Knowing a person well means knowing their personal history, the background, events and influences that have made them what they are. Equally to learn the history of a place or an institution is the best way of coming to know it and what it stands for.
The history traditionally learned at school was history writ large, the deeds of great men and women moving on the broad stage of the world. But local history also has its importance and its value and perhaps reveals deeper truths. Catholic faith especially values the small and local, the embodied and handled, the cherished and conserved.
So we are grateful to Chris Towers for writing this history of St Osmund’s which brings to light the things and persons involved in its origins and its growth; when the past is understood, the present is illuminated and the future can be viewed with hope and planned for.

Rt Rev Mgr Kevin Nichols, MA

Holy Family Darlington

Introduction

When my wife, family and I moved from Surrey to County Durham some 20 years ago, we were fortunate to come to live in the village of Gainford. Not least among its many attractions is that, for the first time in our married life, we live within two or three minutes’ walk of a Catholic church, and a beautiful church at that.
In recent years, two things stirred my curiosity about the history of the church and parish which, although large in area, is numerically one of the smallest in the Diocese. When the presbytery was left empty in 1987, at the request of Mgr Nichols I took into safe custody anything of an archival nature, the perusal of which I found extremely interesting. Also, being closely involved with the work carried out to the church in 1990, I was intrigued by physical evidence of earlier changes and the realisation of how wrong is the impression so many of us have, particularly of the interior of churches, of a feeling of changelessness and that “as things have been, they should remain”.
These factors set me off delving into the background of the church and parish and, though neither historian nor author, I thought it might be appropriate to put into print for the benefit of others the outcome of my research. In so doing I have attempted to extend the history beyond the limits of church and clergy to which so many parish histories are confined, and to include elements of and, I hope, a ‘feel’ for the religious, parochial, social and economic life of the times. In the course of this, conclusions have been drawn and trends suggested on what is sometimes scanty evidence. Hopefully these are broadly correct, but I would not ‘go bail’ on the accuracy of every single one.
I hope that those who read this history will find as much interest in and as much pleasure from it as I have had in its preparation.
C J Towers
Gainford
March 1992

Foundation of the Parish

The Mission of Gainford was founded in 1852 by Mgr Thomas Edward Witham who out of his own means built the church at Gainford dedicated to St Osmund. He was the youngest of four sons of Henry Thornton Maire Witham, one of the Silvertop family of Minsteracres who changed his name to Witham on his marriage to Eliza Witham of Headlam, heiress to the estate of her father, William Witham of Cliffe Hall, near Piercebridge, where Thomas was born. Thomas was therefore descended from two of those staunchly Catholic families of wealthy landowners who did so much to keep the Catholic Faith alive in England during the long years of persecution following the Reformation. The family later went to live at Lartington Hall, near Barnard Castle, that part of the Silvertop estates, which Henry subsequently inherited, Cliffe Hall being sold out of Catholic hands and the chapel there closed.
Thomas studied for the priesthood, was ordained in 1829 and took up pastoral work in County Durham. By the time his father died in 1844, two of the older brothers had already died without issue and Thomas’ remaining brother George inherited the estate. He in turn died without issue just three years later, upon which Thomas came into his unexpected inheritance. There is a story that he applied to Rome to be laicised so that he could marry and perpetuate the direct family line, but was refused and as a penance was instructed to found a mission and build a church. He chose Gainford and on completion of the building of the church was in charge of the mission for its first five years. The church is dedicated to St Osmund who is one of the less well-known English Saints, so perhaps a few words on him might be appropriate:-

Osmund was born in Normandy in the first half of the eleventh century, the son of a Norman count. He followed William the Conqueror to England, where he became William’s chancellor in 1072. His work included the writing of royal letters and charters, and gave him considerable experience of administration.
In 1078 Osmund was appointed bishop of Salisbury. Here he finished building the cathedral, situated within the Normal fortress of Old Sarum, and its chapter of canons and their constitutions became the pattern for other English cathedrals. Osmund took part in the preparation of the Doomsday Book, and was present at the Council of Sarum in April 1086 when the results were presented to William
Osmund is reported to have been devoted to his duties, his diocese and his books. He was a strict disciplinarian but a man of moderation, well able to help in the transition from Anglo-Saxon to Norman ecclesiastical usages. He died on 4th December 1099, and was buried in his cathedral at Old Sarum. In 1226 his body and its tomb were translated to the new cathedral of Salisbury. The process of his canonisation was begun in 1228 but was not completed until 1457. His canonisation proved to be the last English canonisation until 1935, when John Fisher and Thomas More were canonised.

It is perhaps fitting that Mgr Witham should dedicate the church he was building at Gainford to St Osmund, the builder of the first cathedral at Salisbury.

Location

The village of Gainford is situated half way between Darlington and Barnard Castle, on the road now designated the A67. Approximately two acres of land were purchased for the erection of the church, comprising a long narrow strip running northwards between the main road and the railway line, with the church being located nearly half way up the site.

The Church

The church was designed by Thomas Gibson of Newcastle, a leading ecclesiastical architect. The foundation stone was laid on 24th August 1854, and on 26th June 1855 the church was formally opened by Bishop William Hogarth, the first bishop of the Diocese of Hexham, newly created on the restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850, and who had earlier been Chaplain at Cliffe Hall.

The church is built in the Gothic style. The only subsequent alterations to the external 

fabric would appear to be the insertion into the roof at some stage of the dormer windows over the sanctuary and the fitting of a second pane of plain glass to the outside of each of the stained glass windows.

Internally, the principal original features are the painted open ceiling, the stained glass windows and probably the Stations of the Cross, the font and the pews. The painting of the ceiling was carried out in 1855 by Mr Henderson, a church decorator. The colours of red and blue are those of Our Lord and Our Lady respectively, and are used in a pattern of garlanding, rosettes, stars and large roundels containing IHS for Jesus and a crowned letter M for Mary.

Over the sanctuary this pattern changes to vines of passion-flower interspersed with other symbols – the visitor might like to look for the scourges and the pillar to which Our Lord was tied; the seamless robe and the dice which were cast for it; the cross, lance and sponge; the crown of thorns and the three nails; the centurion’s helmet, and the pelican, once believed to wound its own breast to feed its chicks, and hence symbolising Our Lord. There are also various geometric and mystical designs. Along the purlins, in Latin inscription, runs the Litany of Loreto to Our Lady. Click here for a description and translation of the inscription.
The stained glass windows, supplied by Messrs John and Joseph Gibson of Newcastle,are also noteworthy, particularly that in the east gable. In the centre pane is depicted Christ’s Ascension, with on his right St Osmund and on his left St Thomas Aquinas, to whom the church is also dedicated.

In 1855 permission had been sought (and granted) from Rome for the erection of the Stations of the Cross in the newly completed church, but it was about 1864 before they were provided, and it is most likely that those now in the church are the ones then erected, since they have been identified as of mid-19th century French origin.

