| John Stowell Holy Trinity Church Washington Village Guide and Historian |
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| John Stowell: church guide and historian |
| John Stowell was church guide and historian at the Holy Trinity Church, Washington Village, Tyne and Wear, for twelve years. In the photo he is pictured in the grounds of the Washington Old Hall, the ancestral home of George Washington, the First President of the United States of America. The Old Hall is built into the south side of the hill upon which the Village Church stands. Hence the local name for the Holy Trinity Church ... the Church on the Hill. In the background of this photo is Washington House, locally known as Dame Margaret's Home, built in 1854. This was the home of Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell. Gertrude Bell, of Lawrence of Arabia fame, was his grand-daughter. The bird bath to John's left was featured in one of Martha Grimes' novels, "Jerusalem Inn". There are always cats to be seen around the Old hall, and there was one curled up asleep inside when Martha Grimes visited. |
| *** All photographs are courtesy of and copyright of John Stowell *** |
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| John took this photo of the Washington Village Church one Sunday morning just before the service. It captures the hill upon which the church sits, beautifully. Some old gravestones, covered in green moss, can also be seen. Many old churches in Britain and Europe are built on Celtic sites, often on hills, and this was no exception. John will now take us on a tour of the inside of the church. |
| The Holy Trinity Church, Washington Village. Locally known as "The Church on the Hill" it was opened in May 1833. |
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| The Memorial Windows above the altar. |
| As you enter the church your eyes are immediately attracted to the colourful 1914-18 Memorial Windows above the altar. The figures on the left hand side window include: St. Oswald: First Saxon King of Northumbria St. Alban: a Roman soldier, and the first British Saint Simon de Mountford: he led the Barons against Henry III Philip Sydney: a soldier poet in the service of Elizabeth I General Gordon: killed in the Siege of Khartoum Florence Nightingale: the Lady of the Lamp The figures on the right hand side window include: St. Alban, Sir Henry lawrence, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Admiral Collingwood and Nurse Edith Cavell |
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| The 12th century Font in the George Washington Corner |
| Now looking to your right as you enter the church you will see the George Washington Corner. His early ancestors would have been baptized at this same 12th Century Font in the old Anglo Saxon Church. When the old church was pulled down the font was thrown out. Years later it was found being used as a cattle trough, and was restored to the church by Julius Shadwell, the rector, in 1865. The picture of George Washington was presented to the Church by Frederick Hill in 1932. The tombs of the de Wessington Family were also lost when the old church was pulled down. The vaults must have been caving in, as the walls were out of line and considered dangerous. Pillars were going to be put in, but this wasn't thought to be worth while. When the old church was pulled down, it is assumed that some of the rubble was used to fill in the vaults. Old flagstones and tomb covers for the vaults were used to flag the nave. |
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| Alexander de Biddick |
| This 13th century efigy, now fixed to one of the church walls, is of a priest and is inscribed " Hic iacet Alexander de Biddick". The de Biddicks were a family branch of the Barons de Hylton, whose castle lies only about three miles away from Washington Village. The grave cover lay in the church yard for several hundred years before it disappeared. Eventually it was rediscovered when the old rectory building was demolished in 1962. The efigy was found, face down, serving as a window sill. |
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| The Commemorative Plaque for Bryan and Thomas Broughton. They were sons of the Reverend Bryan Sneyd Broughton, Rector of Washington. |
| Audrey Fletcher was able to help me out with further details concerning the tragic drownings of Bryan and Thomas Broughton in New Zealand. I am pleased to be able to help you with your query about the Broughton brothers. However my information about Bryan, the elder brother who drowned in New Zealand waters, is slightly different to what you suggested in that he was drowned in 1862, (not 1838) only one year before his brother Thomas. It sounds like it was a bit of a local boating accident in squawly weather. Thomas would probably have heard about his older brother's death when he was in port at Sydney Harbour in January 1863. Here is the information I have about the two brothers: On April 21st 1862, Bryan Sneyd Herbert Broughton aged 24, was drowned in a heavy squall between Picton and Omahau Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand. He was the second son of the late Rev Bryan Sneyd Broughton, Rector of Washington, in the County of Durham. HMS Orpheus was a war ship, which was built at Chatham Dockyard and commissioned in 1861. Captained by William Farquharson Burnett the warship sailed for Sydney and then on to New Zealand to help in the fight against the Maoris in the Second Maori War. It is possible that Thomas Broughton heard of his older brother�s death while he was in Sydney. One week after setting sail from Sydney, the Orpheus was on its approach into Manukau Harbour. It was February 7th 1863 and a clear morning. Unfortunately however, the ship�s charts were outdated and semaphore signals from the shore were not heeded. Frederick Butler, who was on board the Orpheus under arrest for desertion, prompted a change of course, but his intervention came too late. The warship floundered in the treacherous waters. Only 69 men, of a crew of 258, survived. Thomas Henry Broughton, son of a former rector of Holy Trinity Church, Washington Village, was drowned in the disaster on the 7th February 1863. He was born in Washington about 1845, and was a midshipman in the Royal Navy. He was only 18 years old when he died. |
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| Coat of Arms recorded in glass windows |
| On the left can be seen the Coat of Arms of the Washington Family, from which it is believed that the "Stars and Stripes" of the American Flag are derived. It was presented by Washington Family Descendents in the USA, in 1961. On the right is the crest of the Washington Development Corporation, derived from the heraldry of the de Wessington Family. It was presented in 1980. |
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| The organ, which looks not unlike a throne, was restored in 1981. |
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| Coats of Arms recorded on the Choir Stalls 1937-1939 |
| The Coats of Arms displayed on the Choir Stalls are those of former Rectors of the Holy Trinity Church. William Delamarche 1291 Christopher Barnes 1534 Henry Ewbank 1583 george Talbot 1728 Wadham Chandler 1733 Henry Bland 1735 Charles Egerton 1786 |
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| More Coats of Arms recorded on the Choir Stalls |
| The Coats of Arms displayed on these Choir Stalls are also those of former Rectors of the Holy Trinity Church. Henry Percival 1826 Sneyd Broughton 1837 The Hon. Lewis Denham 1848 Edward Gambier Pym 1861 Julius Shadwell 1865 R F Molesworth 1875 John Lomax 1897 |
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| Coats of Arms of the Lawson, Musgrave and Shaftoe Families. In the late 17th and early 18th Centuries, Washington was divided up among these families. However they held The Old Hall in joint ownership. |
| Coats of Arms of Bell and Newall Industrialists |
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| Coat of Arms of the Washington Family on the left |
| I hope that you have enjoyed your tour around the Holy Trinity Church at Washington Village, and that you have gained a lot of knowledge and insight from the experience. Please call again. John Stowell |
| Web page designed by Audrey Fletcher 2007 |
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| John Stowell and his wife Joyce |