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The Church of St John the Evangelist Abram 1838 - 2007
A little bit of the history …………..
There has been a Church of England church building in Abram since 1838; prior to this it formed part of the parish of Wigan. The present building was consecrated in 1937, replacing an earlier church which had become unsafe, due to mining subsidence. An old parish magazine gives the following account of the building of the first parish church.
It had been felt a church was needed in the scattered township of Abram for some time. It was determined by Sir Henry Gunning, then Rector of Wigan, and some leading landowners, to take steps to have a church built in Abram. The following were chosen to form a committee: Sir Henry Gunning, Rector of Wigan; Revd E Sibson of Ashton and Revd E Hill; J H Kearsley Esq. MP of Higher Hall, Abram; J Whitley Esq., Brookside; A Ackers Esq. Bickershaw Hall; J Lord Esq. Standish Hall; R Worsley Esq. Golborne Hall; W Ince Anderton Esq. Euxton Hall and Messrs Gerrard Marsden and Catterall Leach. To proceed with this building the bricks were given by T Leigh of the Hermitage Winwick. The building cost approximately £2000 out of which sum The Church Diocesan Society gave £350, The Incorporated Society £200 and Mr Bevan £500. Along with these people Mrs E Bevan of Laurel House, Lowton on her death bequeathed the sum of £500 towards the building and £200 towards the endowment.
The first stone was laid on the 9th March 1836 by Sir Henry Gunning and on Saturday 9th June 1838 the building was consecrated by the then Lord Bishop of Chester and dedicated to St John the Evangelist.
In 1907 the bell which was placed on the roof over the front porch fell down. A Mr John Smith JP of Crankwood Road, Abram is quoted as saying that something would have to be done as “The Church was falling down round our heads!” The following is an extract from a meeting held in Abram Vicarage 1907:
“On Friday afternoon, July 19th 1907 the Bishop of Liverpool Mr J H A Whitley, JP; Mr H E Johnson JP and Mr John Smith JP met in my study to consider the possibility of building a new Parish Church to replace the present building which is :
a) Badly cracked and otherwise in a deplorable condition
b) Although only seventy-one years old it is not worth repairing as it is a cheaply built church and the materials used were very poor.
c) It is too small for present use
The meeting was unanimous in thinking a new Church is necessary; it was decided to form as strong a committee as possible to carry out the work.
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