The Church of St. John the Evangelist, Knotty Ash, Liverpool.

I have wanted to visit the Burial Vaults under St. John’s for many years. I am the ‘historian’ for Everton Cemetery and I run a successful Facebook site called ‘Memories of Dovecot & District‘ with over 6,500+ members, for the residents (past and present) of Dovecot and the surrounding area, many of whom are living all over the world.

The Church of St. John the Evangelist is truly absorbed in the daily life and local history of the area. You can read an abridged version on the History of the Dovecot Estate on our website, including many photographs and map overlays.

 

The visit…

The weather was glorious when Ann and I ventured the short drive from our house to this Grade II listed church on the boundary of the Dovecot Estate. Although you can visit the church whenever it is open, it is only on ‘Liverpool Heritage Weekends‘ (once per year) that the church archivists/historians offer guided walks to the general public not affiliated to the congregation. These walks take place in the Burial Vaults under the Nave of the church. Some of the occupants lying in the Crypt were once residents of Dovecot House and its large estate, which are of particular interest to me.

 

Dovecot House circa 1848

Map overlay showing Dovecot House & Farm in relationship to a modern day A-Z

Dovecot House and Ornamental Lake, overlayed on a Modern Park

 

The land the Church was built on was originally gifted to the Church of England at Knotty Ash by Adam Dugdale Esq, a wealthy Liverpool Cotton Merchant, and the first owner of the newly built Dovecot House; this was a large country Estate built on the borders of West Derby. The church was built from local sandstone, hewn from quarries in West Derby and Woolton. The church was designed by the Liverpool Architect firm of Williams & Edwards and built by Richard & Paul Barker. The ‘foundation stone’ was laid by Mr Dugdale Esq. on 26th June 1834, and the church commemorates this with an impressive brass plaque, in the main body of the church:

‘On the 26th day of June Anno Domini, 1834, this foundation stone was laid by Adam Dugdale Esq. of Dovecot House, on land given by him for the erection of this church, for the service of the Church of England. It is dedicated to S. John the Evangelist, and was built by donations and subscriptions.’

Adam Dugdale Esq. was one of the first church wardens, along with other wealthy land owners of the area, who subscribed to ‘family’ pews which added to the church’s coffers.

 

the burial vaults

After I had walked around the main body of the Church, visiting and photographing many of the fine aspects the church has to offer (report on our Fb site), it was time to enter the Church’s Burial Vaults. Our historian guide for the visit was Derek. We made our way through the side vestry behind the organ, passing a cabinet which held many of the religious garments worn by the priest, and on through a door taking us down stone steps and into the ‘Vaults’. To the right, we noticed a small rickety wood door leading to a narrow, low, dark passage; it was time to turn on the supplied torches as there is no electric lighting in the Burial Vaults. SPOOKY !!!

 

The Dark Passage to the Burial Vaults

 

We made our way along this passage (see above photograph), to find ourselves in the main vaults. It beggars belief how those who handled the lead-lined coffins, physically moved them from horse drawn hearse, into the church, and subsequently, under the church, to be placed in the deed owners family crypts and in such a dark poorly lit place (candles only).

 

We make our way along the Passageways of the Vaults

One of the empty, large Family Crypts…

 

Derek (our guide), stopped at various crypts to regale us with great information about the people contained within, before we moved on, led by the lights of our torches. I am aware that it is quite deceptive to see the light in these photographs, as if the whole vault is lit up but the camera equipment I was using, illuminates extremely well, even though before the exposure we appear to be in TOTAL darkness.

 

The Dugdale Family Crypt

 

Next stop, we arrived at the Crypt I had wanted to visit; the final resting place of Adam Dugdale Esq. and his wife Mary (nee Hargreaves). More information on Adam Dugdale Esq. can be found on our website history page. It was a great moment when I finally got to photograph the externally leaded funeral coffins in this crypt.

 

The Dugdale Coffins in their Double Crypt.

 

As we made our way along the dark passageways, I paused to stop at another crypt entrance. Although not occupied in the traditional manner of crypts, this crypt had mounds of ancient ash and funeral detritus, which I couldn’t help noticing in the dim light of my torch.