The font was also installed after the church was built. In a report prepared in 1868 for the pending visitation of the Bishop, Fr James Rodgers apologised that due to lack of money a font had not yet been provided, but that he hoped to install one shortly. The font on the sanctuary is almost certainly that original one, now some 120 years old but probably with a later lid. Until 1981 it was located near the church door.
The pine pews and the complementary pine dado in the main body of the church are also probably original. Some years ago prayerbook shelves were added to the pews and very recently, hinges were fitted to the kneelers.

The Sanctuary has been modified on a number of occasions over the decades. The original altar was of stone, resting on two granite pillars and open underneath. It may have been free standing – in the course of a recent alteration, it was found that the lower part of the east gable had once been decorated in a similar theme to the ceiling. The tabernacle was an iron safe enclosed in stone. In 1898 this original altar and tabernacle were replaced by an elaborate highly carved and ornate oak altar and reredos , supplied and fitted by Boultons of Cheltenham at a cost of £251 10s 8d, with a further £10 5s 0d for the tabernacle supplied by W Tickell of Camberwell and £11 18s 9d to Mr R & S Adamson of Gainford for forming the altar steps.

The closing stages of the 19th century saw other changes. In 1899 a new oak pulpit was supplied and erected by Charles Tennick of Gainford at a cost of £17 19s 6d, less £2 allowance for the old stone pulpit. In the same year the original heating system, consisting of pipes under the floor with the heat rising through grills in the stone paving of the centre aisle (the pipes are still lying under the floor), was replaced by a new boiler and heating system, supplied and installed by Dinning and Cooke of Newcastle at a cost of £49 12s 6d, exclusive of mason or joiner work and cartage from the railway station. There is evidence that replacement boilers were fitted in 1922 (cost £27) and again in 1955. All these boilers were fuelled by coke and hand stoked. In 1964 either the existing boiler was converted to automatic oil firing or a completely new one fitted (the expression used was “oil fired heating apparatus”) at a cost of £250. However, the basic heating system remained in use from 1899 until 1990. Since it depended on thermal gravity to circulate the hundreds of gallons of water contained in its 6” diameter pipes it was very expensive to run, particularly on intermittent use where in cold weather it took nearly 20 hours of continuous running to bring the church up to an adequate temperature for just one service. The cost of the replacement modern small bore pumped system with gas fired boiler was £8427.68 plus VAT, comparable in cost to that of 1899 if one considers that average wages have risen by at least 200 times in the intervening century, and very much more efficient into the bargain!

The altar installed in 1898, while a good example of late Victorian ecclesiastical furniture, always tended to be too dominant in a church the size of St Osmund’s, and also obscured much of the stained glass window behind the sanctuary.

In 1962 the spire on top of the tabernacle canopy and the three pinnacles on each of the reredos flanks (described by the priest of the time as “the cricket stumps”) were removed, which exposed more of the window, and oak panelling was added on either side of the reredos and along the side walls of the sanctuary.

In 1981 the sanctuary was re-ordered to current liturgical requirements. The altar table was moved forward and reduced in length and the wings of the reredos lowered to floor level, which resulted in a rather unbalanced appearance. At the same time, the pulpit was removed and the font was transferred from near the church
door on to the sanctuary.

In 1990 a major renovation and refurbishment of the church was undertaken. In addition to the installation of new heating, lighting and sound reinforcement systems, the ceiling was professionally cleaned, the pews and doors, which after decades of ever darker varnishing had been painted in the 1970’s in oak “scumble”, were stripped and french polished; the oak-faced plywood with which the dado had been clad was removed and the original dado panelling restored, and alterations were made at the west end with the removal of a modern choir stall and replacement by three additional 19th century pews, obtained from an Anglican church in South Shields.

The most difficult aspect was the treatment of the Sanctuary. Trials were carried out on re-raising the reredos wings and also of moving them and/or the canopy to other positions, but there was no outcome which was either liturgically or aesthetically satisfactory and it was ultimately decided to retain only the tabernacle on its pedestal and the two carved statues – on the left St Osmund and on the right St Aidan carrying the head of St Oswald. In addition the altar rails were removed, the sanctuary reduced slightly in depth and a new stone lectern installed to replace the rather flimsy light oak one of 1981. Finally, the church was carpeted throughout.
Much of the land at the rear of the church was always surplus to requirements and from the outset was let off for grazing etc. The railway closed in the 1960’s and subsequently an exchange was effected with a housing development company of this surplus land for an equivalent amount to the east, alongside part of the remaining church land (see plan on facing page). This exchange land is also let out for grazing, and in 1990 the south-east corner was leased to Gainford Parish Council for use as a children’s play area, enabling them to provide a much needed amenity facility for the whole village.

Visitors to St Osmund’s are recommended to take a stroll round the back of the church to see the cemetery and grounds.

The Presbytery

The presbytery, consisting of a large four-bedroomed house linked to the church by a corridor, must have been built before the church because, engraved in intertwined letters on the lintel above the door, are the initials TW and the date 1853. There was a stable at the foot of the drive. At the time, there would have been at least two servants living in the house, and it is understood that the groom slept in a loft above the stable.

Although the days of resident servants are in general long past, until recently the presbytery remained basically unaltered. Over the years, various internal improvements were made. In 1896 the site was connected to the main drainage system (shades of earlier “netties” and/or commodes!) and later the church heating system was extended into it, internal access formed from what had been a wine cellar through into the boilerhouse under the corridor linking the presbytery to the church, and electricity and modern plumbing installed. The stable had, of course, long gone into disuse for that purpose and in the 1960’s was converted into a small parish hall, currently leased to a children’s playgroup.
In 1987 St Osmund’s was left without a resident priest and put under the wing of the Holy Family church in Darlington, with the presbytery (which in any case was far too large for a priest on his own) being left unoccupied. In 1990 it was decided to follow on the renovation of the church by major modifications to the presbytery in order to provide a parish centre on the ground floor and a self contained flat on the upper floor, both capable of being operated independently of each other and of the church.
Various old outbuildings were demolished and a new entrance hall was constructed at the rear giving access to the flat and also to the sacristy. Incorporated in this hallway block are a toilet and a utility/boiler room for church use. Two rooms of the ground floor were knocked into one to form a 29ft x 15ft meeting room. An existing small outbuilding opening off this was converted into toilets with facilities for the disabled, and a new kitchen extension built alongside it. Stone recovered from the demolished outbuildings was used for the new construction, and the external appearance of the presbytery is little changed from the original.
At the time of writing, the flat is occupied by a retired priest and the centre is in use by the parishioners of St Osmund’s. Plans are in hand to extend its use to other denominations in Gainford and also for it to serve as a study/meeting centre for other Catholic parishes within the Darlington Deanery.

