History of our church
Bilton Grange Church was established on March 15th 1906 and services were held in temporary premises on Skipton Road now known as "Jehovah's Witnesses Hall". Mr Cargill and Mr. Jordan-Just were in charge of the church before the Rev. Shackleton who started the fund for the new church building. A committee was appointed and on November 3rd 1919, met a sub-committee of Victoria Avenue's deacons to discuss the building scheme. A mission hut was bought in 1920 for £300 but permission to erect it was refused by Fox's Trustees so it had to be sold. Events such as "At Homes", "Sewing Teas", "Jumble Sales", "Sales of Work" etc. were held to raise money. The Rev. Shackleton left in 1924.
The Rev. J. S. Hainstock came in September 1925 and resided at 1, Church Avenue. Plans for the new building were made in April 1926 and adopted in January 1928. The foundation stone was laid on March 19th 1928 and the present church building was opened on October 11th 1928 by Mrs. Hanford of Victoria Avenue Church. She and her husband gave the lectern and other gifts such as offertory plates. Flower vases and seat felts were given by church members. The pulpit was in the middle of the church under what is now a stained glass window. The choir stalls faced the congregation, and hymns were played on a harmonium. Total payments were made to the contractors for the church and school hall in January 1930, an amount of £4,650.5s.5d, part of which was on loan and still had to be repaid. The Rev. J. S. Hainstock left in May 1933.
The Rev. H. Derbyshire followed in October 1933 and he lived at 55, Bilton Grove Avenue which had been bought by a church member who then let it to the church for the new minister. Mrs. McCourt installed the stained glass window at the East end of the church on October 29th 1933 in memory of her late husband. A second-hand pipe organ was purchased from a firm in York for £190 and was dedicated in January 1936, The Rev. H. Derbyshire left in January 1945.
The pastorate was then taken over by the Rev. C. W. Wall. In September 1952 plans were drawn up for the building of the manse and small schoolroom. On March 9th 1953 the contract was signed at a cost of £2,457 and £450 respectively. Mr. J. E. Ramsden, who was the prospective conservative candidate for the Harrogate division, opened these buildings on January 9th 1954. The pulpit was moved to the side of the church in 1952, and a church member gave the oak panel, which took its place, in July 1952, as were the wrought iron gates. The font was given in 1955 by Mary and Kathleen Morton in memory of their late parents. The Rev. C. W. Wall left in August 1956, and was followed by the Rev. Ken Walters who stayed for four years.
The Rev. Max Moore came in July 1961 and in 1966 took over the pastorate of Knaresborough Congregational Church in addition to Bilton Grange. The stained glass windows at the West End were installed by Mrs. Mawson in 1968 in memory of her last husband, parents and brother. The Rev. Max Moore left in June 1969.
The Rev. George Courtney was inducted in September 1970. In October 1972 the Congregational and Presbyterian churches joined together to become the United Reformed Church. A great effort was made in 1974 to pay the remaining mortgage on the manse, and this was achieved. The Rev. George Courtney served both churches until January 1977.
The Rev Roy Lowes came to the pastorate in July 1978. Renderings of the Messiah, Crucifixion and Olivet to Calvary used to be sung by the choir. More gifts were made to the church in latter years by members in memory of their loved ones.
When there has not been a minister in residence the services have been conducted by lay preachers, visiting ministers and our own church members.
In 1979 Bernard Hall along with some helpers agreed to dig out and concrete the church paths at a rate of one per year. Starting in 1980 these were completed in 1983 at a cost of around £325.
In 1982/83 the double gates on Woodfield Road entrance were given in memory of Mrs. Alice Brentnall (Joyce Daniel's mother). 1984 saw the Rev. Roy Lowes and family leave to take up ministry at Kingston on Thames.
The elders of both Knaresborough and Bilton Grange met with Rev. Norman Setchell in 1984 with the result that he became our next minister. We also started a youth fellowship, which attracted children from outside our church circle.