 

An Ash Filled Crypt

A Lead Cross
(no doubt from an old Funeral Procession)

More Detritus in the Ash…

Another Ash Filled Crypt

 

I gathered from our Guide that the ash in these empty crypts, is from the days when the old coal fired church boilers had to be raked out each morning ready for the new coal (good job there was a local coal-merchant over the road; the Dodd’s of Knotty Ash). Rather than haul the old ash up and out of the Boiler Room, it was easier to simply fill the empty crypts with the ash. I wonder what else could lie beneath these ash mounds.  If anything at all!

I caught up with Ann and our guide Derek to find them at the next ‘Crypt’. This was another one on my ‘tick-list’; that of the double family crypt (either side of the passageway) of the Bland family.

 

Derek our guide explains to Ann about the Bland ‘Mystery’..

The ‘Bland’ Coffin

 

Marcus Hill Bland Esq (1797-1856) was a General Merchant born in Newfoundland, Canada (per 1851 Census) who operated in Liverpool with further business interests in Gibraltar. He was also, and more importantly for me, another occupier (tenant) of Dovecot House, with his wife Eliza (born Gibraltar 1812) and their 5 children, Marcus Horatio, Eliza, Charles, Lewis and James) in the 1840s. It is conceivable that he paid for the two single occupancy crypt alcoves for himself and his wife around this time. However, the 1851 Census shows the Bland’s having moved to a large house at 115 Shaw Street, Everton in the 1850s and then Eliza Bland moving to 35 Canning Street, Liverpool in the 1860’s after the death of her husband Marcus Hill Bland.

It is reported in some circles that Marcus Hill Bland may have been a Major in the Crimean War (1853-1856). However, this is not borne out by my own research and I can find no mention of this in any of the historical documents, of the period.

Marcus Hill Bland’s son Marcus Horatio Bland, later went on to found the MH Bland Shipping Line based in Gibraltar.

Our guide Derek, explained the Church’s ‘Bland’ mystery. Although there are Bland family crypts on both sides of the passage it is not known EXACTLY who is buried in them because  no record of the interment can be found in any of the Church or Parish Registers.

I noticed when I edited one of my images that the name H. BLAND is faintly embossed on the small rustic plate opening. However, on further Photoshop investigation of the image, it reveals two small depressions before the H, followed by a full-stop. This looks to be a missing letter which has fallen off over time. Coupled with the fact that the H. BLAND is not centred on the plate it makes it likely that the first letter is missing. This makes it quite possible that the inscription could be M. H. BLAND, for Marcus Hill Bland.

 

?. H. BLAND inscription

 

Taking this new evidence into consideration and a death date of 1856, it is likely that this single occupancy crypt is in fact the final resting place of Marcus Hill Bland. Could the crypt on the opposite side be that of his wife Eliza Bland? We may never know for certain but it is increasingly likely. In the 1901 Census, I find an entry for Eliza (age 88) living with a niece and her family in Liverpool but can find no specific date of death.

As we made our way further past more burial crypts, we stopped at a couple that lay side by side, that had been stored with the old ‘Finials’ which adorned the outside roof of the church and which had been removed and stored below (about 20-30 years ago) for safety reasons. As a construction lecturer myself in a local vocational college, I understand, that the large Iron Stakes which secured the finials, rust over time and this rusting causes the iron to expand and the masonry around the stake to split and sheer off. Although the finials on the tower are still in place, the sandstone around the stakes has been replaced because of this expanding action.

 

Tower Finials, showing new stonework

A recently discovered photograph showing the old finials attached to the side walls/roof

The stored Finials in one of two Vaults under the Church.

 

I spoke to one of the congregation during my visit, Jean. She was a fellow amateur club photographer and history enthusiast, who had recently unearthed a ‘lost’ box of glass negatives in an old cupboard within the church and after some research, Jean had painstakingly cleaned them in the correct manner to be digitised for the Church’s historical record. These images give a superb insight into not only the church itself, but also the area as a whole, as they discovered openings in the boundary wall (long gone), fittings and fixtures in the main body of the church, as well as tantalising glimpses into landscape scenes gone by. Like the image below:

 

Through the Litch-gate… but where is the school opposite?

 

What a visit it was! If you haven’t been on a visit to the Church I hope my account will inspire you to check it out for yourself.  I have specifically and intentionally not shown the internal historical aspects and delights which the main body of the church has to offer, with its superb windows, carvings, monuments and much, much more. These await your own visit to this ancient and magnificent local Church.

 

Another light… another aspect

The super historical Churchyard, with its equally fine Celtic Cross