Old St. Chad's Church - The Story of a Sudden Building Collapse in Shrewsbury 1780s

Old St. Chad's Church Clock Chimes Struck at 4 am - WHAT HAPPENED THEN?

This is one of a series of videos about Shrewsbury Local History Events, and it took place in the 1780s.

Watch our video below for the answer, but don't forget to return afterwards to SCROLL DOWN this page for the full article.

A local stonemason was employed by the churchwardens of the Old Saint Chad's Church to mend some alarmingly large cracks that had appeared in the church.

As it was nearly midsummer he started work at 4am, and went to the sexton’s house nearby to collect the key.

While he did so the church clock struck 4:00.

The heavy movement, caused a vibration which was the final straw for the tottering structure, and, he, and two chimney sweeps working nearby noticed that the tower "suddenly opened".

It stood for a moment, as it were, suspended on the balance, and FELL; as it sunk, a cloud of dust rose so high, that for a while it concealed every surrounding object.

When the dust fell-away the whole area was spread with masses of stone, lead and timber, they lay in confused heaps, mingled with the shattered remains of pews, monuments, bells, and fragments of the gilded pipes and the framework of the noble organ.

The north side of the church had gone, while the whole of the south side of the tower hung in the air, with portions of its beams threatening destruction to any who would dare approach them,’ a contemporary wrote.

Furthermore, this need not have happened if the church authorities had listened to the advice, which was given previously by the young Thomas Telford, to start his recommended repairs, urgently.

In this capacity as County Surveyor he had previously been asked by the churchwardens of St Chad’s Church to report on some rather alarming cracks that had appeared in the building.

Telford had presented his report, ending with the words, “I think, Gentlemen, that if you have any other business to discuss, you would be wise to continue your meeting elsewhere, since this church may fall down on our heads at any moment.”

However the churchwardens chose to ignore the advice of the young Scotsman, and had employed that local stonemason alone to remedy the defects.

After much debate, the new St Chad’s Church was built near the Quarry, which stands to this day, but contrary to what you would expect Telford was not asked for advice on that.

Not that it mattered to him, because the fear of other medieval churches collapsing into oblivion, gave Telford lots of work, and he designed and oversaw the building of several new churches, in Shropshire at that time.

Attribution: Image of Old St. Chad's Church is by Richard Symonds (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons