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A short history of HALSETOWN PARISH
The village of Halsetown derives its name from James Halse (a St. Ives Solicitor, politician and mining adventurer) who built the village in 1832, to house his mine workers. At that time the village was part of St. Ives Parish. In 1846 an 'Order in Council' established the Parish of Halsetown - but without a Church building. The first services in the Parish were held in a room adjoining the Methodist Chapel which had already been established.
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The building of the new Church of St. John's in the Fields, an apt name as it really was in fields with no houses close-by, was made possible largely by the generosity of Robert Hitchens, brother-in-law to James Halse. He gave the site; £1000 towards the building costs of £2300; £800 to build the vicarage and £1000 towards the endowment of the Living. Tradition states that Halsetown was mostly Non-conformist and no-one there would sell any land for the site. Consequently the nearest piece of land to Halsetown - one mile distant - was chosen. Construction started in 1857 and the work completed in 1858 with the first service being held during November of that year. The Church was consecrated on May 26th. 1860 by Bishop Phillpotts of Exeter.
The first Incumbent was the Revd. W.H.Drake. He had a large family (nine children) and the Old Vicarage was built for him. Revd.W.W.Garrett came next in 1874, but left again in 1876 to be followed by Revd. R.E.Coles. Revd. H.J.Bartlett succeeded him in 1886. In 1892 Revd. R.E.Griffin was the last Incumbent to be presented with the Living by the Hitchens family. It was during his Incumbency that the Organ was installed, costing £300 and dedicated in 1897. The East Window was installed in 1903. In 1909 the Patronage of the Living was transferred to the Dean and Chapter of Truro Cathedral. In 1915 the Living again became vacant and, after being offered to two Priests, who refused the honour ( one man saying he could not afford to maintain the large Vicarage on his income), the Revd. T.C.F.Barfett (at that time senior Curate at Bodmin) accepted the post and was Instituted in 1915.
This century has been dominated by two Incumbents. Revd. Mr. Barfoot celebrated 50 years as Priest of the Parish in 1965 and died in 1968. The next Presentation to the Living was then postponed, partly due to a shortage of Priests, and partly to allow a review of the Parish's future. Joining it to another Parish was considered but rejected. Instead the boundaries were reviewed. Considerable new building had occured and a shift of population had resulted in Halsetown becoming larger than St. Ives Parish, consequently the boundary was revised. A decision was also made about the over-large Vicarage and this was sold and a new one built on land to the side of the Church, owned by the Parish. In 1969 the Revd. John Harper was Instituted and Inducted as the first Vicar of Halsetown, before that time all the Incumbents were Perpetual Curates.
It was during Revd. Mr. Harper's time that great changes were made to the Worship at St. John's. After over 50 years of the Ministry of Revd. Barfett, the time for change was inevitable. Under the leadership of Revd. Harper the Church was repaired and new services started, namely the "Five to Ten". Heating was installed and the Hall was erected in 1971, (the fund for the hall had begun in 1918). 1975 saw the re-ordering of the Church with the pews being removed and a central Altar placed on a dais in the Nave. Chairs were provided to replace the pews. Finally in 1983 the drive was tarmacadamed.
Revd. Mr. Harper, the first Vicar of Halsetown, decided to leave in 1990 and in the event became the only Vicar of the Parish. During the Interregnum the Benefice was suspended, and the next Incumbent became Priest-in-Charge. In 1991 Revd. John Dibb-Smith was licensed as a non-stipendiary Priest-in-Charge. He had the distinction of being one of the Churchwardens at the time of the re-ordering of St. John's and had felt called to the Ministry, when he retired from his farm at Trink. He served the Parish until 1995 when he reached his 70th. year, and retired again. The position of Priest-in-Charge is now held by Revd. Andrew Couch AKC, the present Vicar of St. Ives Parish.
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