Haematite and Holy Ground: The Industrial Origins of St John’s Church

When you visit St John’s Church in Bigrigg, Cumbria, you aren’t just stepping into a beautiful Victorian place of worship; you are stepping into a powerful testament to West Cumbria’s industrial past. This charming Grade II listed building, nestled between the villages of Bigrigg and Moor Row, is far more than stone and stained glass - it is a living echo of the iron ore boom that shaped this landscape and its communities.

Born of Iron: A Church for the Miners

Imagine West Cumbria in the mid-19th century. Quiet agricultural hamlets were being rapidly transformed into bustling industrial hubs as the demand for high-grade haematite iron ore exploded. Villages like Moor Row and Bigrigg swelled with miners, railway workers, and their families. This explosion of life brought a pressing need: a local place of worship.

Enter St John’s Church. Conceived in 1874 and completed in 1880, its very existence is a direct response to this industrial growth. The land was donated by Henry Jefferson of the Springfield estate, a prominent local figure whose fortune was intertwined with the very industries drawing so many to the area.

Designed by C.J. Ferguson, a pupil of the famous Sir George Gilbert Scott, the church stands as a proud example of Decorated Gothic architecture, built from local red sandstone with distinctive green slate roofs.

The Jefferson Family

The story of St John’s is inseparable from the Jefferson family of the nearby Springfield estate. Their influence was the driving force behind the church’s foundation:

  • Land and Funding: Henry Jefferson (1822–1896) donated the site and a significant portion of the building costs to ensure the mining community had a local place of worship.
  • Global Interests: The family wealth was built on a vast portfolio, including West Cumbrian iron mines, shipping via Whitehaven, and sugar plantations in Antigua.
  • Commemoration: The church interior features high-quality stained glass by C.E. Kempe, including a north window dedicated to Henry Jefferson’s memory in 1896.
  • Social Leadership: Beyond the church, the family were local magistrates and philanthropists, funding reading rooms and community improvements for the workers in Bigrigg and Moor Row.

Moor Row’s Spiritual Home

While physically located near Bigrigg, St John’s served as the spiritual heart for much of the vibrant community of Moor Row. At its peak, Moor Row was a hive of activity, home to the massive Montreal Mines and a vital railway junction with sprawling shunting yards.

Miners walking home from shifts, families gathering for Sunday worship, and communities celebrating life’s milestones - all found sanctuary within St John’s welcoming walls. The church was deliberately placed to be within walking distance for these new populations, knitting together the social fabric of an era defined by hard work and community spirit.

A Landscape Forged by Mining

The ground beneath St John’s, stretching towards Moor Row, tells its own story. This area was a literal "subterranean honeycomb" of iron ore pits. While you might not see the towering headframes today, the legacy of mines remains in the names and the earth:

  • Montreal Mines: A colossal operation in Moor Row with six active shafts.
  • Wyndham Mines: Renowned for its ancient workings and the discovery of "Kidney Ore."
  • Pallaflat Mine: A major producer from 1874 onwards, famous for its rare crystals.
  • Sir John’s Pit & St John’s Pit: Located incredibly close to the church site itself.
  • Croft Pit: The site of a dramatic 1924 rescue where ten men were freed after 28 harrowing hours underground.

The subtle dips in the fields, the distinctive red stain in the soil, and the very paths we now cycle (the old railway lines) are all reminders of the intense extraction that once powered the British Empire.

More Than a Museum: A Living Legacy

Today, St John’s Church continues its mission. Part of the Egremont Benefice, it remains an active, vibrant centre for the community, holding regular Sunday services at 11:00 am. It is a place where history is not just preserved but lived, and where the echoes of the past meet the hopes of the present.

Next time you pass by, or better yet, step inside St John’s, take a moment to reflect. This church is a profound link to West Cumbria’s past - a symbol of resilience, community, and the enduring human spirit that flourished in the shadow of the iron mines.

St Johns Church Moor Row / Bigrigg Illustration
St Johns Church Moor Row / Bigrigg Illustration
Location: Moor Row CA24, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are welcome. Spam will not be tolerated. Strictly no advertising.

