Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 13 December 1913
The Cadeby Disaster
Bishop Of Sheffield Dedicates Memorial Tablet
Impressive Ceremony
A memorial to the 89 men who perished during the explosions in the Cadeby mine on July 9th, 1912, has been erected in Denaby Main Parish Church in the shape of a brass tablet, upon which are inscribed the names of the victims, and on Wednesday evening the Bishop of Sheffield attended to dedicate it, and also to dedicate the completed scheme of the sanctuary; also to hold a service of confirmation. There was a large attendance in church, and the service was most impressive, in so much that it served to remind us of all the horrors of the disaster.
The memorial tablet has been erected in the wall of the chancel, and at its head is a representation of the crucifixion, and elaborate decoration schemes, with the date of the disaster inscribed on either side. Then follow the names of the 89 men who were killed in the two explosions, together with the names of a deputy, James Springthorpe, who died on March 29th from the effects of the explosion, and James Burns, a rescue worker who was killed during salvage operations. Below are the words, “Lord have mercy,” and at the foot of the tablet is inscribed the words, “Gift of 800 friends.” The tablet has been installed at a cost of about £45, and the miners of the district subscribed very largely to the memorial fund.
The Sanctuary Scheme
The completed scheme of the sanctuary comprises a new altar, with dorsal, riddells, and side curtains, canopy and carpet complete. The walls and roof of the sanctuary have also been re-coloured, the roof being painted blue with emblems in gold, silver, and aluminium, symbolical of the heavenly bodies. The south window of the sanctuary has been veiled by a 17ft. curtain, which screens the altar from the direct rays of the sun.
The altar is 9ft. in length, and of English oak throughout. It has three panels divided by beautifully-carved vertical bands. Of these, two are plain, but the centre panel is decorated with a design in blue and gold, representing the Paschal Lamb. This design is worked in hammered metal. The altar is covered by a white superfrontal, heavily embroidered in gold.
The curtains have been specially woven for the church, and were exhibited at the Church Congress at Southampton before being hung at Denaby. They thus represent the best kind of modern church embroidery. The centre curtain (dorsal) is of purple with vertical bands of dark green—the bands ornamented with the red rose of the Passion, alternating with the white rose of York. The side curtains are of a different shade of purple with horizontal bands in gold, made up of emblems of the four Evangelists. These curtains hang from brackets surmounted by steel fleur-de-lys. The riddells (side curtains veiling the ends of the altar) are laced to bars joining the two riddle-posts to the walls; the posts themselves being of armour bright steel surmounted by heavy brass candlesticks and pans.
The canopy is a highly-ornate design of English oak throughout, with hammered and wrought metal decorations. Two panels in gold, green, and white represent the white rose of York. The whole is to be surmounted by a cross and crown; these are not yet in position. There is room for further covering upon the canopy at some future date.
The altar has been provided by the men of the church, and the hangings by the ladies’ organisations.
The whole design is the work of Mr. E. Spencer, of the Artificers’ Guild, London, and has been carried out by the Guild. The altar itself is throughout the personal work of Mr. Rodney Green, R.A., of London, who visited Denaby himself on Monday to put his work into place in the chancel.
In the course of a short address the Bishop said the tablet which he had dedicated explained itself. The gifts that had been given to the church—the altar and other gifts—were the gifts of many of them, and he supposed he was right in saying that most of those who were present in the congregation had shared in the gifts that he had dedicated to God. There was one part of the gift that was especially solemn—that memorial brass, that one could not dedicate without emotion to those who perished in that terrible disaster in the Cadeby mine in July of last year.
When he dedicated that memorial of brass the whole of the tragedy came before one’s mind—the disaster came before his mind as fresh as ever again. If that was so to him, a stranger comparatively, one who, so to speak, lost nothing by the disaster, how much more must it speak for those of them and to those round about them who lost their nearest and dearest? And there that night they were commemorating in that dedication service the self-sacrifice of those who were ready to die for the sake of others.