I went to Hallaton today and found a tin tabernacle. It houses Hallaton Museum, which will be open in the afternoon at weekends and bank holidays from 21 April to 6 October.
This tin tabernacle was purchased in 1894 by the new rector of Hallaton, Canon Chetwynd-Stapylton, to serve the village for recreation and as a reading-room.
An unidentified local history book tells us:
His generous gesture failed to secure him a seat on Hallaton Parish Council and he subsequently recorded his disappointment in the Parish Magazine:
"I thought that I have established a fair claim to be accounted a good citizen of Hallaton. I have stood entirely alone in the erection of a Parish Room, at considerable cost, in furnishing, heating and lighting it and supplying it with newspapers, etc. as a reading room for two winters…"
Never mind, Canon Chetwynd-Stapylton, you had a great name.
Canon Chetwynd-Stapleton was something of a star oarsman at Eton and then Merton, and became known as the Father of the Boat Race. There's an article about him in the parish magazine Hallaton Hare Pie [https://www.hallaton-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2024/04/HP-February-24.1.pdf here]
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