Short History of St John's Church in Broadstone
Sunday services were held in Broadstone School from 1872 as there was no Church at that time. In 1888 the church was built, thanks to the generosity of Canon Dawson Damer, the then Vicar of Canford who gave the land and built the chancel, Lord Wimborne, who gave the money to build the rest of the Church and Mrs. Dawson Damer, the wife of the Vicar of Canford, who gave the Parsonage and garden. At this time Broadstone fell within the parish of Canford Magna, largely because that was an ancient parish compared with Broadstone which scarcely existed before the arrival of the railway in the 1870’s.
The Church was dedicated on St. John the Baptist’s Day, 24th June, 1888 by Bishop Wordsworth. The first Curate in Charge was Rev. E. C. Hawkes whose salary was £90 a year. Mrs. Dawson Damer died in February 1905.She had been a most generous benefactor to the Church and left a further £10,000 in her will. The next major event was the creation of Broadstone as a Parish in its own right in 1906. By now the population had risen to 2000 approximately.
The Church and its parishioners had to deal with changes during the Great War; either the troops encamped in the neighbourhood, the calling up of large numbers of men for war service or, sadly, the news of deaths from the front, the sea or hospitals where wounded men had died. There is a west window, dedicated to the dead of the Great War, installed soon after 1920. In the chancel hang two boards commemorating the dead of both World Wars. It is the custom of the Vicar to read the names of all these deceased on Remembrance Sunday.
A number of changes have taken place over the years, a north aisle being added in 1909 and various items being given to the Church by generous donors, quite often in remembrance of relatives who had died, particularly in the Great War. In more recent times a generous and anonymous donation allowed the building of a parish office and a ramp and toilet for the disabled.
At the time of writing [2007] the population of Broadstone is 16,000 or thereabouts.
Indubitably there will be further changes to the fabric of the Church and it is hoped that these may be recorded on this page. Should the author have made any glaring mistakes or omissions, it would be appreciated if these could be brought to the notice of the Church.
From the Parish magazine January 1921
The Memorial Window Committee met last month and considered the question of a memorial in the Church with the names of all the men of the Parish who died in the Great War. The Artist who painted the Memorial Window was approached and asked for an estimate. He quoted prices for brass, pewter and wood, and the Committee decided on an oak tablet with the names carved upon it and coloured or gilt. Mr. Martin Travers says, " I usually do tablets of this description in painted and gilt wood, as they thus look rich and give colour to a building, and cost no more, if as much as metal ones. The objection is raised that they are less durable, but painted wood has lasted in our old Churches for five hundred years and more, and the only damage they have suffered is wilful. As to fire; there would probably be time to take a wooden tablet down, whereas a metal one screwed into the wall stands little chance, buckling hopelessly when it gets hot and has water thrown over it." He estimates the cost at £33. The Committee discussed what names should go upon the list, and decided to act upon this principle, namely to include those who had actually resided in Broadstone, together with the husbands, brothers and sons of inhabitants, but no relatives more remote than these. We hope that nobody will be offended at this decision of the Committee, as naturally they must make a rule of some sort, in order to treat everybody alike. The order for the Tablet will not be given until it is seen whether subscriptions are coming in well, as an indication that the Memorial is really wanted by the people of the Parish. Subscrip¬tions will not be canvassed for.
June 1921
A design for the Memorial tablet has been received from Mr Martin Travers, and will be considered by the Committee as soon as is possible. It is hoped to put the work in hand without delay, now that the greater part of the money has been received.
September 1921
The War Memorial Tablet was dedicated by the Vicar on Sunday August 21st at 6.30pm.
