Repairs to the Vicarage House at Barlaston

Description:Hanley’s letter provides an insight into the repairs which were carried out on Barlaston Church in the 1830s. In addition to work undertaken on the Church, accounts reveal that repairs and renovations were made to the ‘Vicarage House at Barlaston’ in the late 1830s.

‘An Account of the expence of repairing the Vicarage House at Barlaston in 1837 1838 and 1839 as per Bills delivered’ survives in the Sutherland Papers, telling us a great deal about the vicarage house during this period.

The Account lists payments of £3, 8d to the ‘Blacksmiths’, payments of £15, 14s, 1d for ‘straw for thatching’ as well as expenditure on ‘Bricks & Tiles’ amounting to £19, 15s, 9d.

Payments for sand and nails are accompanied by bills for builders and joiners working on the property. Mr Holmes, a joiner, was paid £7, 19s and 7d for his work repairing the property. Over £7 was spent on ‘Glazier’s Bills’ and a man named Mr. Wilcox was paid ‘for poles’ for the ‘new roof’.

These extensive repairs tell us that the Church and vicarage house in Barlaston were important to the Duke of Sutherland, who paid for the work. The Church played a central role in the lives of people living in Barlaston during the early nineteenth century.