CHARNEY HALL St. Paul’s Church and School Memorials


Further to a visit to St. Paul’s Church, Grange-over-Sands I post photographs of the interior together with the war memorials associated with Charney Hall.

There is no point in reiterating Louis’s magnificent article on Charney Hall and its Memorial Hall and I thoroughly recommend reading this and include the link below:


http://cumbrianwarmemorials.blogspot.com/search?q=Charney+Hall%2C+Grange-over-Sands


The verdict is still open regarding the location of any plaque commemorating the 22 old boys who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War which may/may not have been displayed in the Memorial Hall. I do, like many others, remember sign written lists of boys who attained scholarships to public schools. However I have not seen any evidence of a plaque on the internet which does not make sense. Having taken the trouble and cost to erect a building it seems nonsensical that the School did not record those who fell in the traditional manner. 


St. Paul’s must be congratulated for maintaining the memorials in such good condition.


Perhaps the families of old boys who are aware of their loss during the 1914-18 hostilities could eventually provide names in the ‘Comments’ of this post so that a commemorative list can be included in this post?


The church interior looks fresher than I remember it. Unlike some churches there is a surprising impression of light which is very welcome and may have something to do with the comparatively young age of the building and its orientation overlooking Morecambe Bay. Some pews have been removed in the western end of the south aisle to provide a social area in line with current thinking.


THE INTERIOR


View towards the Chancel and East End

View from Charney Hall’s North Aisle towards the Chancel - Canon H A Thompson (1948-62) in attendance!

The South Aisle with Social Area

THE MEMORIALS


Charney Hall WW2 Memorial Plaque

Charney Hall Boer War Memorial

George Podmore Memorial

Matilda Podmore Memorial

Eric Podmore Memorial

Major Hubert Podmore Memorial

THE INCUMBENTS

Record of St Paul’s Incumbents from 1853 onwards
Reverends H A Thompson (1948-1962) and S M Davies (1962-1973) were in post in the last 20 years of Charney Hall School 





















































 

Comments

Tilak Paul said…
Morning Keith These are wonderful pictures of the interior of the Church which all Old Boys will remember . I also always recollect the Sunday Morning walk down to the Chuch and walk back to the School. In my time from memory I think we were given "Sixpence" each for the Collection . Also on Remembrance Sunday we were each given Poppies to wear. The Vicar during my time always suggested that John Bunyan Hymn "To be a Pilgrim" was a favourite for Charney Hall Pupils which we were supposed to sing with gusto! Best wishes Tilak
4 February 2022 at 08:02
Andrew Holmes-Higgin said…
Another great posting! As for the location at Charney of a plaque listing the names of those who fell in the wars, I do remember seeing one somewhere and at first thought it was in the Memorial Hall which would make sense, but on second thought I THINK it was actually in the new extension which contained the upstairs classrooms and the changing rooms. In my mind I see it on the wall on the right side, when climbing the steps up past the gym towards the upstairs classrooms. There was a landing which contained a glass door out on to The Field, and somewhere in that area was the plaque, which I believe looked a lot like the one at the top of your "Memorials" section. Maybe it is the same one and was moved there when the school was demolished? Or perhaps my mind is playing tricks with me...
4 February 2022 at 18:42
john cranna said…
I seem to remember someone trying to invent a game to get through the interminably boring sermons that seemed to go on for a whole month by trying to score a cricket match. If the vicar said someone 'went forth in the wilderness' then you scored four, if he raised his finger to make a point, you were out and if he raised both his hands to heaven and cried 'Halleluiah' then you scored 6!!!
12 February 2022 at 18:59
john cranna said…
And Andrew - you're right, the memorial for those who died in WWII were on plaque by steps leading out to cricket pitch. But the question still unanswered is about a plaque or list of those who fell in WWI.
12 February 2022 at 19:02
Tilak Paul said…
Hello Andrew and John These are great postings and I have to applaud your memories. As I sometimes have trouble remembering what I undertook yesterday its wonderful that you two can remember places and happenings and plaques over 50 years ago! I especially love the story of the game invented to keep us amused during the sermons! Tilak
15 February 2022 at 07:46
john cranna said…
I'm in Grange for a six night break to explore the Lakes but also to mooch around the school site and town. Yesterday I went to St Paul's and looked at all the plaques on the wall and it was so interesting to have ones about Podmores, the WWII dead and even the Boer war dead but nothing about WWI except for Podmore's son. I retreated after a short while as there was a wedding rehearsal about to happen. But it reminds me of Sundays having bullet hard build egg for breakfast and then everyone being given a sixpence to put in the collecting trays as they got handed around during the last hymn. I wondered if the trays I saw were the same we used in the 60s?!!
1 October 2022 at 07:21
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