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Laying the
Foundation Stone of
the New Church at Windsor, April 1842
Our readers in this immediate vircinity
are aware it has long been a matter of complaint that there was
not sufficient accommodation in the parish church for those who
would desire to go there, and that in consequence a public subscription
was set on foot for the erection of a new sacred edifice in a
field adjoining Clarence crescent, not only to meet the demands
made for church accommodation by the parishoners, but also that
required by the two regiments of troops stationed in Windsor.
Hitherto those subscriptions have been most liberal, and amount
to between £4,000 and £5,000, which is about two
thirds of the whole sum necessary for the undertaking; exclusive
of which, our spirited townsman, Mr. Bedborough, liberally presented
the ground site of the church. Among the subscribers are her
Majesty £210, his Royal Highness Prince Albert £105,
her Majesty the Queen Dowager £50, the Woods and Forests
£360, the Dean and Chapter of Windsor £200, the Provost
and Fellows of Eton £150, two grants from the Church Union
Society £100, Messrs, Nevile Reid and Co. £100. W.
H. Trant Esq. (late M. P. for Dover) £100, E. Meyrick,
Esq. £100, the Rev. E. Coleridge £200, the Bishop
of New Zealand £25, the Rev. Dr. Hawtrey, £100, Captain
Bulkeley £25, the Rev. S. Hawtrey £100, the Rev.
W. G. Cookesley £25, the Rev. Isaac Gosset £100,
the late Provost of Eton £50, and the late Sir J. Wyatville
£35. The architect is Edw. Blore, Esq., and the contractors
are Messrs Thomas Bedborough and Jenner, builders.
An application having been made by the Rev. Isaac
Gosset, the vicar of this parish, at the request of the committee,
to his Royal Highness Prince Albert to lay the foundation stone,
his royal highness was graciously pleased to acquiesce, and Monday
morning last was fixed for the ceremony to take place. In the
meantime the most active preparations were made by the committee
and the builders to secure good accommodation for the great number
of persons who were expected to be present on the occasion. Spacious
temporary galleries were erected for the purpose, and long before
the period fixed for the arrival of his royal highness, the appearance
of the crowds collected, and the troops and charity children
was highly interesting. The whole of the Royal Horse Guards,
not on garrison duty, were assembled under the command of Col.
Richardson, with their excellent band; the whole of the 72nd
Highlanders, not on garrison duty, under the command of Col.
Arbuthnot, with their band, were also in attendance. The greatest
order was preserved; and so excellent had been the arrangements,
that no disorder prevailed during the whole of the proceedings.
We should say that there could not have been less than seven
thousand persons present, among whom, besides the numerous body
of clergymen in this vircinity, were many of the neighbouring
gentry. Of the charity schools there were the following:- The
National School of Windsor, headed by the master and mistress,
Mr and Mrs. Harvey, comprising 180 girls, and 190 boys; the Free
School of Windsor, headed by Mr and Mrs. Stephenson; Lady Harcourt's
School, Clewer Green, headed by Mr and Mrs. Spicer, consisting
140 girls and boys; the Royal Horse Guards School, under Mr and
Mrs. Casson, consisting of 54 boys, and 48 girls; the Dedworth
School, under Mrs. Gardiner; and the 72nd Highlander's School,
under Mr. Haskow, consisting of 49 boys and girls.
At ten o'clock the Mayor and Corporation assembled
in the Council chamber of the Town-hall, where also the clergy
of this town and Eton and its neighbourhood, and some of the
inhabitants, met to accompany them in procession to the site
of the new church.
The procession of the mayor, the corporation, the
clergy &c., having arrived on the ground, they formed in
files to receive his royal highness Prince Albert on his arrival,
which took place at about eleven o'clock. The Prince on alighting
from his carriage, at the east end of the church, (attended by
Colonel Bouverie and Mr. G. E. Anson) was received by the troops
presenting arms, and the two military bands playing the national
anthem; and on walking towards the spot at the west end, where
the ceremonial of laying the stone was to take place, his royal
highness was most enthusiastically cheered by the immense assemblage.