 The Parish

In all of modern times the parish boundaries have been as shown on the map on as the southern boundary being the River Tees between Wycliffe Woods and High Coniscliffe. However, in early days this must have cut south from the river, since in his report of 1868 Fr Rodgers specifically mentions Aldbrough, which is on the Yorkshire side of the river.
The problem in dealing with the history of the parish is that, apart from the registers of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages and Deaths, the only written evidence available consists of a few random documents in the parish and diocesan archives, the Sunday Mass notice books started by Fr Knuckey in 1901, a diocesan summary from 1917 onwards of the annual parish returns, and a diary kept by Fr Stanley. The notice books contain primarily the Services and Mass Intentions for the week, the names of the sick and lately dead, and banns where applicable. With a few exceptions, any other points the priest might wish to make are at best covered by brief headings. Also until the late thirties the diocesan statistical summaries lump in with St Osmund’s the occupant’s of St Peter’s Home, which is not part of this history. However, to put its position in respect to St Osmund’s into context, a few words on it are called for.
The Diocese established St Peter’s in 1900 under the Poor Law Act to look after male orphans and other boys in need of care and protection. It was licensed by the Home Office in 1901 to accommodate 120 boys, and by January 1902 was already full, with a suggestion in a report to the Diocesan Council of Administration that, ‘enlargement must already be thought of’. The Sisters of Charity ran the home, and the Parish Priest of St Osmund’s acted as chaplain to them and the home in general.
As the need for this kind of establishment diminished, its function started to change. During the Spanish Civil War it housed some Basque refugees. By 1938 negotiations were in hand with the Home Office to turn it into an Approved School, and in that year its own chaplain (who would also be a teacher at the school) was appointed – Fr Wilfred Blenkin, until then on the teaching staff at St Mary’s Grammar School, Darlington. However, the war intervened. The Sisters of Charity and Fr Blenkin left in 1940 and for some time it was used for evacuees. The Sisters of Mercy arrived in 1943 to re-open it in its previously planned role as an Approved School (later called a Community Home) and in 1944 Fr Duffy was appointed as chaplain and teacher. With Fr Stanley’s death and Fr Duffy’s appointment as his replacement the chaplaincy of St Peter’s once again became the responsibility of the Parish Priest of St Osmund’s.
With a change in government policy regarding the housing of this type of boy, the numbers started to diminish. The nuns departed in 1974, leaving the Home under lay management. Finally in 1984 the Home was closed and the property sold by the Diocese for re-development.
Mention must also be made in this preamble of the Edlestons. In Fr Rodger’s obituary it is commented that he received into the Church the wife and daughter of the Vicar of Gainford, who was Dr Edleston. No history of St Osmund’s would be complete without reference to the Edleston family, and particularly the daughter, Miss Alice. The family was well connected and reasonably affluent, and took a keen interest in the welfare of the village. After the death of her parents Miss Edleston was a great benefactress of the village in general and of St Osmund’s in particular. Among other things, she donated the cost of the new altar installed in 1898. On her death in 1956 at the age of 91 she left as an endowment to the church some property she owned in the area and also half her estate, to be administered by the Diocesan Trustees for the benefit of St Osmund’s. The settling up of the estate was very protracted – in 1965 Fr Stanley noted in his diary that no money had yet been forthcoming. However, settled it was in due course and it is out of the accumulated income from the endowment that the costs of the recent refurbishment of the church and alterations to the presbytery have been met.
Now to continue with the history. Because of the fragmentary nature of the documentary information, this will have to be of a ‘snapshot’ form.

Congregation

In his report of 1868, Fr Rodgers states that at his best estimate there were then about 150 Catholics living within the parish boundaries, of which only 21 lived within two miles of the church. The greatest numbers were at High Coniscliffe, followed by Staindrop, then Gainford, Piercebridge and Aldbrough, with farm-servants scattered about in the country areas. At the time he wrote his report Easter communicants totalled 89 with more to come. He comments that a large proportion of his congregation were single men and women in employment as servants. In addition he was responsible for a mission station at Evenwood where there were between 150 and 200 Catholics.
Working from the registers of baptisms and deaths, it would look as though the number of parishioners remained fairly stable until about 1930. In the 1860’s, 70’s and 80’s when the birth rate was high, baptisms maintained a steady average of about 7.5 per year and deaths 2.5. From 1890 through to 1930 the yearly average of baptisms reduced to 4 and that of deaths increased marginally to 3. In the 1930’s and 40’s there appears to have been a reduction in the Catholic (and perhaps general) population of the area, possibly caused by the mechanisation of agriculture. In 1938, the first year in which the Diocesan summary figures for St Osmund’s do not include those for St Peter’s, the Catholic population of the parish was reported as 105 and the number of regular attendees at Sunday Mass as 70. There were only 20 children of school age living in the parish. This reduction is borne out by the figures for baptisms and deaths over the two decades – averages of 2.3 per year for the former and 1.4 for the latter.
In the 1950’s and 60’s there was a revival in numbers, probably due to younger people, many with families of ‘post war baby boom’ children, moving into the new housing being built, particularly in Gainford itself. In 1960 the Catholic population of the parish was reported as 155, Mass attendees as 122 and schoolchildren as 51. By 1966 these numbers had increased further, to 205, 155 and 60 respectively. The annual averages of baptisms over the two decades had increased to nearly 5, with deaths at 2.4.
As the children of school age in the 50’s and 60’s grew to maturity, they tended to move away from the Gainford area and the Catholic population started to decline again. By the end of the 70’s it had reduced to about 180, of whom some 35 were children of school age, and it has stabilised around these numbers. As the motor car came into increasing general use, parishioners were freer to attend Mass in adjacent parishes, perhaps at a time more convenient to them, and many did so with a consequent decline in the number attending St Osmund’s, which by the early 80’s had reduced to about 70. In the last few years there has been a revival, with the average Sunday Mass attendance now nearing the 100 mark.
Between the time of the foundation of the parish and the present there has been a significant shift in the social composition of the congregation. In 1868 Fr Rodgers reported that his parishioners were very poor, with most of them working as servants. Today the majority of parishioners are of the managerial or professional class.
Bearing the above in mind, it is not surprising that only three of the older generation (60+) of today’s congregation were born in the parish, and two of those from the same family, although as those children of the incoming families of the 1950’s and 60’s who were born in the parish and who have stayed here themselves have children, families with two generations baptised at St Osmund’s are now emerging. What is surprising is the outcome of an analysis made of the entries in the registers of Baptism (begun in 1861), Marriage and Death (both begun in 1874). It had been assumed that in the 19th century the population would have been fairly static. However, out of over 100 different surnames appearing in the Baptismal register before 1900, only five are of families where baptisms of two successive generations of the same family (including children of married daughters) took place at St Osmund’s and just three, which cover 3 generations. There are none more than three. Descendants of some of the earlier families, which lapsed at some stage, may, of course, still be living in the area. Many of the names appearing in the 19th century registers are of Irish origin, perhaps indicating a large transitory Irish immigrant element.
The five families with two generations of children born in the parish, with year of first baptism and latest baptism, marriage or death, were: – Graham of Piercebridge (1861-1953), Cox of Gordon Gill (1864-1889), Kent of Staindrop (1879-1964), Hickey of Gainford (1886-1948) and Queenan of Gainford (1893-1956). Those of three generations were: – Hall of Gainford (1861-1930), Snailham of Gainford (1862-1982) and Stainthorpe of Moor Row, Barforth (1868-1905). Some of these families were probably in the area well before the foundation of the parish. However the one with the longest span in the lifetime of the parish came from Lancashire: –
Thomas Snailham, his wife Ellen and family (then of at least one son) moved from Preston in about 1850, and their two youngest children were baptised at St Osmund’s after the register was started. Thomas had a market garden, which his son Christopher later continued.
Christopher married Margaret Susanna Learmouth, perhaps elsewhere since their first child, although baptised at St Osmund’s, had been born at Scarborough the previous year. A further ten children were baptised at St Osmund’s. Of his children who married, three continued to live in Gainford, Thomas Robert (married to Elizabeth Corrie, two children baptised here), John (married to Isabella Young, seven children baptised here) and Elizabeth Alice (married to Martin Hardy, no children). She was the last survivor of the Snailhams to live in Gainford, dying in 1982 at the age of 99. She used to tell of how, in her younger days, she would walk the nine miles into Darlington with produce to sell on the market and then walk back again. There was a direct rail service from Gainford to Darlington, but presumably the profit on market garden produce was not enough to also cover the rail fare, particularly with eleven children in the family to be supported!
Over the decades many parishioners will have played a much bigger part in the life and well being of the parish than simply coming to Mass on a Sunday, some in the little known and less obvious ways. It would be invidious to attempt to single out names, but they would be known to the discerning parishioners of the time.

