St Aidan’s Church, Cleethorpes — Christmas Card, 1905

A fascinating early view of St Aidan’s Church, at the junction of Grimsby Road and Hart Street, Cleethorpes, photographed while the church was under construction. The extensive scaffolding and unfinished roof provide a rare glimpse of this familiar landmark taking shape.

The photograph was reproduced as a Christmas card, with an elaborate printed seasonal design. It was sent by the Rev. Arthur Long Price to Miss Louisa Hilbers (born 1854), of 60 Brunswick Place, Hove, Sussex. The card bears a handwritten Christmas message and a halfpenny green postage stamp.

At the time, Rev. Price was closely involved with the new church. A report in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of 27 April 1905 records that “The Rev. A. L. Price presided” at a meeting concerning St Aidan’s, with the foundation stone of the new church due to be laid on 4 May 1905. He subsequently became Vicar of St Aidan’s in 1906.

Rev. Arthur Long Price later moved to Cornwall, where he became Vicar of St Petroc’s, Egloshayle, in 1924. He died in 1929. His later association with Bodmin provides an additional link for anyone researching his life and ministry.

Designed by C. H. Fowler, St Aidan’s was built in 1905–06, in red brick with stone dressings.

The church has a connection with the world of entertainment. The Rev. Arnould Herbert Hurt, father of celebrated actor John Hurt (1940–2017), was Vicar of St Aidan’s from 1952 until 1962. John Hurt spent part of his formative years in Cleethorpes and later attended Grimsby Art School.

A wonderfully unusual piece of local history, bringing together the construction of St Aidan’s, a surviving Christmas card sent by one of the church’s early clergy, and the later story of the Hurt family’s association with the church.

From the collection of the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Museum.