Alan Cogswell the Church Warden at the historic Eccles Parish Church made a fascinating discovery in a filing cabinet whilst doing some routine office work there.
To his astonishment he found some 80 printers blocks some dating from the 1870s which depict both etchings and photographs of the interior of the Church and various local locations.
It is thought that the blocks with photos on them may have come from the local newspaper, The Eccles Journal which closed some 20 years ago.
The early printers blocks show the interior of the church when it had galleries on both sides of the church and even above the altar from which parishioners could worship from, these were removed some 150 years ago.
Other blocks show the church roof layout, the Lych gate, a copy of a sermon given in the church by the Reverend John Barclay in 1853, various clergymen and the Waterloo Gates which were installed shortly after the battle in 1815 and removed for scrap in the 1930s, however the armorial crest was saved and is still on display in the Church.
I was fascinated to see that the photos include church processions, bell ringers, youth club members playing table tennis, even a garden Fete with some poor chap in the stocks having a bucket of water poured over him, I would guess that these date from the 1950’s.
There is also one photography block showing local industry with women making Eccles Cakes in a bakery, possibly Bradburns, engineering workshops, possibly Gardner’s in Peel Green and men in a Laboratory, possibly Lankro Chemicals?
Alan who admits to being astonished and delighted at this find is appealing for help for anyone with a technical knowledge who can help both clean up the blocks and more importantly to transfer the images into a digital format so they can be added to the Church archive.
They truly are a remarkable find which could so easily have been thrown out and they give a wonderful insight both into the Church’s history and Eccles social life and need to be saved.
Eccles Parish Church which in parts dates back to the 14th Century truly is a hidden gem situated in the heart of Eccles and contains some wonderful, stained glass windows, stone carvings, magnificent wood carvings, and is really worth a visit and I urge you to call in.
On Saturday the 7th September 10.00am to 2.00pm the Church will be open to the public as part of the Heritage Weekend and you can view these printing blocks and chat with Alan who will be only too happy to talk.
There will be Guided Tours at 10.30am, 11.30am, and 12.30pm led by Mark Charnley also there will be a table top sale and light refreshments available.