His royal highness was attired in the Windsor uniform, as were
Colonel Bouverie and Mr. Anson.
The Prince having taken his station at the west end
of the ground, very near the stone, and being surrounded by the
clergy and the mayor and corporation, the proceedings were commenced
by the Rev. Mr. Gould, curate of Clewer, reading a prayer suitable
for the occasion, after which succeeded the reading of a Psalm,
the response being made by the people. Then followed the 100th
Psalm, "All people that on earth do dwell," sang by
the numerous charity children, and accompanied in beautiful style
by the two military bands united.
The Hon. and Rev. the Dean of Windsor then advanced
and read to the Prince the following address:-
May it please your Royal
Highness,
Among the many places in
her Majesty's dominions, where the population has outgrown the
means of religious instruction, the town of Windsor, distinguished
above others as the Sovereign's residence, must be numbers. Its
population amounts to nearly 10,000, and without including the
Royal Chapel of St. George, there is only church room for not
so many as 1,600 persons. Of the inhabitants, a large number,
chiefly of the lower classes, crowded together in the back streets
and lanes of the town, have no direct connection with the parish
church of Windsor. The spire of their church may be seen rising
in the neighbouring village of Clewer. But independently of that
church being only a size proportioned to the population of the
country part of the parish, the connection between the town of
Windsor and the village of Clewer, is often interrupted in the
winter months by the rising of the water in the Thames, that
the humbler classes have almost entirely discontinued their attendance
at church, and have grown up in a state of great ignorance and
irreligion. Chiefly to supply the wants of the population thus
situated; to bring the ministrations of religion home to them;
to place among them a clergyman who shall, by pastoral care,
seek to bring them back to the fold of Christ, watch over their
spiritual and temporal welfare, and provide that their children
shall be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,
this church is placed in the centre of the district so described.
But there is yet another object in the erection of this church,
which your royal highness will hear with no less pleasure; for,
deeply interested as your royal highness is in the welfare of
all classes of her Majesty's subjects, there is no class, we
are assured, whose well-being engages more of your royal highness's
attention than that of the British army. As a royal residence,
there is always a large and important body of troops stationed
in this town; how large and important may be judged if we look
around us, and mark the numbers which are assembled this day
to be present at the performance of a ceremony in which they
are all deeply concerned; for, with the concurrence of her Majesty's
government, in this church, situated midway between the two barracks,
the soldiers stationed in Windsor will assemble for Divine worship.
Here they will partake of the ordinances of the Christian religion,
- here they will be instructed out of the pure and lively Word
of God; and here the soldier's children, many of whom stand at
this time before us, will be catechised and instructed in the
fear of the Lord. And shall be suppose that these soldiers will
do their duty to their country with less of loyalty in their
hearts because they have been taught to fear God and honour the
Queen ? These are the purposes for contemplated in the erection
of this church. Her most gracious Majesty and your Royal Highness
have been pleased to be associated in this charitable design;
and the hearty desires of all classes are fulfilled on this auspicious
day, on which your royal highness is about to lay the corner
stone of a church to be erected on this spot, and dedicated to
the sole honour and glory of the holy, eternal, and undivided
Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And may that
holy, blessed, and most glorious Trinity, three persons and one
God, of his infinite mercy grant that so long as this stone lies
embedded in the walls of this church. He who is alone the living
stone may be manifested in this place as the only sure foundation
of sinner's hope. May they who shall worship in this temple,
to the end of time, as lively stones, be built up a spiritual
house, hereafter to be placed as pillars in the temple of the
Heavenly Jerusalem, to go out no more for ever! And may the especial
blessing of Almighty God rest upon our most gracious Sovereign
Lady Queen Victoria, beneath whose rightful sceptre the walls
of this sanctuary now arise. May that effort which distinguished
her Majesty's reign, and in which her Majesty unites herself
with her people, of providing means of religious worship for
all classes of her Majesty's subjects, be crowned with this Divine
blessing. And may it be your royal highness's happiness to see
her Majesty's reign for many years in the hearts of a loyal and
devoted people. May peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion
and piety so flourish in her days, that the latest generation
may rise up and call her blessed.
