You may have heard about the building of a wall in the Memory Garden incorporating the ‘Wesleyan Stones’ the background to this is set out below.

The stones were over the doorway at Moss Grove with the inscription ‘Wesleyan Church’ they were part of a terracotta front added to the church around 1904 and as far as we knew were destroyed with the demolition of the church in 1966-7 when we opened the present church, but they were rescued by the Kinghorn family and built into a wall behind their hairdressers shop at Dawley Brook. The shop was later taken over by Jill Briggs. After her death her husband Frank took the stones out of the wall and put them behind his garage at their house in Cot Lane where they have lain ever since.

I was recently approached by Bob Cotton who lives next door to the Briggs’s, he said that David Briggs (the son) had been tidying the garden and asked if the church were interested in these stones? I said I would have a look at them, when I did I recognised them instantly and said yes, I’m sure we would. Gilbert Guest kindly offered the use of his trailer and brought them to the church.

I then put it to the church that we could put them into a wall in the Memory Garden which could also serve as somewhere where people could put floral tributes in memory of those who’s ashes were interred there, they agreed and Brian King was asked to build the wall.

We thank the Briggs family very much for donating the stones and it is particularly fitting for them to be built into the Memory Garden as it was Frank Briggs who designed it for us.

The photos below show the stones in their original position, Noel & Kathleen Lee’s wedding (1961), a close up of the inscription and how it is now built in the Memory Garden.