Spiritual

In 1868 Mass was said at St Osmund’s every Sunday and on at least four weekdays, with Mass once a month at Evenwood and four times a year at High Coniscliffe and Aldbrough. Sunday evening service was held each week at St Osmund’s, with confessions before Mass and on Saturday evening. In addition, for adults there was the Confraternity of the Rosary and for the children Sunday Schools at Gainford, High Coniscliffe, Staindrop, Aldbrough and Evenwood. Fr Rodgers superintended that at Gainford himself, the others were conducted by laypersons. He reports that those at Evenwood and Staindrop were very difficult to keep going because, “there are not a dozen grown up people in both put together who can read any way well & some of them are not very good Catholics”.
Fr Rodgers comments in his report of 1868 that most of the children of the Evenwood mission were baptised at Bishop Auckland because it was much cheaper and handier to get there by rail. In 1890, coincident with his death, the responsibility for serving Evenwood was transferred to Witton Park. We do not know for how long quarterly Masses at High Coniscliffe and Aldbrough persisted.
By the time the notice books were started by Fr Knuckey in 1901, St Peter’s had been established and he was acting as chaplain there. The pattern of services at St Osmund’s was: –
Sundays Holy Communion at 8.30, Mass at 10am, Rosary and
Benediction at 6pm preceded by instruction at 5.30pm.
Weekdays Mass on Mondays and Wednesdays, Holy Communion
on other days at 8am, Rosary and Benediction on
Thursdays at 7pm, preceded by instruction at 6.30pm.
This was the basic pattern throughout the greater part of this century, although during the period between 1938 and 1966 when St Peter’s had its own chaplain, there was generally Mass every day at St Osmund’s. There were some minor variations. It looks as though the practice, established by Fr Rodgers, of people coming to confession before any service had continued for some 70 years. When Fr Dent arrived in 1929 he made a special announcement, “Confessions are Saturday 7-8, Sunday before 8.30 Communion, Thursday after Benediction. No confessions before Mass – certainly not on Sunday – unless it be the case of some aged or infirm person who cannot go at any other time, or those who have a long distance to travel to church”.
In 1951 the time of Sunday Mass was changed to 10.30am, “to fit in with transport from Staindrop”. In 1957 a second Mass was introduced on Sunday at 8.30am (in lieu of communion only), possibly necessitated by the increasing congregation in the 1950’s, with the numbers then attending Mass exceeding the seating capacity of the church. In 1966 Mass replaced Evening Devotions on Thursday on Friday evening and regular Evening Devotions on Sunday ceased. These were re-established by Fr McClean in 1981, but were never well attended. In 1985 a Vigil Mass was introduced on Saturday evening, with Masses on Sunday reduced to one, at 9.30am.
Throughout the decades, there existed at various times a number of lay organisations. There is little information on the scope of their activities or how many participated, and they will simply be listed, with the year in which there was first documentary evidence of them, as follows: –
Confraternity of the Rosary (1868). Apostleship of Prayer (1901). Altar Society (1901). Catholic Needlework Guild, later referred to as Women’s Sewing Guild (1926). Men’s Committee (1929). Children of Mary (1944). Catholic Women’s League (1954), replaced in 1959 by St Osmund’s Guild, Fr Stanley noting in his diary that a much smaller and more parochial organisation than the CWL would be more appropriate to so small a parish as St Osmund’s.
All these organisations had become defunct by the end of the 1970’s
For most of this century there were regular processions in honour of the Sacred Heart around Corpus Christi time and of Our Lady, particularly in May, and also periodically there was Quarant Ore (the 40 hour Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament). All these activities appear to have died out by the early 70’s. Missions were held every few years, the first mention being by Fr Rodgers of an eight day one having been given by Redemptory Fathers in 1864. The last to be held was a five-day one given by Fr Ed Gould between 10th and 15th July 1977.
When St Osmund’s was left without a resident priest and came under the wing of the Holy Family, Darlington, there was some discussion about the pattern of services, dictated to some extent by the availability of priests. It was finally agreed to maintain the Sunday morning Mass at 9.30am and two weekday Masses, initially on Wednesday and Thursday, currently on Tuesday and Thursday. There is also the Rosary on Monday afternoon, organised by the parishioners and led by one of them on a rotated basis. The direct participation of parishioners in Services, which had not existed to any significant extent before, now embraces many aspects. There are Special Ministers who administer Holy Communion at Mass and take it to the sick and housebound afterwards, rotated for lay readers, Offertory Procession and Greeters etc. Four times a year and on some other special occasions, the children fulfil all these functions except that of Special Minister. At the moment (and particularly while there is a retired priest living on the premises) there is no need for the Special Ministers to conduct services, but the foundations are there if ever that need should arise. More parishioners are probably now involved in active participation in (and hopefully understanding of) the Liturgy than there were in the heyday of the traditional approach.