The tablet is the work of Martin Travers, of Fulham, who designed and executed the memorial window in the church last year. The tablet is enclosed in an antique gold frame with the names of the fallen heroes painted in gold on a black ground. The inscription and names are as follows:-
“ To the glory of God and in grateful memory of the men in this parish who gave their lives in the service of their country:-
NAMES OF THE MEN
John Robert Allen 1883 - 1914
Sidney C Allen 1882 - 1914
Wilfred Albert Bascombe 1897 - 1916
Arthur Willie Beament 1882 - 1917
Ernest Edward Beaney 1893 - 1918
Denys John Bressey 1898 – 1917
Francis Samuel Brown 1880 - 1918
Harold Henry Brown
George Carter 1898 - 1917
John Laws Carter 1896 - 1918
Robert Cassidy M.M. 1892 - 1918
Cyril William Coles 1892 - 1916
Douglas Eric John Cooper 1894 - 1916
Albert Edward Dyer 1888 – 1917
Herbert Elsworth 1887 - 1916
Arthur Charles Fall 1889 - 1918
Victor Frederick John Fry 1895 - 1915
Victor William Henry Gillingham 1892 – 1918
Stanley Griffin 1893 – 1917
Albert Richard Hart 1888 - 1917
Edward Clifford Frank Hart 1891 - 1916
Thomas Hoare 1884 – 1916
George Minchin Hume 1897 - 1915
Edmund Morton Mansel-Pleydell 1887 – 1915
Hamilton De Beauvoir Nelson
Alfred James Newman 1889 - 1916
Francis Louis Northway 1874 - 1914
Edward C Pike 1889 – 1915
Albert Reginald Mark Pond 1898 – 1918
John William Pyper Died 1915
Percy Walter Rendle 1885 - 1918
Charles Maxwell Stevens Died 1917
Charles James Trowbridge 1900-1918
Noel Veder Wallis 1882 - 1917
Harold White 1892 - 1917
Thomas I Ward Wilson Mc 1883 - 1916
Turle Barber Wilson 1891 - 1918
Hugh Francis Wyldbore-Smith 1869 - 1919
Killed In Action 1939 – 1945
Carl Christian Andreasen 1917 – 1942
R J Bascombe
Dennis Alfred James Brown 1921 - 1939
Charles Arthur Cotterill 1915 – 1942
Charles J Crumpler 1915 – 1945
D Davies
Reginald Clare Hastings D'oyly Died 1941
Thomas Smith Freeston 1918 – 1944
William John Fletcher Jarmain 1911 – 1944
John Robert James Norman Jay 1905 – 1940
Sidney Kearley 1908 - 1943
W. B. Mclellan
Ernest Sydney Frank Mccomish 1915 – 1941
Reginald William Charles Mccomish 1908 – 1942
Frank William John Myles Died 1941
J Nelson
William Phillips
Francis Palmer Samborne 1913 - 1943
J. Samborne 1919 – 1940
James Walter Tom Strange 1917 - 1939
Wilfred Julian Tyndale-Biscoe Died 1944
J Waterman
Richard Brinsley Watkins 1921 – 1943
Killed By Enemy Action 1939 – 1945
Ellen Margaretta Bankes
John Spencer Coates
Flora Oliphant Coates
Gwendoline Vera Hatcher Nee Cobb
E G Smith
Reginald Albert Dash Sparkes
Below are the words "Jesu Mercy" with the cross of St George on a silver ground.
War Memorial Tablet (£33 required).
Contributions received for the tablet were as follows :
Balance from Window Fund £1 1s. 6d.;
Sale of old glass, £1 ;
Mr. Northway, £3;
Anon., 3/-;
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, 10/-;
Mr. Pugh, 10/-;
Mrs. Wyldbore Smith, £1.
Mrs Hart and family 10/-;
Mr A Kilburn £1;
Mr And Mrs Gush £10/- ;
Mrs Cassidy 10/- ;
Anon 10/- ;
Mr & Mrs. Kilburn £5 ;
Vicar 10/- ;
Anon 10/- ;
Mrs F Brown 5/- ;
Mr & Mrs A Willis 10/6 ;
Mr & Mrs Trowbridge 10/- ;
Mrs Wallis 2/6 ;
Mrs Wyldbore-Smith [2nd donation] £1 ;
Miss White 10/- ;
Miss D White 10/-;
Miss Watkins 10/- ;
Nurse Griffin 5/- ;
Anon 10/- ;
Cadet H D Wyldbore-Smith R N 10/- ;
Anon 10/- ;
Anon 2/6 ;
Miss Kathleen Wyldbore-Smith 10/- ;
Mrs Wyldbore-Smith [3rd donation] £1 ;
Mr Gribbell £1. 1s ;
Miss Oakley 10/- ;
Mr & Mrs Carter and family 10/- ;
Mr & Mrs A Newman and family £1. 1s ;
Miss Sybil Wyldbore-Smith 10/- ;
Mr WH Scutt 5/- ;
Mrs Wallis [2nd donation] 2/6 ;
Total £30. 7s. 6d.