At the conclusion of the Dean's speech,
the plans of the proposed building were submitted to his royal
highness, who minutely inspected them and appeared to be much
gratified with them. After his royal highness had made himself
thoroughly acquainted with the details of the proposed erection,
he handed the plans to Mr. G. E. Anson, who took charge of them.
During the Prince's inspection of the plans, the military bands
played some beautiful sacred music.
The Very Reverend Dr. Hodgson, the provost of Eton
College, then advanced to Prince Albert, with various coins of
her Majesty's reign on a silver salver, and presented them to
his royal highness. He said, addressing the Prince, that those
coins were to be deposited in the foundation of the church at
the erection of which his royal highness was then assisting,
and he trusted that the building would tend to contribute to
the glory of God and to the happiness of the souls committed
to its care. [Owing to the bands continuing to play, the observations
of the reverend doctor were very imperfectly heard].
His royal highness then proceeded to the duty of
laying the stone. The coins were first placed in a glass provided
for the purpose, which again was placed in an earthen pot, and
the whole deposited in a receptacle made in the under stone by
Mr. Jenner, one of the builders.
The Rev. Dr. Hawtrey, head master of Eton College,
after a few preliminary observations to his royal highness, read
the inscription on the plate which was to cover the coins. The
inscription was read in Latin, and also in English. The following
was the translation:-
Of This Church,
-
Built And Dedicated To The Most Holy Trinity
By The Voluntary Contributions
Of The Faithful In This Neighbourhood,
To the Intent, That
The Daily Increasing Number Of Parishioners,
And The Military Quartered At Windsor
Might No Longer Want A Place,
Where Both Together Might Join
In The Common Prayer Of Christians, -
The First Stone Was Laid
By His Royal Highness
The Prince Albert Of Saxe Coburg Gotha
The August Consort
Of Our Sovereign Lady,
Queen Victoria,
On The IV Day Of April, In The Year Of Our Lord
MDCCCXLII
The reverend gentleman, after reading the
inscription, presented to the Prince the copy of it, and the
translation beautifully printed on white satin and edged with
gold fringe.
His Royal Highness then received the silver trowel
from Mr. Jenner. On it was the following inscription:-
This Trowel was
presented to
His Royal Highness Prince Albert
K.G., G.C.B., K.P., &c.
for the purpose of laying
the first stone
Of the Holy Trinity Church in the
Borough of New Windsor
On the 4th day of April 1842.
By Messrs. Bedborough
and Jenner, builders.
Edward Blore, Esq., architect.
The ceremony of laying the stone was then
performed by the Prince, and it was remarked that his royal highness
laid the mortar in a masterly style. The bands during the ceremony
played a lively air, and the stone was lowered into its appointed
place, after which Mr. Jenner presented the mallet and level,
his royal highness completed that portion of the ceremony, amidst
the cheers of the people.
A prayer was then read by the Rev. Isaac Gosset,
after which a portion of the National Anthem was sung by the
charity children, accompanied by the Bands. His royal highness
and attendants then, taking leave of several of the clergy near
him, entered his carriage and left the ground on his return to
the Castle, amidst the same loud plaudits that greeted his arrival.
The day was remarkably fine, and the scene altogether was highly
interesting. We heard it remarked by several gentlemen that it
was most gratifying to observe many of the leading dissenters
of this town and neighbourhood present at the ceremony.
Robberies During the above
Ceremony
We understand that several persons had
their pockets picked in the crowd during the above proceedings,
and among those who were thus losers was Ralph Neville, Esq.,
one of our borough members. The hon gentleman did not discover
his loss until he felt for his purse, with a view of subscribing
to the Windsor Steeple Chase, when he was surprised to find that
the purse, and the contents of six sovereigns were gone.
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