A HISTORY OF CHRIST CHURCH WEST WIMBLEDON - PHOTO GALLERY

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A Brief History of Christ Church West Wimbledon

John Barrett

1. Copse Hill, Wimbledon

2. Exterior of the church

3. Interior of church

4. Church hall

5. Parochial status

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Copse Hill, Wimbledon
It is at the top of Copse Hill – and that gives you an idea of what the area was like – a hill with a lot of trees on it, but now a busy road that leads down to the A3. Prior to 1925 Copse Hill was a country lane, but that year the road was widened and for the first time a footpath added on the north side, maybe the road was improved in preparation for the opening of the A3 two years later. As far as is known the first house built on Copse Hill was in the 1750s, but the area really took off with the coming of the railway in 1838, and within a few years Wimbledon changed from a village to a town. So it was in the mid-1850s that a need was seen for a church in the Copse Hill area. In 1857 an appeal was launched to provide funds to build a church, or more correctly a chapel-of-ease, and within a short time £6,000 was raised. The building contract for the church amounted to £3,425.
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Exterior of church
So it was on Monday 5th August 1859 that a new church in ‘grounds of half an acre or thereabouts’ was dedicated by the Bishop of London, Rt. Revd Archibald Tait. The church was built in Kentish ragstone, with buttresses and some other parts of Bath stone. The architect was Samuel S. Teulon, a man of Huguenot descent, who designed a number of churches in the London area. However, it should be remembered that the original church was smaller than we see today. It did not have a south transept, the main entrance was on the north side and the nave was one bay shorter. The present bells of the church were rung for the first time on All Saints Day, 1899. They are at the top of a narrow flight of 50 steps, but the six bells are fixed in position and cannot be pealed. This is because of the position of the tower. The bells are rung with clapper lines operated by a single ringer. It is said if the bells were hung in the normal position and then rung they would pull the tower down! Major changes to the church since 1859 have included (i) the adding of a south transept, designed by Teulon, in 1860, (ii) the north door ceased to be used as the main entrance (maybe because of the chilly winds that came in from the fields opposite) and (iii) in 1881 it was decided to lengthen the nave. This entailed taking down the west wall, extending the nave by one bay, and rebuilding the west wall incorporating a new porch.

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Interior of Church
As far as the interior of the church is concerned the best features are the arcading and the hammer beam roof. The arcading arches are in the Decorated Style and the columns are unusual. Each design on the columns is different from the one next to it. In 1977 a former parishioner, Miss Truman, left the church £70,000 in her will, as a result a committee was set up to decide how the money should be spent, and eventually a number of improvements were made including: a junk/storage room turned into what we see today – a pleasant Truman Room; the organ pipes were moved from above the organ to above the Truman Room; the church completely redecorated; and the stone work repointed. The Truman Room contains several stained glass windows, the oldest of which facing the Church Hall was designed and erected in 1866. The East Window was the gift of Mr and Mrs Bishop in memory of their son Eric who died in 1907 at the age of fourteen. The window illustrates the Resurrection, and the kneeling boy in the lower left hand corner is a representation of the boy who died. Other gifts by past parishioners include the pulpit given in 1877 and the brass lectern in 1885. The organ dates from 1954, although all the pipes from the old organ were revoiced and incorporated in the new one, which was dedicated at Evensong on 16 May 1954 by the Bishop of Southwark.
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Church Hall
In 1931 the land next to the church came on the market, and the church bought it, and the hall was officially opened in September 1936. In 1939 a kitchen was added, and in November 1940 it was offered to the Church Army who used it as a canteen and club for service personnel in the area until the summer of 1945.

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Parochial Status
As already mentioned the church started out as a chapel-of-ease, but by 1872 the possibility of parochial status was discussed but nothing happened. Further attempts were made over the decades but nothing changed until the church’s Centenary Year when a fresh application was made. The request was considered by the Privy Council in August 1961, and this time the application was allowed. So on 18th September 1961 a service was held for the induction of Rev. Uthwatt as the first vicar of the new parish of Christ Church, West Wimbledon.

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