Church Stone Laying.

CHURCH STONE LAYING .

ON Tuesday afternoon , 3 rd inst ., the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the new church of Bt . Andrew ' s , Malmesbury Park , Bournemouth , was performed with Masonic rites by Bro . W . W . Beach , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master of Hants and the Isle of Wight .

The new church will fill an important want in this eastern end of the parish of Holy Trinity . The rapid growth of Malmesbury Park attracted the attention of the Dean of Windsor when he was vicar of Holy Trinity Church , and before he left Bournemouth the site for a new church had been given by the

late Earl of Malmesbury , and a considerable sum of money collected . The present vicar took up the work on his arrival in Bournemouth , and finding that it was urgently necessary to provide some accommodation at once , it was decided to erect a chancel and a temporary brick nave to accommodate about 400 persons .

The foundation stone of the chancel was laid by Lady Malmesbury on 13 th October 1891 , and in May of the following year the church was opened for divine worship , and was in use from that date until June of the present year . Then the temporary nave was taken down and re-erected on a site adjoining the church , as

a parish hall , as the Committee had felc encouraged by some generous subscriptions to undertake the completion of the church . The tender of Messrs . Collins and Godfrey , of Tewkesbury , waa accepted for the nave . The amount of the contract was £ 4 , 651 . Towards this sum the Committee have received £ 2 , 661 , and have

secured promises of £ 280 . The church is intended as a memorial to the late Dr . Burslem , one of the founders of the parish of Holy Trinity . It contains , however , other memorials . Mrs . La Motte has given the organ as a memorial to her son , and a handsome oak reredos in memory of her daughter . Mrs . Clarke has

contributed £ 600 to the cost of the nave in memory of her husband . The lectern was the gift of the Misses Dixon , and the pulpit was given by the late Mrs . Beaumont Pease . Canon Twells has kindly promised a font for the new church , and Miss Twells has also promised communion plate .

The architects of the new church are Messrs . Chatwin ( Birmingham ) and S . Tugwell ( Bournemouth ) , the latter being the successor to the lato Mr . Douglas Stewart . The following is a description of the building , which will form a very handsome architectural addition to the neighbourhood when completed : —

The nave of the Church is planned with north and south aisles , each with its separate porch , which also communicates with the rest of the building . Central with the nave and at its western end is shown a baptistry , flanked at its angles with buttresses , which , with a steeply pitched roof , will form a striking feature on

the west elevation . The nave measures eighty feet long and twenty-five feet wide , and is separated from the aisles by four arches , which carry the clerestory , and the whole is spanned throughout its length by a massive open timber roof . The aisles are eleven feet wide , and broaden out at their eastern end to a width of eighteen feet . The church is eminently adapted

for congregational worship , the pulpit and the reading desk controlling every portion of the building . The style adopted is based upon English Gothic of the decorated period . The walls are of Purbeck stone with Bath stone finishings . There is a red tile roof . The total seatings , exclusive of the clergy and the choir , will be for 600 people .

There was a large gathering in the vicinity of the new church at the stone laying . The Provincial Grand Master was accompanied by Bro . Edgar Goble Deputy Provincial Grand Master Past Grand Sword Bearer England , and was supported by a large number of present and past Officers of the Province . The Brethren present from the local Lodges , Hengist , Horsa ,

Boscombe , and New Forest , numbered about 100 . The Masonic procession was headed by the Tylers of 2158 and 2208 with drawn swords , then following the Brethren in the usual order of precedence . The Volume of the Sacred Law was borne by four Lewises ( Masters C . Hodges , F . Brazier , H . S . Knight , and Harold Street ) , and Bro . Hope ( Hengist Ledge ) officiated as Entered Apprentice , and bore the cement .

The service opened with the hymn , " O God our help in ages past , " after which Canon Eliot welcomed the Masonic Brethren , and alluded to the need of a new church in that locality , owing to the wonderful increase in the population . Bournemouth was not like other

large towns m the North and Midlands . They had no industries such as Manchester and Bradford ; but people came there for pleasure and for health , and there was a large proportion of the artizan class , who came in search of work . A good many of the latter class settled down in Malmesbury Park , and it was to meet

the spiritual wants of this class that they were beginning that church . They in Bournemouth did not rely on the benefactions of cheir ancestors , but on the liberality aud piety of those who lived in the present day . In the parish of Holy Trinity they had already erected two churches , three parsonages , and two sets of schools , aud hoped they would soon be able to celebrate the

Church Stone Laying.

completion of the church which they were beginning that day . In the name of the Committee he asked the Right Worshipful the Provincial Grand Master to lay the foundation stone of the church .