Education

Primary

Except for a brief period in the 1950’s and 60’s when the nuns from St Peter’s ran an infants school in Gainford village, there has never been a Catholic school in the parish. Indeed, the only Catholic school there has ever been in the Local Authority area in which Gainford and most of the parish lies is St Mary’s Junior Mixed & Infants (formerly Elementary) School in Barnard Castle, founded at about the same time as St Mary’s Parish (1847).
If there had been a school associated with St Osmund’s, notes on the education of the children of the parish would have been relatively simple, being basically a brief history of that school. In practice, to follow the sequence of events requires some understanding of the general educational arrangements over the past 150 years. The author is no authority on these, but here are the results of a little ‘swotting up’ on his part, which may well be incomplete or even erroneous in some aspects. Of great assistance in this have been Miss Mildred M Cullen’s “Education in Darlington (1900-1974)” and the logbooks of St Mary’s School, Barnard Castle, from 1863 onwards to which the Headmistress has kindly given access. The latter would form a history of their own, but for the present purpose only those aspects relevant to this history have been noted.
Prior to the mid-19th century there were few educational facilities for the children of the bulk of the population – when the author’s great grandfather was married in 1835 neither he nor his bride could even write their name, but had to ‘make their mark’ in the marriage register. The more affluent people sent their children either to boarding school or to a private day school, both fee-paying and the latter usually small.
As the Industrial Revolution gathered pace, the need for more general education became apparent and ‘elementary’ schools started to be established, led by the churches of the various denominations and other charitable foundations. These were also fee-paying, but on a more modest level, usually ranging from a penny a week for infants up to fourpence a week for the top class. Attendance, though no doubt encouraged by the clergy and welcomed by the more farseeing parents, was not compulsory. Sometimes fees were reduced for the poorer people. An entry in the logbook of St Mary’s, Barnard Castle, of 1872 reads:- “Children whose parents are unable to pay these rates may be admitted on lower terms on making application to the Manager”. The Manager was the Parish Priest.
The Education Act of 1870 set up the mechanism for non-sectarian (National or Board) schools to be established from public funds and subsequent Acts made schooling compulsory, albeit subject to school fees. Parents who could not afford school fees were able to apply for civil “parish relief”. An entry in St Mary’s logbook for 1888 shows the fees of 23 children (over one third of the total) being paid via the Relieving Officer. The school leaving age was gradually increased from 8 to 13 by the end of the century. A rigid syllabus and timetable were laid down. Grants were available towards the running costs of independent schools (eg St Mary’s) provided that, among other things, they followed this syllabus and timetable, with Education Board Inspectors making periodic visits to check. Bearing in mind the scattered nature of St Osmund’s parish, the poverty of most of the parishioners and the fact that the only transport available to the Catholic school in Barnard Castle was the railway (the fares on which in any case also had to be paid for by the parents, with no eligibility for relief), the odds are that most children of parishioners went to the nearest village school. At some stage, perhaps as an outcome of the 1902 Education Act, fees at elementary schools were abolished but parents were still liable for travel costs. The parents of St Osmund’s children would have been encouraged to send them to St Mary’s but even as late as the 1940’s, less than 40% of children were so doing and of these, it is understood that in some cases Miss Edleston paid the travel fares.
In 1947, under the 1944 Education Act, Local Education Authorities began to provide free transport for those living more than three miles from the nearest school of the child’s denomination. The proportion of St Osmund’s children attending St Mary’s, Barnard Castle, rose to some 60%, but there were still significant numbers attending non-Catholic elementary schools. Some, of course, would stay at the school which they were already attending and, in a period when many people still expected work and school to be within walking distance, there was also probably reluctance for parents to submit new starters to the journey to Barnard Castle at the tender age of 5, and having begun at the local school they tended to stay there.
In February 1955 two of the nuns from St Peter’s, Sisters Agatha and Winifride, opened a small infants school for 5 to 7 year-olds in Gainford, in the premises in High Green (then called South Terrace), which are now the doctors’ surgery. They named the school St Colette’s, and it looks as though all the Catholic infants of the area immediately switched from the village school, since the numbers attending non-Catholic schools reduced significantly. There was then a knock-on effect, with them automatically moving to St Mary’s, Barnard Castle, at the appropriate age, so that by the early 60’s there were virtually no Catholic children of primary school age attending non-Catholic schools.

On Sunday 7th July 1968, Fr Duffy made the following announcement at Mass: – “Although Sister Agatha retired as a teacher 14 years ago, she has been teaching at St Colette’s all that time without pay. She IS St Colette’s. Her Rev Mother wishes her to retire when term ends in 2 weeks. She has given grounding in Faith and Education to all the young children of Gainford in that time. A Marathon of Endurance: a Marathon of Charity. St Osmund’s owes a great debt to her.” He then announced that the school would close at the end of term, but that there after the local authority would provide transport to take the children to St Mary’s, Barnard Castle.
Many parishioners still look back on St Colette’s with feelings of affection and nostalgia, but it would not have been practical to continue it without the voluntary help of the nuns. However, in its relatively short period of existence it made a much more fundamental contribution to the Catholic education of children of the parish than just having given a good initial educational and religious grounding to the infants of that period. When it closed, the small children transferred en bloc to St Mary’s and the pattern of children starting school there was established. Ever since then it has been the exception for a St Osmund’s child to start at or later transfer to a non-Catholic primary school.
In larger towns such as Darlington, elementary schools tended to be single sex, and from the 1920’s (by which time the school leaving age had been raised to 14) to have separate junior and senior schools. St Mary’s, however, a rural school, has always been co-educational and until 1960 catered for the full age range of elementary education. In the autumn of that year, in the run-up to comprehensive education, all the older children were transferred to the newly established Catholic bi-lateral schools in Darlington. St Mary’s, Barnard Castle became, as it still is, a Junior Mixed & Infants School.

Secondary

Until well into this century the only secondary schools were fee-paying Grammar schools, beyond the financial means of most people. Furthermore, there has never been a Catholic secondary school in Teesdale. In the late 19th century Local Education Authorities started to award a limited number of scholarships, gained by competitive examination at the age of 11, whereby they paid the fees at the nearest denominational Grammar School but the parents had to bear the cost of uniforms, extra-curricular activities and, until 1947, the travel costs. There is a rather sad comment in St Mary’s logbook one year that one of the five children who had gained a scholarship could not take it up because his parents could not afford the fares to Darlington.
The two Catholic Grammar Schools in this area were both in Darlington, namely the Immaculate Conception Convent School for girls founded in about 1904 and St Mary’s Grammar School for boys, founded in 1925, to which children who had gained the scholarship went. There was also a convent school in Richmond to which one or two St Osmund’s parents sent their daughters privately. These Grammar Schools provided education up to the age of 18, with pupils able to sit the School Certificate examination at 16 and the Higher School Certificate at 18. Satisfactory results (the Matriculation) in these examinations were required for acceptance into most Universities but these were fee-paying. A limited number of much prized Local Education Authority University Scholarships were available for those who did exceptionally well, which was the only way that children whose parents had limited means could afford to go to University. Children whose education had been restricted to Elementary Schools had little opportunity of gaining formal educational qualifications or of proceeding to University, although the author knew one man born at about the turn of the century who, having left elementary school in Birmingham to take up an engineering apprenticeship, studied at night school for the Ordinary and Higher National Certificates in Mechanical Engineering, then continued at night school to gain a London University External Degree, and finally became Head of one of the Technical Colleges in Liverpool.
In 1922 two Catholic senior elementary schools had been opened in Darlington, Beechwood for boys and Larchfield for girls, to which the older children of the two Darlington Catholic elementary schools (St Augustine’s and St William’s) transferred. In 1960, as part of the move to comprehensive education, Beechwood merged with St Mary’s Grammar School and Larchfield with the Immaculate Conception Convent to form bi-lateral schools for boys and girls respectively, and to which, as already noted, the older children of St Mary’s, Barnard Castle, transferred. Whether a child went into the Grammar or Secondary Modern stream was determined by examination (the 11-plus). Those in the Grammar stream went on to the age of 16 and possibly 18, usually taking various subjects in the General Certificate of Education examination (GCE ‘O’ levels, which had replaced the School Certificate) at 16 and the Advanced Certificate (‘A’ levels) at 18. Those in the Secondary Modern stream left at the statutory leaving age (then 15), having taken one or more subjects in a newly introduced Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) examination. It is understood, however, that there was a mechanism for children to switch between Secondary Modern and Grammar streams at about the age of 13, depending on progress.
In 1972 the minimum school leaving age was raised to 16 and the comprehensive system of education in this area started to come to fruition. In 1974 the two single-sex Catholic bi-lateral secondary schools in Darlington merged to form Carmel Co-educational Comprehensive School to which all children from Catholic primary schools within a wide radius go at the age of 11. At 16 they all sit examinations in those subjects to which their abilities suit them, until recently either the GCE or CSE, which have now been combined into the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). Those who stay on until 18 normally take subjects in the Advanced Certificate of Education and, depending on results, may move on to University or College of Further Education on Local Education Authority grants.

