Mrs. Fitz Wygram
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In 1908 Mrs. FitzWygram gave a small iron and
wood building to make a church room, which was set up in the vicarage
field. The room “is very comfortable
and found to be of great use”. A parish room was considered
during 1914, with the August edition of the magazine reporting “The
Vicar, Churchwardens and Sidesmen have recently had under consideration
the question of providing a Parish Room, large enough for parochial
meetings and gatherings of various kinds. Fortunately they have secured,
at a reasonable price, a convenient site near the Schools, and have
been consulting with those able to give expert advice as to probable
style of building and cost etc. These matters are still being thought
out, and a Meeting of Church people will be held early in the Autumn,
when full details of any proposed scheme will be laid before them."
This meeting was postponed due to the outbreak of war. Read the article
The Proposed Parish Hall.
In 1918 “as a measure of economy”
it was decided to discontinue the use of the mission room in Cross Street
for parochial purposes, as it was felt that, until the new parish hall
was built, the church room in St. James's Road met all requirements.
At the Parochial Church Council Meeting in February 1929 an important
and historic document was signed - the Deed conveying the sites of the
old schools to the P.C.C. The relations of Revd. Fitz Wygram, who originally
owned the site and buildings, kindly gave them to the church. The girls’
and infants’ buildings were kept as they were for the holding
of Sunday School, clubs, etc., letting a sufficient portion of it to
bring in funds towards their maintenance and upkeep. It was hoped that
the boys’ school building would be turned into a hall "worthy
of the Parish" for about £900. This building had been
used for social functions and letting but over the years had fallen
into a state of disrepair. The County Licensing Committee refused to
license it unless drastic alterations were made, at considerable expense.
Consequently, it was decided to remodel this old building to provide
a parish hall. The pitched roof of the main hall was subsequently replaced
by a flat one and a new ceiling and floor installed; the primitive lavatories
at the rear were removed and an extension built on the front to form
an entrance lobby and a gentlemen's cloakroom. The hall became “a
roomy, cosy hall, with every necessary convenience to make it a most
desirable place for holding any public or private entertainment in”.
The December 1930 magazine reported that Revd.
Harvey was determined "that
it should not only be a hall in which dances, concerts and the like
are held, but one in which lectures for young and old are provided,
in fact it must stand for the improvement of the mind as well as the
enjoyment of the body".
Its opening in 1932 was a great event in the history of the parish and
was filled for the occasion which was performed by the Rt. Hon. Lord
Daryngton, President of the Church Army. The Rural Dean said prayers,
after which Revd. Harvey explained how it had always been his wish to
have a hall in the parish worthy of its name and thanked everyone involved.
Mrs. Terry, representing the District Council, said that the hall would
be a great asset to the district. After the singing of the National
Anthem, tea was served to all present and an inspection of the building
was made. In the evening a Social and Dance was held for a full house.
Read the articles about The
New Parish Hall.
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At the Annual Church Meeting in 1954 the need
for a new small hall was discussed and consequently Wayside, a large
house in St. James’s Road, built in 1883 and originally called
Armaside, was bought for £4175 the following year. It proved a
sound investment and provided the church with meeting rooms. The April
1955 Spire reported: "The Council
have been mindful of the need, since the sale of the Club Rooms, for
accommodation, preferably adjacent to the church, for parochial organisations.
With this in view, the Council has, through the London Diocesan Fund,
purchased the freehold property, Wayside, No.7. Saint James's Road,
Hampton Hill, for parochial use in so far as the ground-fioor rooms
are concerned and by way of providing an income, the letting of the
upstairs rooms following their conversion into three fiats (furnished).
The land in School Road, which was purchased for a proposed new hall,
is now for sale."
Wayside was first used in 1955 after the communion service which followed
the confirmation, when many people were served breakfast in the house
and garden. It provided the church with useful meeting rooms,
for many years being the meeting place of the PCC, the Sunday Schools,
the Young People’s Fellowship and many other church-related groups
such as the Mothers’ Union, the Young Wives, the Tuesday Club,
the Young Families Group, and the Wayside Monday Centre (a counselling
service). Breakfasts after the Parish Communion were held there and,
being so near the church, it was felt this was a much better idea than
the small, but expensive, hall that was originally proposed.
The church hall |
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The
hall in School Road was leased to the trustees of the
Scout Group for use as their
headquarters, for a period of ten years in 1960. The Church
Council remained the owner and the London Diocesan Fund the custodian
trustee. The Council and the Scouts together funded the change of heating
to oil, various electrical improvements, new doors and other improvements.
All this transformed the hall from the rather dingy, neglected-looking
place it was becoming to an attractive centre of social activity.
In the 1970s the Church Council, in view of the increased availability
of man-power and finance, decided to resume the management of the church
hall from the scout group. Improvements to the heating and lighting
were carried out together with a complete redecoration of the interior.
During the 1980s the P.C.C. decided it
would be best to bring all the activities of the church under one roof
and so commissioned some feasibility studies. After the 1987 Stewardship
Renewal and Development Campaign, that year's Stewardship Review felt
that money which could be realised by the sale of Wayside could be put
to good use to finance modifications to the church. The sale
released capital which, combined with money from the earlier sale of
the church hall, allowed a new church hall to be built next to the church,
both for church and community use. The
P.C.C. commissioned its architect, John Deal, to draw up plans allowing
for a wide range of uses: for formal meetings, social gatherings, children’s
parties, and support for functions held in the church including weddings
and funerals. The plans were agreed, land was transferred and building
started, including alterations to the vicarage and re-siting the garage
and drive. Read the article The
Parish Hall and Wayside. The church notices board was re-located
facing Park Road.
A foundation stone was consecrated by the Bishop of London, David Hope,
during the St. James’s Festival on the 4th July, 1993. The ‘topping-out’
ceremony took place in December of the same year, but it was still another
eight months before the building was eventually completed. The hall
was officially opened on the 4th September 1994 by a long-standing parishioner.
It was very fitting that the last hymn in the service had been ‘Onward,
Christian Soldiers’, which had been sung when the original small
church was used for the first time. Included in the new building was
a “very attractive porch joining
the church and the hall, somewhat in the style of a Lych-gate, like
a bridge between the spiritual and the secular, between the Church and
the World”. Twin boilers serving both the church and hall
were installed but the original cast-iron pipework remained, largely
unaltered. Read the article Building
the Church Hall. |
