The Reappearance of the Dore Psalm Board
Psalms of the Old Testament are pieces of poetry that tend to be read in some modern church services, but have been sung through history and people would either learn the words or read them from the Bible. You may be familiar with hymn boards on church walls. Before this there were psalm boards. Hymns only became popular in the mid 18th century. Dore Archives Research Team has tracked down the Dore Church Psalm Board.
The Furness Connection
Dore Church was designed and built in 1828, by Richard Furness, then consecrated in 1829, and prior to this there was a chapel of ease in the village. It is thought that this psalm board originated during its time and hung on the chapel wall.
Richard Furness Wrigglesworth, great, great grandson of Richard Furness, has helped piece together some of the Psalm Board story. His great grandmother, Eliza Wrigglesworth née Furness, was the only one of Richard Furness’ daughters to marry and have children. He had inherited the Psalm Board from his father and has kindly given it to Christ Church Dore.
The Mystery of Its Origins
The front of the Psalm Board clearly shows the date 1745. The writing on the back the Psalm Board is signed by Joseph Hancock and his son, Henry William, of Rushley Farm. It is now faded and fragile but possibly refers to stone recovered from ‘Pegges Folly,’ on Strawberry Lee, used to build Dore Church. The Psalm Board was presumably recovered from the old chapel of ease at the time of its demolition and stone from the chapel, along with the other stone, used to build the new church, if the faded writing is transcribed correctly.
The writing may also suggest that the Psalm Board was used in the present church for a time. We have not got evidence of what happened between being taken down and then reappearing in the 20th century. The writing on the back of the board is fragmented and faded but may have told this part of the story.
Saved By the Postman
Richard Furness Wrigglesworth’s father, Richard Gordon Wrigglesworth, born 1909, was a postman rotating between Dore and Totley. He would finish his Dore round at the furthermost end of Long Line, before freewheeling, on his sit up and beg bicycle, down Long Line and then through Ecclesall Woods to the sorting office, as is now, on Abbeydale Road South. A ‘Miss Hancock’ of Rushley Road was aware of his Furness roots and gave him the Psalm Board sometime in the 1950s.
There were two Misses Hancock, Fanny or Frances (1885-1972) and Nellie or Ellen (1884-1970), daughters of Henry William Hancock and Sarah née Furness, daughter of William Furness. Nellie Hancock may have been the donor of the psalm board. Today Richard tells how he remembers his father cycling home with the board in his satchel. Then he kept it at home next to Richard Furness’ grandfather clock that had stood in the Old School in Dore for about 25 years.
Can You Help?
Initial research has not been helpful in finding any similar psalm boards to compare with. Perhaps by publicising the image through this blog someone may be able to give us further information about any similar boards they may have come across on their travels.
(Click on the images to enlarge)