Social and economic

In 1868 the annual cost of running the parish was about £96. Income was about £108, of which only £8 came from the parishioners, the rest from Mgr Witham and from letting out the surplus land at the rear of the church and the stable – presumably Fr Rodgers did not then keep a horse but went everywhere on foot, perhaps hiring a carriage when necessary.
Mgr Witham made an endowment, which, together with the rent from the spare land, by the early 1900’s was producing an income of about £120 pa. The running costs had risen to nearly £200 pa, the difference (about 35%) being contributed by the parishioners in the form of offertory collections, bench rents and door money, Altar Society contributions etc. With a virtually static endowment income (it never reached £200 pa in any of the next 60 years), as costs gradually rose, so did the proportion contributed by parishioners until by 1920 this accounted for 50% of the running costs of the parish.
The first mention of social events in the Notice Books was in 1924, when Fr Knuckey announced that Miss Edleston invited everyone to a Garden party at her home. This was to become an annual event, held in late August or early September. In 1926 he announced that there would be a Social Evening, admission free but by ticket only.
During the 20’s, with post-war inflation, expenditure was rising more rapidly without a commensurate rise in income. In 1927 income contributed by the parishioners met only 40% of the running costs of the parish compared with over 50% a few years earlier, and the Diocese had to make a grant to cover costs in that and the following year. When Fr Dent arrived in 1929 he set about raising money. He incorporated a Sale of Work into the Garden Party, which produced a profit of nearly £35, and a Whist Drive and Dance later in the year raised a further £5. Nevertheless, the Parish account was overdrawn by nearly £60 at year-end. The following year a Whist Drive and Dance on Easter Monday raised £10, and the profit on the Garden Fete increased to £50. (To put these figures into perspective, in those days the average take-home pay was no more than about £3 per week. To match these results today, a Whist Drive and Dance would have to raise some hundreds of pounds and a Fete some thousands). The end of 1931 eliminated the overdraft. Over the years the fund-raising social events became more frequent, with dances not only in the Montalbo Rooms (now the Village Hall) but also occasionally at the George Hotel, Piercebridge. The main event was still, however, the annual Garden Fete and Sale of Work, the income from which had risen by the early 50’s to about £150. It is evident from the headings in the Notice Books that months of planning went into this event. Fr Dent died shortly before the 1951 Garden Fate and Sale of Work. The day after the event the supply priest standing in announced, “Thanks for all concerned in making a success of the Sale of Work. I marvel at the fact that you were able to work together in such a spirit of harmony & happiness without either knowledge or effort from myself. It speaks well for Fr Dent who even in his absence had everything arranged, your goodwill & co-operation prepared and even delightful weather after a dreary week provided for us on the day itself”.
For nearly 30 years the mainspring of the Garden Fete had been Miss Edleston. In 1952 Fr Jacobs announced that: – “There will be a meeting about the Garden Fete at Miss Edleston’s tomorrow night at 8. I want all those who are interested in it to be present. The reason is that this is the last one that Miss Edleston will organise. Not because of me, but because she feels that she & those who have helped her are too old to continue. That is why I want you to do your utmost to make it a success.”
Miss Edleston was then 87. The parishioners took up the challenge, the Garden Fete (subsequently held in the church grounds) continued to go from strength to strength, with income rising to over £200 before the end of the 50’s. Nevertheless, inflation was taking its toll. The direct contributions from parishioners (including an outdoor collection which had been started at some stage) had stabilised at about 40% of expenditure, but the virtually static endowment income, which had contributed some 65% of expenditure at the beginning of the century, was now only some 20%. In 1952 a Football Pool was started which, with profits from the Garden Fete and other social and fund raising events, was producing an income from these sources of some 33% of running costs. Nevertheless, a gap between income and expenditure was re-emerging.
When Fr Stanley arrived at the end of 1955, he set about correcting this situation, a task to which, with his outgoing nature, he was well suited. Social functions increased in number with usually at least two Parish Dances a year held in various venues such as the Montalbo Rooms, the George Hotel at Piercebridge, Winston Village Hall, the Majestic in Darlington, etc, and he initiated various types of fund raising efforts – Whist Drives and coffee mornings or evenings in the homes of parishioners and sometimes in the presbytery, jumble sales and occasionally concerts in the Montalbo Rooms (now the Village Hall) or Academy Rooms (now the theatre). In 1959 he had the old stables converted into a parish hall where events might be held, although this was never a great success. Perhaps it was not large enough and the Montalbo Rooms, which Miss Edleston had left to the village and which were coming on stream as a Village Hall about the same time, was a more appropriate venue – Fr Stanley even arranged fund raising efforts towards the cost of converting them. He encouraged both the outdoor collection and the football pools, replaced in 1962 by the Parish Trebles. The net result was that by the early 60’s the running costs of the parish were being completely covered by direct contributions from parishioners and by the profit on social and other fund raising activities in just about equal proportions of 50% each, leaving endowment income to pay for some much needed maintenance and improvements such as the treatment of the woodworm in the church, the conversion to oil-fired heating, electrical rewiring of the church and presbytery, the building of the grotto in the church grounds to Our Lady of Lourdes, etc. No doubt the increase in the congregation helped in this, but nevertheless it was a remarkable achievement. As has been mentioned, none of this was at the expense of the spiritual life of the parish. In his daybook for 1965 (the only one to survive) he was regularly recording attendance at Sunday evening devotions of 40 or more, peaking at nearly 100 when there was a procession.
The 1960’s saw a general change in social habits, with television, pop music and motoring starting to compete for disposable income with the more traditional forms of recreation, and St Osmund’s parishioners were not insulated from this. For a couple of years before Fr Stanley’s death the income from social activities had been declining, although more than made up for by increased profits on the Parish Trebles. The character of Fr Stanley’s successor accelerated this process. Fr Duffy, a charming man, was then 65, had spent virtually all his life in educational establishments and had no taste for social events. With the driving force gone, activity started to wither away more rapidly. The 1966 Garden Fete and Sale of Work was an indoor event, held in November and making little profit. This was the last one. Also in that year the Parish Hall (which in any case had been losing money in the last year or so) was closed for that purpose, and subsequently rented out to a playgroup. The income from Miss Edleston’s endowment started to materialise at about this time, removing the necessity for special fund raising, and all fund raising activities, not just those of a purely social nature, gradually ceased. By the time the author arrived in the parish in 1972 there were just the remnants of the outdoor collection, then amounting to about £2 a week from a handful of parishioners, which in turn also ceased. Neither did the offertory collections keep pace with inflation, and by the early 80’s the contribution from parishioners towards the running costs had reduced to fewer than 20%. Furthermore, the traditional second collection at Sunday Mass for the benefit of external causes had, with a couple of exceptions, ceased with contributions to these being made by the priest from parish funds.
In the last year or so a revival has started. At the time of writing (March 1992) parishioners’ contributions are re-approaching 40% of running costs, probably helped by the increased numbers attending St Osmund’s. In 1990 the Garden Fete was revived, held in the church grounds and with the profit donated to a charity. Because of the work to the presbytery, one was not held in 1991, but there have been two well-attended dances held in the Village Hall, and recently events such as a Pie & Peas Supper with Beetle Drive etc held in the new Parish Centre. Time will tell whether the momentum gathers pace.

