Back in 1877 Bishop George Selwyn of Lichfield (1858 – 1868) appointed a Barge Mission chaplain, who endeavoured to collect the bargemen for worship at their loading places.

“Every spare Sabbath the Bishop gave up to this work, so congenial with his spirit; but he saw that to really influence the canal population, a canal floating church must be provided, and he built a diocesan barge, which should move about freely, and in which he determined himself to navigate the grimy waters of the Midland canals with the same cheerful devotion which had carried him over the laughing waves of the South Pacific.”

He infused into his clergy a spirit for carrying on foreign missions.

An extract from the Canal Boatmen’s Mission publication can be seen below…