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Church windows and Cameron’s brewery
This page is taken from an article written by Liz Kluz for the Richmond, Hudswell, Downholme and Marske parish magazine1. It tells the story of the connections between St Edmund’s church and the Hartlepool brewery which is still going strong to this day. A complementary tale of the village’s associations with alcohol surrounds the Temperance Hotel elsewhere on this website.
“So how can you associate stained glass art with beer?” Liz is drawn into an unexpected and fascinating line of enquiry arising from some solitary time in the historic church at Marske. Time to stand and stare at the beautiful stained glass windows and appreciate the detail and craftsmanship led her to find a link to a philanthropic individual whose work was on Teesside but whose heart was in Marske. Of the windows, Liz says, “It is a is great privilege to have windows of such high quality in our simple little church and I’m rather ashamed that it has taken me so long to appreciate them.”
Shedding Light on St. Edmund’s
Isn’t it strange how it’s possible to see something for many years and yet not really see it?
Although I have been a member of the congregation at St. Edmund’s in Marske since 1987 it wasn’t until very recently, when I was arranging some flowers alone in church and in no particular hurry, that I noticed the stained glass windows properly for the first time. The low winter sun was shining through the double panelled window in the south wall highlighting the superb design and rich colours of the stained glass.
Designed and crafted by the Powell Brothers of Leeds in 1899, it depicts our patron saint Edmund holding a sheaf of arrows and a sword on the left hand side and Saint Thomas holding a carpenter’s square and a palm branch on the right. The sumptuous detail of the fabrics of their robes and the little flowers under their feet are very similar to some of the designs used by William Morris in his fabrics and tapestries. The window is dedicated to Reverend Thomas Robson, who was vicar between 1855 and 1879. (His daughter, Amy, had married the John Hency D’Arcy Hutton, brother of the owner of the Marske Estate, John Timothy.)
The delicate images are very reminiscent of the style of Ford Madox Brown, contemporary and business partner of William Morris, who produced designs for stained glass windows for their company – Morris, Faulkner and Co. which began in 1861. Charles and Albert Powell founded their stained glass studio at 30 Park Square, Leeds in 1872. The brothers worked mainly in the north of England and although they were best known for their stained glass and painted glass they also undertook other decorative commissions such as murals. St. Peter’s Church in Bramley, Leeds is fortunate to have several examples of their work as they were responsible for all the internal decoration there. St. Paul’s Church in Shipley also has examples of their wonderful stained glass.
The East Wall Window – Memorial, Light and Ale
The second window, in a similar style, is on the east wall behind the altar and is a memorial to John William Cameron who died in December 1896 at Marske Hall.
Who was John William Cameron
John William Cameron was born in 1841 at Kirby Stephen where he attended the Grammar School. By 1861 he was living at The Railway Hotel on The Bank in Barnard Castle where he served an apprenticeship in brewing under Peter Dent who was the innkeeper. He is noted on the census for that year as being a clerk so he was obviously learning that skill at the same time.
In 1852 a brewer called William Waldon, set up The Lion Brewery in West Hartlepool but he died two years later leaving his wife to take over the business until their son was of age. However, William junior was not interested in learning the trade of brewing beer, so, in 1865, John Cameron moved to West Hartlepool to take up his first position as brewer with the company.
In 1872 William Waldon Junior died and after a discussion with the trustees of the company John agreed to take over the brewery on a 21-year lease. Over the next ten years, he embarked on a programme of enlarging the premises, buying more land and putting up new buildings. In 1893 he bought the brewery outright from the Waldon family.
John’s brother, Watson Cameron, worked with him to develop the brewery using their own name …. Cameron. The brewery is still in the same place and continues to produce one of the best-known beers in the north of England.
During his time in Barnard Castle, John Cameron had joined the Volunteer Rifle Corps. and his interest in the military continued when he joined the Artillery Volunteers in West Hartlepool. By 1872 he was Sub Lieutenant, becoming Captain by 1874. In 1885, the Rifle and Artillery Volunteers amalgamated and he became Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Durham Volunteers.
In 1881 he married Emma Victoria Chapman and they made “Greenbank”‘ in West Hartlepool their home. Both John and his wife were known for their great kindness to the poor of Hartlepool. As well as running a very successful business and his work with the Durham Volunteers, during his career John Cameron became Alderman, Major and Town Commissioner for Hartlepool.
His connection with Marske becomes clearer from an item in the Leeds Mercury dated July 23rd, 1890 which states that “Colonel Cameron and Mr Austin have taken the shooting on the Marske Hall estate belonging to Mr J.T D’Arcy Hutton and Captain Mosenthal has taken a lease on The Hall”.
Presumably he was visiting Marske for the shooting season when he died. Notes made at the time of his death say “that Colonel J.W Cameron died at Marske Hall at 1 o’clock on Monday morning 28th December 1896 after being ill for some time. The deceased gentleman was 55 years of age and had been ailing for a considerable time, only having been out twice since he arrived at his shooting box”. His death certificate records that he had died of cancer.
The extent of the respect which John Cameron had gained over the years is obvious in the well-documented report of his funeral. On Thursday January 7th 1897, the day of his funeral, a special train left West Hartlepool bound for Richmond at 10.30am carrying members of the two Corporations of the Hartlepools, officers of the 4th Durham Volunteers, many private friends and members of all the public bodies of Hartlepool. Among the mourners there were three hundred members of the Durham Volunteers as well as many folk from Marske and Swaledale.
When they were all gathered, the funeral procession left Marske Hall headed, by a firing party of the 4th Durham Volunteers followed by a gun carriage, which had been sent from West Hartlepool, bearing the coffin covered with a Union Jack. Following behind the coffin came the Colonel’s charger.
The coffin was interred in the churchyard at Marske surrounded by a very large number of beautiful wreaths, a great tribute to a very popular man.
The memorial window was unveiled by The Bishop of Richmond and several clergy at the end of May in 1897. At the same time the new cemetery was consecrated in land north of the church2. According to notes taken at the time there was “a very large gathering in the quaint old church including relatives of the deceased. Brakes from clergies in Richmond, Reeth and other parts of Swaledale brought a large number of friends of the deceased”.
As he removed the sheet which was covering the window, the Bishop said “I dedicate this window to the glory of God and the memory of one who loved this church and this place”.
Despite all his connections with Hartlepool it is interesting that John is buried in the tranquil churchyard of St. Edmund’s. Was it is his wish I wonder, as he was obviously very fond of Marske?
- Liz Kluz, Shedding Light of St Edmund’s. Richmond, Hudswell, Downholme and Marske parish magazine. February 2021[↩]
- Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. 20 and 31 May 1897. Cameron Memorial Window. Viewed at The British Newspaper Archive (BNA website).[↩]