Some notable events

1854, 23rd August
Foundation stone of church was laid.

1855, 10th May
Permission granted from Rome for the Stations of the Cross. Translation from the Latin of formal document: –

‘ Reverend Father,
A priest, Thomas Witham, from England, built a church on his property at Gainford, in the diocese of Hexham, for the worship of the holy Catholic religion and for the faithful of the mission. To this church, Your Holiness has already granted a privileged altar, with all the indulgences attached to it. Now the same petitioner, humbly prostrate at the feet of His Holiness, begs the faculties to erect the Stations of the Cross with the usual indulgences to be gained by the faithful under the necessary conditions.
By the apostolic authority granted to our order, we graciously grant the petitioner his request.
Rome, 10th May 1855
Vincent a Grano, Fr Minister’

26th June
Formal opening of church, with Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Bishop Hogarth, assisted by some thirtysix priests; there were six canons of the diocese. (Extract from Teesdale Mercury report of 4th July)
Bishop Wiliam Hogarth was the first Bishop of the Diocese of Hexham, formed at the restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850. In 1861 the title was changed to that of Hexham and Newcastle. Bishop Hogarth was based at St Augustine’s, Darlington. Hogarth House there is named after him. Previously he had been Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District and in 1847 had founded St Mary’s, Barnard Castle. For the first 74 years the Diocese extended right over to the Lake District, but in 1924 the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland were transferred to the newly formed Diocese of Lancaster.

12th Sept
Bishop Hogarth performs first baptism at St Osmund. The child was: – Mary Eleanor Dobinson (born Sept 5th), daughter of Joseph & Elizabeth Dobinson (nee Wood). Godparents: – Thomas Dobinson & May Eleanor Wood.

1858, 20th October
Consecration of Altar by Bishop Hogarth.
Translation of transcript in Latin made by Miss Edleston of plaque removed from original alters on its replacement in 1898.

‘In the year 1858, on the Octave Day of St Edward, King, 20th October, I, William, Bishop of Hexham, consecrated this Altar in honour of St Osmund, Bishop and Confessor, and St Thomas Aquinas, Confessor, together with the relics of the Holy Martyrs Peter and Paul enclosed in it, and I have granted one year of true indulgence in the customary form of the Church to the faithful who visit this Altar today and forty days of true indulgence in the customary form of the church to those who visit it on the anniversary day of this consecration’.

1862, 26th Oct
First Confirmations at St Osmund’s, by Bishop Hogarth, of the following confirmands:-

Christopher Snailham	Peter Lyons	Ellen Snailham
Robert Snailham	John Pearson	Eliz. Snailham
George A Rickaby	John Graham	Frances Brown
Thomas Graham	Mary Pearson	Margaret Wilson
Jane Ann Graham	Teresa Mary Rickaby
Sponsors:-	Charles Rickaby & Mary Weighell

1863, May
Living Rosary established at St Osmund’s.
Transcript of hand-written notes in archives: –

Rules
I. The Sodality of the Living Rosary is composed of several circles in each of which there are 15 members corresponding to the 15 mysterys of the Rosary. The members reflect a few moments every day on the mystery allotted them, they say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s & 1 Glory be to the Father in honour of that mystery to obtain of God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin the corresponding virtue & concluding begging the prayers of the monthly patrons.
II. The member who has the 1st Joyful Mystery eg the Annunciation must in addition to the usual prayers recite 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary & the Apostles Creed.
Many Indulgences are granted to those who belong to the Society of the Rosary, amongst the rest a Plenary Indulgence for everyone who approaches the Sacrament of Penance & Holy Communion & prays for the intention of the Church. Each member gains a partial Indulgence of 100 days every time they recite the part allotted them.
The members receive a printed ticket on the 1st Sunday of every month, the members are expected to give one halfpenny per month out of which the tickets are paid for, the rest is given to some charitable object.
One person is generally chosen to be the representative of each circle & each circle is placed under the patronage of some saint.

In his visitation report of 1868, Fr Rodgers said that shortly after arriving he had established a Confraternity of the Rosary. It is not clear whether the above was it, although in a visitation questionnaire of 1902 Fr Knuckey lists the Living Rosary among the societies at St Osmund’s. Fr Dix had formally established a Rosary Confraternity in 1899. Perhaps the two titles were synonymous, and formal permission may not have been obtained for that of 1863, with Fr Dix regularising the position in 1899.

1864
Stations of the Cross erected, during an eight-day mission given by the Redemptorist Fathers.
Mission station established at Evenwood, administered from St Osmund’s, with Mass there once a month.

1874, 25th March
Registration for Solemnisation of Marriages. The formal certificate reads: –
I, John Dickonson Holmes, Superintendent Registrar of Teesdale in the Counties of Durham and York do hereby certify, That the Building named The Catholic Chapel situated at Gainford in the Parish of Gainford in the County of Durham having been duly certified as a Place of Public Religious Worship, was registered for the Solemnisation of Marriages therein, on 25th of March in the Year of Our Lord, 1874’.

25th April
First marriage at St Osmund’s, conducted by Fr Rodgers, of: –

Patrick Brydon of Hartlepool to Alice Snailham of Gainford.
Witnesses:- Christopher & Elizabeth Snailham.1878
Fr Rodgers received Mrs Harriet S Edleston, wife of Dr Edleston, the Vicar of Gainford, and her daughter Miss Alice Edleston into the Catholic Church.

