records held there are the parish baptism, marriage and death registers – i.e. no PCC minutes.

Having written all this, I had a thought.  I wondered whether the then vicar, Preb Norman Cooper had any connection with Chilvers Coton so I went to the Cathedral Library to see if Crockford’s Clerical Directory could shed any light on the matter.  Crockford’s gives brief career details of all C of E clergy, and in the 1947 edition I discovered that the current Chilvers Coton vicar was the Rev Ronald Murray and that both he and Preb Cooper had been undergraduates at St Peter’s Hall, Oxford, graduating in 1933. So it would seem that Preb Cooper and Mr Murray had been friends since university days and that was how Preb Cooper heard of the Chilvers Coton rebuilding project and encouraged St James’ congregation to support it.  So it would seem that we have now established how the two churches were linked.   I understand that St James’ financial contribution was quite modest, so other agencies must also have contributed to the shortfall mentioned above.

All this happened almost 70 years ago, but it may be that if you are a long term Hereford resident you may have memories or comments, either your own or passed down from a previous generation that you could share with the Bartonsham History group. 

The Bathing Hut on Bartonsham Meadows served city swimmers like Margo Edwards who, in the 1920s, would take her morning dip here with her Auntie Gladys and friends before starting work at the Rockfield Road laundry. 

The late Alfred Evans from Hinton was taught to swim at the Bassom. “The chief attendant of the bathing station lived in St. Martins Avenue. He taught me to swim with a rope. There was a diving plank, a long wooden strip going out almost into the middle of the stream where it was deeper. He had a flexible plank at the end and that’s where he used to walk along there, put a rope round your shoulders and pull you in. 

The attendant had a punt and Alf, who was brought up at the Wye Inn, would take a pint of beer in his haversack. “I’d walk up the river and he would spot me and row across. The other boys couldn't understand why I had this privilege, but, of course, it was the beer.”

Squadron leader Gordon Lamputt from Tupsley recalled swimming here in 1939 or 1940. “These army chaps from Bradbury Lines were being rowed across in a boat when the damned thing overturned. Their heavy uniforms dragged them down and we were diving to try and get them up but we couldn’t.” Gordon still wonders how many survived.

On May 29th, 1915, The Hereford Times reported:-

‘With the advent of summer weather bathing was commenced in the Wye at Hereford, the Bartonsham station, maintained by the Town Council, being opened on Tuesday. Every morning the swimming members of the Royal Army Medical Corp in training at the Barracks, parade for a river bathe, and at least 50 enjoy the matutinal plunge at the Bartonsham.’

The custodian was PC F. Bromage, whose uncle, Mr Reuben Bromage had served as a former attendant. Tom Preece was in charge of the boat. In total 369 bathers including 30 ladies on Thursday afternoon, took to the water during the week and the pressure of numbers led to the construction of a new open air annex thanks to farm tenant Mr Harry Walker. ‘The water is in splendid condition, being both fresh and of a comfortable temperature,” reported the newspaper.

Dinedor and Rotherwas Explored (£12.95 Logaston Press) produced by the Dinedor Heritage Group is a voyage of discovery.  A comprehensive, informative and well-researched book, revealing so much hidden history, from the Neolithic “ribbon” to the WW2 Dinedor Secret Army Patrol with their accounts of what they would do if the Germans landed.

There are poignant stories, one of which is Ken Hursey’s, aged 16, who was the sole survivor of a second bomb that, in 1942, ricocheted off the sheds of the Rotherwas Munitions Factory and hitting Moorlands, killing all members of his family.

A chapter is devoted to the big estate, Rotherwas House, mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, but of which very little remains today. The Bodenham family owned the estate around middle of 15th century and did so for another 450 years.

Some fascinating facts and figures are listed in A Hundred Years of Dinedor Occupations 1851 – 1951 – wheelwrights, millers, coopers, carpenters, shoe and nail makers, all of whom lived in Dinedor and carried out their occupations from their homes.

Julie Orton-Davies’ chapter on Rotherwas  Munitions Factory tells the stories of the Canary Girls, so called as the TNT and picric acid turned their hands and hair yellow.  The women, 6,000 of them at the peak of WW1, came from all over the British Isles.

Much has been explored in this excellent publication and wets the appetite  to explore even more on foot or bicycle across the Greenway  Bridge, along the cycle path, passing the eerie remains  of the munitions buildings  and on to discover the gem of Rotherwas  Chapel.

Review: Eileen Klotz

St James Vicarage was built between 1870 and 1872.

The land was once part of Bartesham manor’s holding. It belonged to the cathedral around 1020 when it was known as the Bartesham prebend, which also helped several mills and a hospital.

The hospital continued to serve the community after the Reformation around 1534 and at the end of the 1700s or early 1800s became a lunatic asylum. After becoming the General Hospital, the site was sold and turned into flats.

St. James parish was created on December 7 1869 from half of the former St Owens parish and the building of the church of St James between in 1868. It was consecrated on May 20 1869.  Partly destroyed by fire in 1902, it was rebuilt in 1902.

The first vicar of St James, Rev. Joseph Sutcliffe Partridge, oversaw the building of the vicarage in 1870 while he stayed at 1, Burghill Villas in St Owens Street.

Funds were raised by mortgaging church-owned land. On Rev. Partridge’s death in 1871 his successor Rev. Richard Powell saw the building completed with a loan of £210 from Queen Anne’s Bounty in 1872.

In October 1929 the vicarage was extended with a loan of £22 from the same fund taken out by the then vicar, Rev. Frederick John Landsell. (The extension was located where the current lift stands).

Among the duties of the vicars of St. James was as chaplain for the General Hospital. He also performed services at St. Giles Chapel on St. Owens Street. The chapel once stood at the junction of St. Owens Street and Ledbury Road, but was moved because of fears that it might be damaged by traffic. During the move the foundations of a Knights Templar round chapel were discovered: some of the stones from the chapel are still to be seen on the corner of Ledbury Road and St Owens Street.

St James School

This was founded on June 11 1896 by Rev Henry Askwith along with vicars from six other parishes including St Peters and St Martins. The current incumbent at St James still sits on the school board of governors.

The Women’s Royal Voluntary Service

The vicarage was sold at auction in October 1963 by auctioneers Sidney Phillips and Son and C. L. Marriott to the then Women’s Voluntary Service for £5,100. The WVS used it as a base for a Meals-on-Wheels service, a residential club, clothing store and for the local scout troop.

Today the centre, now modernised, is a flagship learning centre (one of the first of its kind in the country) with its day centre, community café and fully equipped computer rooms. The Fourways Nursery is housed in the same building.

Thanks to the Royal Voluntary Service (renamed recently) for this article.

Chris Vowles remembers the Croudace’s corner shop when he lived in Harold Street in the 1950s.

“It became Wooles’ afterwards,” he writes on Facebook. The late Roy Kennett who worked at Bradley also recalled the Croudaces’ Christmas Club. “3d a week bought a selection a wonderful variety of goodies. The difficult part was not consuming them before Xmas!”

And does anyone recall the St. James Dairy run by Mr Preece in Green Street?