This film is part of Free
Scenes Outside St Elphin's Church, Warrington (c.1901)
An eager crowd competes for camera time outside a Lancashire church.
Overview
It's the very lively churchgoers - clearly encouraged to play up for the camera - who capture the attention in this this two-shot film from Edwardian pioneers Mitchell and Kenyon, made on one of the pairs several visits to Warrington in the early 1900s. Alas, the close position leaves out St Elphin's very striking steeple, but the energy of its worshippers more than compensates. The second shot moves to a different location, and a younger, slightly less wealthy (fewer boaters, more cloth caps) but no less eager crowd. As so often, it's the younger boys who steal the show, especially one scamp towards the end who seems determined to jump through the camera lens.
The film was originally identified from an inscription on the roll as 'Scene outside a church in Warley'. The final word was all-but illegible bar the opening letter, so it seems Warley was something of a stab in the dark. We now know that the location is actually some 80 miles to the north, thanks to the detective work of Sonya Endicott, who was able to identify the church from its distinctive gates.
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