1882, 9th June
First burial at St Osmund’s cemetery. The deceased was: –
John Charles Snailham, died 5th June aged 15 months, infant son of Christopher and Margaret Snailham of Gainford.
A report in the Darlington & Stockton Times reads: –

‘The first interment in the new burial ground connected with the Gainford Catholic Church took place yesterday. It is rather a singular coincidence that the first Baptism, Marriage & funeral in this church have been connected with the same family.
It would seem that in this Parish there is not that spirit of liberality, which has so often been exhibited elsewhere when a nonconformist burial has taken place. At Gainford while the funeral was proceeding to St Cuthbert’s (sic) Catholic Church the time-honoured custom of tolling the (death) Bell at St Mary’s Parish Church was observed. This is a small incident, but it shows the way the wind blows’.

The first marriage, in 1874, was of Alice Snailham (probably an aunt of the deceased boy) to Patrick Bryden of Hartlepool. The first baptism (in 1855) was of Mary Eleanor, daughter of Joseph & Eleanor Dobinson (nee Wood), recorded by Fr Rodgers on the flyleaf of the 1861 register. The relationship of one or either of them to the Snailhams has not been established.
Oddly enough, the death and burial do not appear in St Osmund’s Mortuary Register, although the tombstone is on the right as you approach the church porch. From other evidence the priest of the time, Fr Rodgers, was somewhat erratic in his register entries.

1898, April
New altar installed. Transcript of notes made by Miss Edleston: –
28th March to 2nd April. New alter erected.
3rd April (Palm Sunday). First Mass at new altar.
22nd August. New altar consecrated by Bishop Wilkinson.

1899, November
Rosary Confraternity inaugurated at St Osmund’s, with the register listing 55 members, headed by Fr Henry Dix and Miss Alice Edleston. The preface to the register reads: –

‘The Rosary Confraternity was canonically erected in the church of St Osmund Gainford by virtue of a patent from the General of the Dominican Order, with the consent (in writing) of the Bishop of the Diocese, on the 16th day of November 1899.
Fr John Proctor O.P.
(Provincial)

1918, 19th December
St Osmund’s constituted as a parish. Until then, it had been a ‘mission station’.

1924
First Garden Party, held at Edleston House. This was to become an annual event for the next 42 years.

1936, 27th May
Church consecrated by Bishop Joseph Thorman. The document relating to this, translated from the Latin, reads: –

‘Joseph, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle – Health and Blessing in the Lord to each and everyone who reads this document.
The church of St Osmund at Gainford was duly consecrated by Us on the 27th day of the month of May in the year 1936.
Together with the church the main altar dedicated to St Osmund was consecrated by Us, and the relics of the holy martyrs St Modestus and St Honorata were enclosed in it.
According to liturgical law the feast of the consecration of the church ought to be celebrated each year on the 27th day of the month of May, unless it yields place to a more important feast.
An indulgence of fifty days is granted to the faithful who visit the church on the feast of the anniversary of its consecration.
In token of this we have sealed this document and signed it with our own hand.
Given at Tynemouth
29th May 1936
+Joseph
Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle
Raymond Redmond, Secretary’

Kept with the document is a hand-written letter from the Bishop to Fr Dent dated 20th May 1936, which reads: –

‘My dear Fr Dent
Within a week of the ceremony I want to assure myself that all things are ready and to settle my own movements. For the former it will be all right if you have fulfilled in detail the requirements of Canon Chadwick. He knows the names of the Martyrs (SS Modestus & Honorata); if the old relics are re-enclosed, they do not obtain mention. The enclosing of the Relics should be done overnight; the one train open to me is the 5pm, due Gainford 6.31. My big bag I shall forward on Sunday from Durham, the smaller I shall bring with me. Will you provide that someone else shall celebrate the following Mass; I am not yet venturing a long ceremony fasting. Any accommodation will serve for me, St Osmund’s, St Peter’s or an Inn, but I would suppose that St Peter’s would be the place for Mass.
God bless you, yours devotedly in Christ.
+Joseph,
Bishop of Hexham & Newcastle’

Bishop Thorman died later that year. The reference to Mass at St Peter’s would relate to his private mass before the consecration ceremony.

1944, 27th April
Permission granted for Children of Mary Sodality.
Transcript of letter from Bishop Joseph McCormack: –

‘Dear Fr Dent
I hereby erect in the Church of Saint Osmund at Gainford, and recommend to the Father General of the Society of Jesus for affiliation to the Primaria, a Sodality of girls.
I also hereby approve the usual rules of the Sodality as contained in the approved Manuals.
And I hereby appoint you, and your successors in the office of Parish Priest of Saint Osmund’s, Gainford as Director.
I empower the Director at any time to delegate another priest, provided he holds at least temporary faculties in the Diocese, to receive candidates into the Sodality.
Will you please keep this letter in your Parish Archives so that your successors may know that the Sodality has been lawfully erected.
Your devoted servant in Jesus Christ
+Joseph, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle’

1955, June 9th, Feast of Corpus Christi
Centenary of church celebrated, with Bishop McCormack presiding at Mass in the evening, after which parishioners were introduced to him on the lawn, followed by tea and supper provided by Miss Edleston to which the non-Catholics of Gainford were also invited.

1960, May 29th
Blessing of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.

A report in a local paper reads:-

“Incense floated through the tree-filled grounds of St Osmund’s Catholic Church, Gainford, last night, when over 100 people attended a service at which the parish priest, Father Peter Stanley, blessed the new Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on the lawn outside his presbytery. He also unveiled the new stone statue which graces a niche above the altar there.
The Grotto, covered with flowers, and the blue, white and gold of the statue shining in the evening sun, made a beautiful background as the white-veiled children walked in procession from the church.
Originally intended to be ready for the centenary in 1958 of the apparitions at Lourdes in the Pyrenees to Bernadette Soubirous (now St Bernadette), the Grotto was paid for by voluntary subscription.
In stone, it was almost entirely built by a Gainford stonemason, Mr Harold Hodgson, whose wife is a parishioner at St Osmund’s. After the service, Father Stanley presented Mr Hodgson with a replica of the statue in the Grotto as a memento of his work.
Addressing the congregation, which included non-Catholic villagers who had responded to his general invitation to attend, Father Stanley said the opening of the Grotto fulfilled a vow he had made before he was even ordained.
Anyone is welcome to visit the grounds and see the Grotto at any time, he said.”

1981, Nov/Dec
First re-ordering of the sanctuary. A temporary altar was used while the work was in progress.

1990, Early October
St Osmund’s closed for renovation and second re-ordering. For the next few weeks, by the kind invitation of the Vicar (Rev Tim Ollier) and the Parochial Church Council, Sunday Mass was said in Gainford Parish Church of St Mary’s probably the first time that a Catholic Mass had been celebrated there for some 400 years.

24th December
St Osmund’s re-opened in time for Christmas.

Litany of Loreto

Acknowledgements