Church History It was founded in 1886. It closed in 1976. Three of the stained glass windows, crafted by WIlliam Morris, are now in Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver. See Window 34 in the description of windows at the cathedral.
Saint James the Less, Saint Andrew, Saint Bartholomew WINDOW 34: THREE OF CHRIST’S DISCIPLES Designed by J.H. Dearle derived from previous designs by William Morris and Edmund Burne-Jones Manufacturer: Morris & Company, London, England These windows are located in the vestibule on the lower level, at the office entrance off Burrard Street and were crafted by the famous William Morris company of London, England in 1905, and are extremely well known in stained glass and museum circles. They came to the Cathedral in 1985. Saint James the Less. He is said to have been related to Christ, and he became the head of the Church in Jerusalem. He was believed to have been beaten to death with a fuller’s bat (a clothmaking tool) after being thrown from the pinnacle of the temple. His usual emblem is a fuller’s club. Saint Andrew. He was the brother of Simon Peter, as one of the Twelve, Andrew was admitted to the closest familiarity with Jesus during his public life; he was present at the Last Supper; beheld the Christ; witnessed the Ascension; and helped, amid threats and persecution, to establish the Faith in Palestine. Apart from his presence during the pivotal events in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, very little else is known about him. He most certainly went out and preached to the Nations like the other disciples but no details are known, except that it is generally agreed that he was crucified and that he was bound, not nailed, to the cross, in order to prolong his sufferings. The cross on which he suffered is commonly held to have been an X-shaped cross, now known as St. Andrew’s Cross, though the evidence for this view seems to be no older than the fourteenth century. Saint Bartholomew. One of the first disciples of Jesus, and probably the person known as“Nathaniel” in St. John’s Gospel.After the crucifixion and resurrection he is thought to have taught Christianity in the part of the world now known as India where, it is said, he had a copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew in Hebrew. Ancient tradition says that Bartholomew was skinned alive and crucified in Armenia where he was attempting to bring Christianity to that nation. His emblem, which he holds in his righthand in this depiction, is a flaying knife.The Saint Bartholomew and Saint Andrew windows were bought by the Cathedral with a gift from a former parishioner in memory of his wife. The Saint James window is on loan from the Vancouver Museum. All three windows were repaired, releaded and combined in a wooden frame into the three-light window we see today. This repair and conservation was made possible by a gift from another parishioner. They were originally part of a series of six two-light windows in the church of St. John, Cloughfold, Rawtenstall, Lancashire and are commonly referred to as the “Cloughfold Glass.”The three are typical of glass done after the deaths of William Morris (1896) and Edmund Burne-Jones(1898); they are based on their cartoons with details simplified and the overall image softened and flattened.The St. Bartholomew image is derivative of an 1865Morris design and the head in this depiction retains the 1860’s hair and beard style. In fact the face of St. Bartholomew looks very much like Morris himself.The St. Andrew figure is based on a series of four Edmund Burne-Jones designs, the first one dating back to 1876, and the St. James the Less image is the fifth of five variations based on a Burne-Jones original 1875 design for the parish church at Coatbridge, Lancashire.In 1993 the windows were “borrowed” and sent on a trip across Canada where they were part of a major exhibit of Arts and Crafts by William Morris and his circle from Canadian Collections at the Art Gallery Of Ontario in Toronto.
The new church was to be built of stone in the Decorated Style of English Gothic Architecture with a tower and spire and to seat 450 people at an estimated cost of £5,300. The corner stone was laid by Mrs. G. H. Rushton on 27th April 1889. A new parish was formed out of the parishes of St Mary's Rawtenstall, St Nicholas Newchurch and St James the Great Waterfoot. On the 13th June 1890, the church being completed, but without the tower and spire, was consecrated and dedicated by James Moorhouse D.D., the Lord Bishop of Manchester, with Rev. Ezra Holliday becoming the first Vicar. The Church was served by the clergy of Newchurch from the summer of 1972 and became a joint benefice with St Nicholas on the 1st June 1973. The Church closed its doors in 1976.