The Parish Church of Saint Thomas 1872 - 1972
The whole content of this section dealing with the history of Moorside and St. Thomas' Church, has been reproduced from a booklet having the subject title, written by Reverend David Lawrance and published in 1972. Rev. Lawrence was the vicar at St. Thomas' from 1961 to 1974. A copy of the booklet was donated to the church by the late Mrs H Backhouse previously of 21 Alexandra Terrace, Moorside.
The items in THE ARCHIVES, dating back to 1879 and 1951 are reproduced with the permission of the Oldham Chronicle. There are also copies here of correspondence dated 1895 with William Mellodew in America, detailing a heated debate concerning ownership of the church's hand bells.
The Rev. Howard Gray, has been advised that this abbreviated information had proven to be a useful resource
to at least one local school. It was therefore felt appropriate that the whole of the publication should
be made available, to provide a fuller background of the church, it's origin and the quite recent history
of Moorside and Sholver.
No comment concerning Moorside or the history of the church could ever be made without reference to the Mellodew family, who were primarily responsible for the birth of the village. This indebtedness can be traced in every page of this part of the site.
All of the sections hold items of interest to anyone living in the area and in particular, those involved in both the church's activitities and the organisations associated with the church, such as the school, the Scouts and Guides, etc.
The Church's and the area's history stops at 1972, but it is hoped that if these pages are viewed by sufficient numbers of interested people, that there may be support for recording the history from 1972 to the current date. If you feel the effort involved in such an exercise would be worthwhile, please advise us.
