Bishop honours Diocesan Needlewoman
92 year old Mrs Barbara Hollingdale has stitched a lot of church needlework in her time. On Thursday 19th April the Bishop honoured her hard work and dedication when he invested her with the Order of St Woolos. The ceremony took place in Eleanor Hodson House, Caerleon, where Mrs Hollingdale is resident. The staff provided a delicious afternoon tea for the family and friends who came for the ceremony.
Mrs Hollingdale is the only surviving founder member of the Diocesan Guild of Church Needlework which has made vestments for clergy and altar linen for churches since it began in 1950. Mrs Hollingdale was workmistress from 1954 to the mid-1970s and then became director and principal of the guild.
She remembers when St John the Baptist church in Newport burned down. All the Guild’s materials were stored in the vestry but fortunately they were saved. Guild members then painstakingly copied all the vestments and altar linen that had been destroyed in the fire.
Members (including some men) were taught to stitch by a professional needlewoman. They began by learning to stitch the hems and crosses of white purificators. Unsatisfactory work had to be unpicked and redone! When they were judged to be sufficiently skilled, they were allowed to progress to more fancy work.
Mrs Hollingdale says that her eyes are no longer good enough to do any embroidery, but she is still quite capable of unpicking when necessary. She felt greatly honoured at being invested with the Order of St Woolos.
Before the presentation, the Bishop said: “I am looking forward to presenting Mrs Hollingdale with the award. It is to thank her for her many years of service to the Church and particularly for her work with the Guild of Needlework. Our churches contain many examples of skilled embroidery which like paintings and stained glass add colour and beauty to our buildings.”