Location: Hadfield Road / Railway Street / Stanyforth Street / Church Street
Donor: Public subscription in memory of Rev A. C. M. White
Date opened: December 1958
Owner: St Andrews Church, Hadfield (1958-Present)
Rev Archibald Campbell Macalister White
The Rev A. C. M. White had become curate of St Andrews in 1911 and the vicar in 1917. He also became the Rural Dean of Glossop in 1934.
Rev White was devoted and hard working in his 44 years of service. He preached at almost every church in the area, worked a great deal at St Andrews day school, and visited the old and sick. He started a successful scheme to raise money to keep the Church in good repair.
He loved cricket and rarely missed a home match of St Andrews Cricket Club.
“The Revd White never stood on ceremony or creed; where help or comfort or guidance were needed, he went to administer. He knows everyone and everyone knows him. He is a great believer in practical Christianity.”
In his later years he suffered from ill health, but he refused to abandon his work. One afternoon in 1955 he was talking to a builder about re-decoration of the Church and complained about feeling ill. A doctor was sent for but by the time he arrived the vicar had sadly died.
The Funeral
The funeral was held on Tuesday 22 November 1955. Over 500 people filled St Andrews Church for the service. Many more lined the streets after as the funeral cortege made its way to Disley, where Rev White is buried.
He had dedicated himself to the service of his parishioners. “He loved Hadfield and the people of Hadfield loved him”.
Memorial Clock
Shortly after his death the new vicar, Rev J. E. F. Styles, set up a fund so a lasting memorial to Rev White could be created.
By 1957 it was decided that the money raised was to be used to renovate the public garden at the Church and for the erection of a memorial clock, the only public clock in Hadfield.
In December 1958 a service was held at St Andrews to dedicate the memorial clock and garden. The Rural Dean of Glossop, Rev J. O. M. Dawson-Bowling, performed the dedication:
“In memory of Archibald Campbell Macalister White we dedicate this memorial within the precincts of this holy place, to be a benefit to the parish which he loved and served, and a constant memorial to all of his life and work.”
Restoration
In 2011 a campaign was started to restore the clock back to working order. Water had got into the works and the ironwork had started to deteriorate.
A clock restoration committee was set up and with the support of the people and Hadfield and Padfield the clock was brought back into full working order.
The clock still remains on the busy junction as a lasting reminder of a much loved vicar.
Sources
Glossop Chronicle, various dates
Photographs (GHT Archive)
Derbyshire Record Office. D1779 Parish of Hadfield St Andrew. D1779/A/PI/73 Faculty for relaying the garden and erecting a memorial clock 1957. (original not viewed. Catalogue entry accessed 7/8/21.)