A 'pop in' centre began in August 1985 which served lunches every Thursday for Harrogate Community Help. September saw the start of our Boys Brigade the 2nd Harrogate Company with Mr. Tony Overend as Captain, Bob Charters as Chaplain, and Frank Coe as Treasurer and Jean Towse, Heather Pollard and Rosemary Oberheim as trained officers. Muir McLaren and Brenda Parker were helpers. In 1986 our youth fellowship 5 aside football team won the trophy at Provincial Day held at Silcoates School. Youth Fellowship was run by Sue Binns and Brenda Parker helped by George Brice and Geoff Jakeman.
In 1986 our Church hit financial difficulties and was in real danger of closing its doors. The Rev. Norman Setchell left to go to a Church in Twickenham. 4 seconded elders from Victoria Avenue UR Church were sent by the District to advise us, in the same year the Joint Pastorate with Knaresborough was dissolved after 20 years.
The piano in church was presented in memory of Joyce Daniel in 1987. Joyce was an Elder and member of the choir.
September 1988, after much discussion we became a joint pastorate with Victoria Avenue UR Church, which meant we had gone full circle as Bilton Grange was a 'Church Plant' from Victoria Avenue.
The joint pastorate became vacant in April 1990. This vacancy was filled on March 23rd 1991 when Rev. Richard Kayes became the minister of the Joint Pastorate. The choir pews were removed on November 21st and the next day the pulpit was moved into the centre of the screen under the stained glass window. In 1992 the stage in the hall was taken down and a disabled ramp was fitted for better access to the hall.
In 1993 the 5th Bilton Brownie pack started at Bilton Grange. Later that year a toddler group was started and this ran very successfully for over 2 years.
A large extension in 1994 gave us a new kitchen, small hall and elder's vestry (now the office). The toilets were relocated to where the kitchen had been and a storeroom was then provided at the end of the hall. The total cost of this project was £44,000. Various fundraisers were held to help pay for this such as an auction of promises, buy a brick etc. The carpet in Church was laid in 1995. On March 11th and 12th the official opening of the extension took place. The extension was opened by the Provincial Moderator Rev. Donald Hilton, and the Mayor and Mayoress Bob and Gwen 0' Neill were also present. This year also saw the Boys Brigade disband. A monthly Sunday lunch club was started and this ran successfully for 2 years.
In 1997 the Rev. Richard Kayes retired. We then had a vacancy of 18 months before the Rev. Bob Heathcote was ordained and inducted in June 1998. The summer fayre was replaced by a Flower Festival in July to celebrate the Church's 70th anniversary. A new venue in 1998 was the running of an Alpha Course; this was so successful that we repeated it again in 2000. The Minister's vestry also moved to the small schoolroom this year.
Bob held the first Model Railway exhibition in 1999 and this was a great success. In July 2000, instead of the Summer Fayre we celebrated all the wealth of talent in Bilton with Bilton 2000, Rosemary Oberheim painted the features of the figures back onto the stained glass window at the front of church.
The 2nd Bilton Rainbow unit joined us in 2001 when the closure of Fountains Hall meant that they were 'homeless'. The Model Railway and Doll's House Exhibition raised £1,100 this year and became our best single fundraiser ever! This was a busy year with a new ramp being constructed to give better wheel chair access to our buildings. More concrete was laid to give additional car parking spaces and a loop system was installed in the church to help those wearing hearing aids. Due to the shortage of organists we also purchased a digital organ (karaoke machine).
An adjustable oak lectern was purchased in June 2002. September also saw major renovations as the manse was upgraded for private letting; this was completed in February 2003. The next project is the addition of a disabled toilet and we are currently gathering estimates. The church hall is hired by outside organisations, this provides extra income and also community outreach.
Pilots was launched in 2003 and is so far proving a great success. We also introduced an after-service lunch club, which was started primarily for those who would otherwise be on their own. An evening service was reintroduced and is proving a popular addition to our calendar..
MINISTERS
1925 - 1933 Rev. J. S. Hainstock
1933 - 1945 Rev. H. Derbyshire
1945-1956 Rev. C. W. Wall
1956 - 1960 Rev. K. Walters
1961 - 1969 Rev. M. A. Moore
1970 - 1977 Rev. G. Courtney
1978 - 1984 Rev. R. Lowes
1984 - 1986 Rev. N. Setchell
1991 - 1997 Rev. R. Kayes
1998 -2004 Rev. R. Heathcote
2008- Rev. R. Jones
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