The choir next sang the " Te Deum , " and the Provincial Grand Chaplain offered the customary prayer . Mrs . Roberts Thompson , on behalf of the Church Building Committee , then presented the Provincial Grand Master with a silver trowel , which bore the following inscription :

Presented to W . W . B . BEACH , ESQ ., M . P ., on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of St . Andrew's , Malmesbury Park , Bournemouth . October 3 rd , 1899 .

The Provincial Grand Secretary read aloud the inscription on the foundation stone , as follows :

This stone was laid with Masonic ceremony by W . W . B . BEACH , ESQ ., M . P ., Provincial Grand Master of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , assisted by his Officers and Brethren . October 3 rd , 1899 .

The interesting and quaint ceremony of the ancient Craft then followed . In a cavity in the stone a glass jar was placed containing coins of the period and an inscription on parchment . The Prov . G . M . spread the cement and declared the stone to be

plumb , square and level . Corn , oil and wine were poured on it , and Bro . Beach gave a short congratulatory address . Mr . S . Tugwell , the Architect , then presented the plans to the Prov . G . M ., who examined and returned them with a desire that he would

proceed to complete the work without loss of time . During the closing hymn , " Angels voices ever singing , " an offertory waa taken , and the proceedings closed with prayer and the singing of the National Anthem .

After the ceremony , lunch was held in the School room adjoining , at which Cauon Eliot presided . After full justice had been done to an excellent cold repast , provided by Mr . J . P . Stone , confectioner , a brief toast list followed .

The Loyal toast was received with acclamation , after which the Chairman called on Major Maunsell to give fche toast of the Church , which he did in a few words . At the request of the Chairman , the oldest clergymen present , Mr . Maturin , Vicar of Lymington , responded . He said that he had been for sixty years

a minister of the Church of England , and for nearly fifty years Vicar of Lymington . As such he was happy to be present on such an occasion , because fche laying of fche foundation stone of a new church , and fche gradual unfolding of the work , was a beautiful thing to contemplate .

Canon Eliot next proposed the health of the Masonic Brethren , and warmly thanked them for attending and taking so large a share in that ceremony . Bro . Beach was present in a double capacity . First , in his capacity as Grand Master pf fche County of Hampshire and fche Isle of Wight , and also in the

capacity of one of the patrons of the living of Holy Trinity . He was responsible for his ( the Canon ' s ) presence in thafc parish . He thanked Mr . Beach heartily for the privilege and for his attendance . It was no easy thing to build a church . People little thought of the immense amount of trouble and anxiety that

followed its erection . It had been his lot to have something fco do with the building of more than one church . Ifc was some twenty years ago since the anxiety of raising funds to erect a church first rested on him , and he had for the third time attended a Masonic ceremony on the occasion of fche laying of

the foundation stone of a church . The first was twenty years ago , at the restoration of fche Parish Church at Aston , Birmingham , when the Provincial Grand Master for Warwick was present , with a considerable number of his Brethren , and in addition to the corn , the wine , and the oil of the Masonic ceremony , a local newspaper added that there was plenty of water ,

for it rained hard all day . The second occasion was at the stonelaying of St . John's Church , Boscombe . Canon Eliot referred to the great growth of that neighbourhood even since he came there , eight years ago , and to fche necessity for keeping pace in spiritual work wifch the increase in population that was laid on their shoulders .

The Provincial Grand Master , in response , thanked Canon Eliot heartily , and expressed the pleasure it had given him to be present . Though the Freemasons of the present day were not personally artisans , yefc they still took a deep interest in the work their predecessors loved , and in architecture , especially in the erection of churches , they wished to hand down to their children

the desire to carry on the good and useful work that had been handed down to them . Therefore , he and his Brethren had been only too happy to actend and carry out the work they had done thafc day . They hoped thafc fche work begun would be carried to a successful conclusion , to the honour and glory of the Great Architect of the Universe . Referring to what the Canon had said about him , he remarked that he esteemed it a privilege to