Popular Black Country businessman Tony donates more than £100k to church
A Brierley Hill businessman is donating £100,000 to ensure a hilltop church which has been used by his family over two centuries continues to be properly maintained.
Tony Whittaker is also giving £10,000 to help pay for the restoration of the clock on St Michael's Parish Church in Bell Street South, Brierley Hill.
The money is coming from the recent £7 million sale of Delph Road Industrial Estate in the town, which 78-year-old Tony and his family built up over 41 years.
For the last quarter of a century Tony has been donating much of his spare time to helping to look after the church where he and his wife Lyn were married. Both were christened there as well.
He began his voluntary work for the grade II listed church, parts of which date from 1765, after finding the roof was leaking and over many years has managed to get all the leaks sorted and has has had damaged paintwork restored as well.
Tony, who also helps keep the churchyard clear of undergrowth, said: "The roof was in a dreadful state. I first became aware how bad it was 42 years ago when I was here to bury my father and wanted to do something about it."
He has also recently paid £10,000 to provided improved central heating for the 18th Century building.
The clock in the church tower was originally paid for by 'Salt King' John Corbett, who was christened at St Michael's, and was in great need of restoration.
"Some of the iron work is dropping apart on the clock faces which I don't think gave ever been maintained," explained Ton, who said that his great-great-grandfather has been the next door neighbour of the philanthropist and they had gone to Hill Street School together.
Tony said the parochial church council had been quoted £19,500 by a company in Derbyshire to put the clock right and put in a new mechanism and he had pledged £10,000 towards the costs of the renovation.
That money and the £100,000 he is putting into a fund for future maintenance and to cover unexpected jobs that might spring up is coming from the industrial estate sale.
"I am also making sure that every Whittaker that follows me will do what I have done in looking after the church.
"When I am not around any more I wanted to ensure it is looked after. We are a family of civil engineers and builders so we have had the skills that were needed to ensure repair work was done properly over the years," he explained.
Churchwardens Maggie Titmus and Sheelagh Withers are delighted that Tony is to continue his support for the parish church.
"We are very grateful for all he has done. He has been more than generous over many years. The inside of the church now looks magnificent again," said Maggie.
"We don't know what we would have done without him," added Sheelagh.
The church will be open every day during the national Heritage Open Days programme from September 10 to 17 to see how the building has been restored.
Tony said: "I am giving the money to repair the clock because I want the legacy of John Corbett to live on. He never forgot his roots in Brierley Hill
John Corbett, who died in 1901 aged 83, originally worked with his father Joseph Corbett who ran a canal transport business in the town.
"Our families were big friends and there is a tale that he left my great-grandfather £10,000 but no one in the family knows if that is true and where the money went if it was," adds Ton.
The industrialist and Liberal Party MP for Droitwich from 1874 to 1892 is particularly associated with the salt industry in Stoke Prior and Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire and as a result was nicknamed The Salt King.
He had sold his share of the family canal business and, in 1853, purchased disused salt workings in Stoke Prior from the British Alkali Company. He developed a pump that made his salt workings the largest in Europe and built a great fortune.
He purchased a rundown house near to his birthplace, The Hill in Amblecote in December 1891. He repaired and refurbished the house, changing its use into a hospital and endowed it to the local people in 1893 as Corbett Hospital.
*Anyone interested in viewing the restored church, helping with the maintenance work at St Michael's or keeping the churchyard in god shape can contact Maggie on 01384 572290 or Sheelagh on 07879 001327
