History of our church - Rev'd Henry Haistwell Hardy M.A.
Perpetual Curate 1864-1867
First Rector of Horfield 1867-1878
When Rev'd Henry Richards died in 1864 he was succeeded by Rev'd HH Hardy, educated at University College Oxford where he gained his B.A. in 1848 followed by his M.A. in 1851. Ordained deacon in 1850 by the Bishop of Worcester and priested in the following year by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. He was the vicar of Preston near Ledbury, from where he was appointed to the Perpetual Curacy of Horfield when the Parish was made a Rectory on the 18th June 1867. (Portrait photograph dated 1864).
From Rev'd Henry Richards he inherited a virtually completely rebuilt church which was well furnished and equipped with Parish population increasing - the 1861 Census recorded a total of 1746 - nevertheless the church had a dark interior as the North and South Aisle windows were small in relation to the width of the 40ft of the Nave and Aisles combined, and these windows were transferred from the rebuild of 1831 and still exist to this day.
Apart from the limited natural lighting the only interior illumination was entirely dependent on candles and soon after his appointment Rev'd Henry Hardy is thought to have produced proposals for the insertion of a number of clerestories into the roof of the Nave to bring more natural daylight into the main body of the church. It is imagined that the original concept would have been for six to provide a balance appearance to the roof but to date no drawings or specifications for these proposals have been traced.
It is believed that Rev'd Henry Hardy completed the installation of existing North and South clerestories circa 1870 and is also credited with the installation of the third window at the West end of the North Aisle to provide more daylight into the Nave and whilst there is no documentary evidence to confirm this assumption it is interesting to note that this window is shown as existing on the drawing produced by Messrs. Crisp and Oatley the architects engaged by Rev'd Henry Hardy's successor Rev'd Fanshawe Bingham for the proposed enlargement of the East end of the church in 1891-93.
Rev'd Henry Hardy is however correctly credited with the installation of paraffin oil lamps to replace the candle illumination of the church circa 1865-66 following which he introduced a late evening service every Sunday. He was also responsible for having the Psalms correctly chanted both at Matins and Evensong which provoked criticism from a number of parishioners who objected to this innovation!
The Church about 1876, following completion of the North and South Clerestories by Rev'd H Hardy. His intention was to install three clerestories on each side of the Nave roof but sadly this objective has never been realised. He introduced Paraffin Oil Lamps to replace candle lighting in the Church in 1865-66.
Rev'd Henry Hardy left no records of the services he held or events which occurred during his incumbency and the Parish passed into the care of Rev'd Fanshawe Bingham who was appointed as Rector in 1878 and came to be regarded as the prime Victorian builder of the Parish Church we know and love today.
