St Andrews Church Aston Subedge  Glos.

St Andrews is a delightful small church located at the bottom of the Cotswold escarpment. It is rare nowadays to discover a church of any size still fitted with its original gas heating and lighting. It would be of interest to find out when the gas heating and lighting systems were first installed.

The church is heated by four gas fired radiators  made by Fletcher Russell & Co Ltd of Warrington.  This company has an interesting history

Fletcher Russell & Co Ltd were established by Thomas Fletcher (1840-1903), who began work as a dentist in Warrington. In 1865 he was listed in Cairo Street and in 1871 at 15 Bold Street. By 1876 he had moved to 4-6 Museum Street and was manufacturing dental apparatus. By the early 1880s he had added a gas appliance manufactory in Thynne Street, and the 1881 census records show him employing 10 men, 2 boys and a girl.  By 1895 the company had become Fletcher Russell and Co Gas Engineers, his firm having merged with Alexander and William Russell of Pendleton Iron Works. The 1901 directory gives their address as Palatine Works, Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington, manufacturing all types of gas equipment including fires, cookers and water heaters as well as laboratory equipment. In the 1950's the firm merged into Radiation Ltd which later went into TI New World, which has gone through many changes and mergers up to the present day.

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An original cast iron ornately styled gas lit street
lighting lampost  now converted to electricity.

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