Church of St Mark Glodwick Road, Glodwick, Oldham

• Foundation         25 April 1874
• Consecration      14 June 1876
• Closed               September 2019

St. Mark’s, GLODWICK, is an ecclesiastical parish formed May 30, 1876; the church, erected at a cost of upwards of £11,000, defrayed by the late Lieut.-Col. T. E. Lees, of Oldham, is an edifice of stone in the Early Decorated style, from the designs of Mr. John Wild, architect, of Oldham, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, organ chamber, vestry and a tower at the south-east angle with spire rising to a height of 144 feet, and containing a clock with four dials, carillon machine and a peel of 8 bells: the stained east window is a memorial to James Lees Esq. and also to the children of Lieut.-Colonel Lees, and the west window, presented in 1883 by Sir Elliott Lees bart. is a memorial to his father Lieut.-Col. Thomas Evans Lees, d. 1879: two stained glass windows have been placed in the north aisle, one by Mrs. Thomas Evans Lees and Sir Elliott Lees bart. as a memorial to Charles Turnbull Esq. the other by J. S. Dronsfield Esq. in memory of his youngest daughter: the chancel has sedilia, a credence table and a reredos of encaustic tiles, the centre panel representing the four Evangelists: the pulpit and font are of Caen stone: there are about 700 sittings, of which 350 are free. The register dates from the year 1876. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £400, with residence, in the gift of five trustees, and held since 1876 by the Rev. George John Watts M.A. of Corpus Christy college, Cambridge and LL.D, of Edinburgh University; the parsonage is a substantial building of stone, in the Gothic style, and cost upwards of £2,000. [Kelly's Directory of Lancashire (1905)

OLDHAM. — The foundation-stones of a new church and schools at Glodwick, Oldham, have been laid. The church, which is to be named St. Mark, will cost about £7,000, and it is being erected at the sole cost of Lieutenant-Colonel Lees; while the expense of the school building, over £1,600, will be met by Mr. James Collinge. [Builder 27 June 1874 page 549]

OLDHAM.—Church and School Extension —The foundation stones of a new church and school have been laid at Glodwick, Oldham. The church, which is to be erected at the sole cost of Lieutenant-Colonel Lees, and dedicated to St. Mark, will accommodate 700 people. It will be in the Gothic style of architecture, and will cost £7,000, exclusive of the site, which is also given by Lieutenant-Colonel Lees. The school, which is being erected at the cost of Mr James Collinge, is calculated to hold about 400 children. It will adjoin the new church. [British Architect 15 May 1874 page 316]

CONSECRATION OF ST MARK’S CHURCH, OLDHAM – On Wednesday St Mark’s Church, Glodwick, Oldham, was consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester. The church has been erected at the sole cost of Lieutenant-Colonel Lees, who has paid the sum of £3,000 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners as an endowment for the same. There are 618 sittings in the church, half of which are intended to be appropriated, and the other half free and unappropriated. The cost of the church has been almost £10,000, and the living will be in the gift of Lieutenant-Colonel Lees, and Messrs James Collinge, James Knowles and E W Wrigley, their heirs and assignees, for ever. Adjoining the church is a school, built of stone, erected at the cost of Mr James Collinge. [Manchester Courier 17 June 1876 page 2]

Yesterday the Bishop of Manchester consecrated St Mark’s Church, Glodwick, Oldham. The church has been built by Lieutenant Colonel Lees, at a cost of £11,000. It is a handsome structure in the early English decorative style. The spire is 48 yards high, and contains a clock and a peal of eight bells. The church will seat about 700 people. The schools, which have been built by Mr James Collinge, have cost £1,700. [Manchester Guardian 15 June 1876 page 5]

St. Mark's Church, Glodwick, Oldham, has just been consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester. The church, which has been built by Lieut.-Col. Lees, at a cost of £11,000, is designed in the Early English style. It has a spire 144ft. high, in the tower of which are a clock and peal of bells. The church will seat 700 people, and connected with it are schools, erected at a cost of £1,700. [Building News 30 June 1876 page 690]

OLDHAM - A new clock, chimes, and carillons have just been fitted up in the tower of St. Mark’s Church, Glodwick, Oldham, by Messrs. Gillett & Bland, of Croydon. The clock strikes the hours upon a bell of about 8 cwt., and chimes the celebrated St. Mary’s, of Cambridge, chimes every quarter of an hour on four other bells, and shows the time upon four 4 ft. 8 in. skeleton iron dials, glazed with opal glass for illumination. The carillon or chiming machine is placed in the chamber below the clock, to which it is connected by a wire for the purpose of letting off the tunes at the proper intervals. It plays fourteen tunes on eight bells, - a fresh tune every day for fourteen days. Each tune is played three times over every three hours, at six, nine, three, and twelve o’clock day and night, the change of tune taking place at midnight, by a self-acting arrangement. The machine also has a barrel pricked with changes similar to ringing a peal, which is used automatically for the services of the church on Sundays, rendering the employment of ringers unnecessary. [Builder 7 October 1876 page 980]

Reference        Kelly's Directory of Lancashire (1905)
Reference        Builder 27 June 1874 page 549 – foundation stone
Reference        British Architect 15 May 1874 page 316 – foundation stone
Reference        Manchester Courier 27 April 1874 page 6 – foundation stone
Reference        Manchester Evening News 27 April 1874 page 2 – foundation stone
Reference        Manchester Courier 17 June 1876 page 2 – consecration
Reference        Illustrated London News 24 June 1876