Laying Of The Memorial Stone Of Thornton New Church.

given by Jno . Stanhope , Esq ., for the purchase of a moiety of the manor . Again in 1802 , J . Scholefield Firth , Esq ., gave £ 200 , and thereby secured another £ 200 from the grant . And in 1821 , a final £ 200 was obtained from the Parliamentary

grant . And thus the benefice and the endowment remained , until , by the Bishop of Oxford ' s act , Thornton became a vicarage , and by the salutary management of Church property by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners , the living was raised , first

to £ 300 , and since then to £ 320 a year . Of the 1612 chapel , however , probably nothing remains except the East window , which consists of four lights , and is situated at the end of the South side of the chapel . Even this appears to

have been re-erected . The singular windows and doors on the South side are modern . The Registers furnish the dates of these and other erections . In 1720 , the seats were repaired and altered ; and it was resolved that those on the South side should

belong wholly to Thornton ; the middle row "from the chest , " to Allerton and Wilsden , alternately seat for seat ; and those on the North side to Thornton , Allerton , Wilsden , and Clayton . The chest here named is probable the old oak one now in the vestry , which bears the inscription : —

"Ex Dono Tym: Wads Worth De Breerley Gener: An: Dni 1685."

"EX DONO TYM : WADS WORTH DE BREERLEY GENER : AN : DNI 1685 . "

In 1747 a vestry was built ; and an entry made in the Register records , that Mr . Horton , then Lord of the Manor , was paid £ 10 for the site , which projected from the old burial ground . The Register records that at a vestry meeting in 1756

it was resolved that the roof should be taken off , the N . side wall taken down , the W . end wall pulled down to within a yard of the ground , and raised 6 yards from the floor , the S . and E . sides to be also pulled down and rebuilt of the same

height , with galleries on the N and W , the seats in which were to be sold . On the 9 th of May , 1759 , the Court of York granted a faculty to erect this gallery . At this time Thornton paid half the repairs ofthe chapel , Clayton , a fourth , and

Allerton two-thirds , and Wisden , one-third of the fourth part ; but the distribution of the Communion money was 9 d . to Clayton , and 6 d . each to Thornton , Denholme , Allerton and Wilsden . The following extract from the Registers shows that the Rev . Joseph Thwaites , who from 1754 to 1799 was curate here , developed the musical taste

which has long distinguished the neighbourhood : — "Nos . 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 are pews and seats reserved for the use of the above Mr . Thwaites as curate of Thornton chapel , and for his successors

for ever ; but he being desirous to promote psalmody in his congregation suffered a set of singers to occupy the said for a small yearly acknowledgment to preserve his claim and the claim of his successors for ever . "

The good result of this encouragement is shown by a repair of the pews in 1793 , and the erection of an East gallery for an organ . On fhe 26 th of June , 1818 , a faculty was obtained again to rebuild part of the chapel , and

reroof it with grey slate , and also to erect a cupola ; and the Register states that the rebuilding was the re-fronting of the south side ; whilst a board in the Church informs all intervening generations : —

" This Chapel repaired and Beautified , A . D . 1818 . The Rev . P . Bronte , A . B ., Minister . Joseph Robertshaw , Joseph Foster , John Hill , John Lockwood , and Tim : Riley , Church Wardens . "

The loyalty of these gentlemen is also evidenced by an emblazonment of the Royal Arms , with G . R . over them ; and underneath " Painted by Thos . Rembrandt Driver , Bradford , 1818 . " Mr . Bronte only held the living from 1815 to 1820 ,

during which period his gifted daughter Charlotte was born at the then parsonage house , which was returned in 1813 as fit for residence , but afterwards became unfit ; and was sold for £ 260 , and invested in Queen Anne ' s Bounty , and the present

vicarage purchased about 17 years ago . Mr . James in his Continuation of the History of Bradford says : — "The chapel bell is dated 1664 , and the font seems to be about the same period . " He evidently overlooked the fact that the latter bears on its sides the Latin inscription

Aq . YA PERF 1 CIT ADLA YACR TJM : A NNO D 1679 . There is in the church yard a more shapely squared pillar , called a font , but with a too shallow bowl at the top , ( query a sun dial ?) having incised on

three of its sides : —¦ MICHAEL BENTLEY , & JONAS DOBSON , Church Wardens , 1687—JERE JOWETT . JAMES HALL , and J . BOWERS .