ARCHIVE HIGHLIGHTS

About Moor Row

Image
Hello, and welcome. This Internet site is about the village of Moor Row in West Cumbria. The history of Moor Row is one intrinsically linked to the industrial boom that transformed West Cumbria. While the area's roots stretch back to before 1762, when the homesteads of Low Moor Row and High Moor Row dotted the landscape between Summerhill Mansion and Woodend with Cleator, the true genesis of the modern village lies in iron ore and the mighty railway.  From Homestead to Hub The early landscape was characterised by family landholdings, such as the estate of the Wildridge family at Low Moor Row, located on what would become Church Street. The marriage of Elizabeth Wildridge to the local gardener, Dalzell, and his subsequent inheritance of the estates, is a pivotal local event. This link is preserved today, not just through family lore but in the village's street names, a testament to the enduring influence of the early landowners. The Railway Catalyst The mid-19th century witnes...
Read more

The 100-Fathom Descent: Dual Extraction at Moor Row’s Premier Pit

Image
The Montreal Pit No. 10 at Moor Row was a vital component of the Montreal Mine complex, an enterprise so vast it was famously known as the "Great Moor." Owned by the industrialist John Stirling, Pit No. 10 was a feat of Victorian engineering that defied the standard geological rules of the West Cumbrian "Iron Fever" era. It was the deepest of the Moor Row pits.  As the mining operations moved south and east from the original 1840s outcrop, the shafts had to go deeper to follow the dipping ore bodies. ​ Location : The shaft was situated at National Grid Reference NY 006 142, positioned south of the village near what is now the fringe of agricultural land. Depth : While the average depth for the earlier Montreal shafts was approximately 145 metres, Pit No. 10 was significantly deeper, reaching depths between 190 and 210 metres (approx. 620–690 feet). Strata : It primarily worked the Fourth and Fifth Limestones, targeting massive "flats" (horizontal ore...
Read more

The Genesis of Industry: Summerhill Mansion and the Dalzell Legacy in Moor Row

Image
The story of Summerhill Mansion in Moor Row begins long before the deafening roar of the Whitehaven Cleator and Egremont Railway and the deep excavations of the iron mines. Archival research confirms the property's existence prior to 1762, placing it firmly in the agrarian era of West Cumberland. ​The Mansion was not merely a large house; it was the original, definitive geographical boundary and an anchor for the earliest settlement, which included the Low Moor Row homestead. It was the ancestral seat of the Wildridge family and represented the fixed, respectable wealth of the rural landscape. It is the story of how a single country estate, located on what became Church Street , became the essential financial and geographical launchpad for the entire industrial expansion of this West Cumbrian village. Once established at Summerhill Mansion, the Dalzell family leveraged their land to become industrial pioneers. As the 19th-century iron ore boom exploded, Moor Row rapidly expan...
Read more

Deep History: 6000 Years Of Moor Row

Image
For the modern visitor, Moor Row appears as a product of the nineteenth-century industrial revolution - a landscape of red-brick terraces built to house the miners of the West Cumberland iron ore boom. However, to view this village only through the lens of industry is to overlook a human story that stretches back six millennia. Before the first mine shaft was sunk, this was a "row" of dwellings on the edge of the great Egremont Waste, held by families whose roots reached back to the very foundations of England. Searching Historic Records In historical Cumbrian records, the Bailiwick of Egremont refers to the administrative and judicial division of the Barony of Egremont (also known as the Barony of Copeland). ​Before 1600, a "bailiwick" was the area of jurisdiction for a Bailiff - an officer appointed by the Lord of the Manor (the Percys) to manage the land, collect rents, and enforce local laws.   ​1. Administrative Structure ​The Bailiwick was the "middle ma...
Read more

​The Final Departure: Documenting the Demolition of Moor Row Railway

Image
The industrial landscape of West Cumbria underwent a radical metamorphosis during the nineteenth century, driven primarily by the extraction of high-grade haematite, colloquially known as "Red Gold." At the epicentre of this transformation was the village of Moor Row, which evolved from a collection of scattered eighteenth-century homesteads into one of the most significant railway junctions in Northern England. The development of the Moor Row railway station was not merely a matter of regional transport logistics but was a physical manifestation of the Victorian industrial empire's reach. The station’s buildings, added and modified across different eras, reflected the fluctuating fortunes of the iron ore industry, eventually meeting their demise as the mineral reserves and the accompanying rail traffic vanished in the late twentieth century. The Genesis of the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway The origins of the station at Moor Row are inextricably linked to...
Read more