Canon John Manchester retires from St Mary’s Priory, Old Malton

Tomorrow, when he steps down from the pulpit at what is expected to be a packed service at one of Ryedale’s best known ecclesiastical treasures, he will have completed 34 years as vicar, the longest-serving incumbent of a parish in the York Diocese.

His ministry ends, appropriately on St Gilbert’s Day – the saint whose Order built the priory and who was its first incumbent.

Rev Manchester started as a curate at St Martin’s-on-the-Hill in Scarborough, under the Rev Maurice Maddocks, later Bishop of Selby, after graduating from London College of Divinity. His spell at St Martin’s found him working as chaplain to the artistes in the seaside summer shows, most notably The Black and White Minstrels, and to politicians when the national parties held their conferences in the resort.

Canon Manchester’s enthusiasm for the theatre-world continued throughout his ministry, with many entertainers regularly answering his call to open garden fetes to draw in the crowds. He recalls working with such stars as the Krankies, the Grumbleweeds and the Nolan Sisters.

From Scarborough, he moved to Selby Abbey where highlights included arranging a service for the late Queen Mother and the US Ambassador, to mark the abbey’s close links with the family of George Washington.

In 1976 he was appointed vicar of Old Malton by Earl Fitzwilliam. Since then, his enthusiasm for the role has paid dividends for St Mary’s, which has benefited from the thousands of pounds he has raised to meet running costs at the priory. Never camera-shy, he has happily been photographed in all manner of guises to publicise parish events.

His ministry at Old Malton included more than 1,000 funerals, about 40 christenings a year and, unusually, helping the late Princess Margaret in the kitchen of a local stately home.

He also found himself at the centre of a high-profile tragedy – the shooting of Barry Prudham who was on the run after killing three people, two of them police officers, and wounding a third officer in 1982.

Canon Manchester said: “I remember on the day of Barry Prudham’s death – a Sunday – that there was a knock at the church door. It was the police who told me to get the congregation out as quickly as possible.”

Prudham shot himself a few hours later after being cornered by police marksmen at the town’s tennis courts.

Canon Manchester also recalls officiating at the funeral of an unknown woman at Malton Cemetery after she was found dead at Sutton Bank in mysterious circumstances.

Those rare incidents aside, however, Canon Manchester said: “It has been a wonderful time, working with such friendly people. I shall miss them greatly.”

Pondering the future of the wider Church, he says things have to change. “People are busy on Sundays, so we have introduced Holy Communion services on Thursdays and Sunday School is now on Tuesdays.”

Paying tribute to his role at the Priory, churchwarden John Kinghorn said: “We all have recollections of his kindness, understand, and his thoughtful help at times of need. He has worked very hard, enthusiastically, diligently and loyally in the interests of his congregation and parish. He has achieved much over the years.”

His views were echoed by fellow churchwardem Roger Peacock.

Leading congregation member Howard Croft said: “John is known as a larger than life character whose infectious laugh preceds him, and whose bella figura makes him instantly recognisably. He has made many contributions to the life of the community, and the countless acts of kindness and support quietly and generously given, known only to the beneficiaries.”