A major restoration of St. Botolph’s Church took place from 1929 to 1933 while Sir Charles Nicholson was the architect. Besides strengthening the tower, the nave and aisle were re-roofed to correspond to the patterns of the 15th-Century roof. Allan Forbes of the State Street Trust Company and his committee raised $50,000 to renovate the tower (over $750,000 in today’s dollars). Boston USA’s participation in the 1929-1933 St. Botolph’s Restoration was commemorated on one of the Gates to the Tower, as shown below :
Boston historian, Neil Wright recalls, “Until the 1850s restoration, there was a division between the western part of the church, now used for exhibitions, the shop, and font, and the area of pews in the nave. There were gates to separate the pewed area from the west end. At the 1850s restoration those gates were taken out and were used as the gates at the entrance to the Grammar School. During the 1930s restoration it was decided to bring the gates back, but put them at the base of the tower instead of in their original position.”
In 1932, Boston, Lincolnshire and Boston, Massachusetts collaborated to cast ten new bells from eight old bells for St. Botolph’s Church. James Tait, chaired the Boston Lincolnshire delegation and Alan Forbes chaired the Boston, Massachusetts delegation. At the time, A.M. Cook was Vicar of the St. Botolph’s Church in Boston, England.
SOURCES:
Forbes, Allan. Towns of New England and Old England, Ireland and Scotland: Part 1. Vol. 1, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1921. p-17
Spurrell, Mark. The Stump, Boston Parish Church, St Botolph’s, Much Wenlock, Shropshire: RJL Smith & Associates, 1996.p-7
Tercentenary of the Founding of Boston, Boston: City of Boston, 1930.
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