THE STORY of the CHURCH in HERSHAM - part 3

(from the booklet by E J Redman, 1967)


Holy Trinity Church with the new St Peter's Church - 1887

ST. PETERS CHURCH

WITH THE PASSAGE of time and the growth of the population there came the idea to build a Church which would be really worthy of the Parish and steps were taken which resulted in the laying of the Foundation Stone in 1886 by H.R.H. The Duchess of Albany. This can be seen in the pillar behind the pulpit. The population had grown to 2,090 in 1871 and was slowly increasing. It was estimated in 1878 when the new Church was being considered, that the population had reached 2,400.

The Church was completed in 1887 and was dedicated to Saint Peter in May of that year. Designed by Mr. John L. Pearson, R.A., the Church is of traditional cruciform plan and of the Early English style. Mr. Pearson was perhaps better known for his Cathedral at Truro. He was also responsible for St. James', Weybridge, and All Saints, Hove. The constructional materials are of Bath and Bargate stone for the exterior and the interior is of yellow brick from Claygate, of which about 400,000 were used, the pillars and arches being of Corsham Down Stone and Bath Free Stone. The pillars vary alternately either side of the Nave, i.e., octagonal one side with circular the other. The wagon roof is of Pitch Pine and the Pews and Choir Stalls of Burmese Teak. The floor of the seating area is of wood blocks, the aisles and crossings being of Red Staffordshire Tiles. The cost of the Church and furniture was about £9,000. As a memorial to Mr. F. T. Bircham under whose guidance the new Church was planned, his widow and family provided the entire cost of the Chancel, including the Choir Stalls.

The main entrance is at the North West corner through an archway below the tower which carries a steeple up to a height of ninety-two feet, surmounted by a copper weather-vane in the form of a cockerel. The steeple is constructed of large pine timbers and was covered with oak shingles, these were replaced by Messrs. W. H. Colt Ltd., of Surbiton, in 1966 with new shingles of Canadian Cedarwood.

A peal of eight bells is contained in the upper part of the tower above the ringing chamber. These were the gift of Mr. F. L. Vaux and were dedicated on St. Peters Day, 1901, by the Bishop of Guildford, the special service being followed by the ringing of a peal by the Winchester Diocesan Guild of Ringers. It is recorded that on the same evening, Mr. Vaux entertained, in the Parish Room, the ringers, choir, and other friends to a "substantial cold collation", this being followed by a musical evening.

Only one of the bells carries an inscription and that is the tenor, which is the largest and weighs 8 cwts. I qr. and 21 lb. The inscription reads: "Ad majorem Dei Gloriam (To the greater glory of God). D.D. - F. L. Vaux. 1901. Rev. W. F. Fagan, Vicar. F. L. Vaux, T. S. Paine (Churchwardens)".

The Church was originally lit by gas and changed to electricity later. A complete rewiring and refitting has recently been carried out by Messrs. T. W. Brightwell in conjunction with the Consultant, Mr. C. B. Faulconbridge, A.M.LE.E., F.R.S.A. The light fittings in the side aisles are the gift of an anonymous donor. The appearance of the Church has undergone many changes including the erection of carved screens to the memory of former parishioners and as a result we have an enclosed Lady Chapel and Children's Corner in the Transepts, and a Baptistery at the South West corner. These changes have somewhat reduced the original seating capacity of 600. The walls were originally of bare yellow brick, and, except for the Chancel, remained in that condition until 1931 when they were whitened. Improvements to the Chancel were started in 1906 with the plastering of the brickwork, the new surface being afterwards painted with a design on the theme of the Te Deum.

The old reredos was replaced with the present high one of alabaster, elaborately carved in the same theme.

This reredos was a gift of Mr. F. L. Vaux. The Chancel steps were also replaced by new steps and a wall of Purbeck Marble to support the screen and gate which had previously been erected in 1899 as a memorial to Colonel Terry, who is remembered as the donor of the land on which the Church stands. The whole of this work was designed by Mr. F. L. Pearson, a son of the Architect of the Church, and was carried out by Messrs. Clayton and Bell. Again the Church was indebted to Mr. F. L. Vaux for this was another of his many gifts. The completed work was dedicated by the Bishop of Winchester on 16th April, 1907. The Altar rails and North windows in the Chancel are a memorial to the Rev. W. F. Fagan who was Vicar of this Parish for twenty-four years until his death in 1909.

A further embellishment to the Chancel was recently carried out to the design of Mr. A. J. Whatling A.R.I.B.A. as a memorial to Mr. D.Lindsay, for some time a Church­warden, who died in 1961, and takes the form of a carved oak pelmet over the Reredos extending from wall to wall and carrying on either side of the Reredos draped curtains of gold, and fluorescent tubes giving light to the whole area of the Sanctuary together with additional spot lights from the side walls. A memorial plaque has also been placed on the side wall near the vestry door.

The Pulpit is of carved oak in perforated panels with columns of polished pollard oak. The newel post at the foot of the steps is worth more than a passing glance, it being surmounted by a fine carved statue of St. Peter.

The Pulpit, together with the Lectern and Font, were the gifts of the Barton family who at one time lived at Hersham Lodge. (Now the offices of the Hackbridge Company.)

Over the Pulpit is a new Hymn and Psalm Board in memory of Mr. H. J. Howard, a Churchwarden for many years.

On the Lectern is a Bible given as a memorial to Mr. Walter W. Hughes, formerly of the Hackbridge Company, and who had in 1953, presented a carved oak screen enclosing the Children's Corner, as a memorial to his late wife, and also his son-Clifton Penn Hughes, who was killed whilst flying a solo aeroplane at Lympne, Kent in 1939. The large oil painting which hangs on the East wall of the Childrens Corner is of The Annunciation and was a gift from Mr. Beaty Pownall. The artist is unknown. The Font was originally placed below the West Window and the tiled floor pattern leaves no doubt as to its position. It is of Caen Stone, richly carved, and supported on columns of red and green Devonshire Marble.

A reminder of the first church is depicted in a small water colour drawing in the corner on the left of the West window entitled "Hersham Green - 1830", the date of course should be 1840.

CHURCH MUSIC

THE MUSIC at the new St. Peters Church was provided for the first three years by an American Organ which was bought for nineteen pounds and sixpence. In 1890 a fund was opened and a new organ built by Brindley and Foster was bought at a cost of £616 13s. Od. This was hand-blown, two-manual with pneumatic action.

It was dedicated on 24th October 1890 and a recital given afterwards by W. S. Hoyte, Esq. of All Saints, Margaret Street, who played one of his own compositions on it. It is recorded that troubles occurred with the blowing plant and it was still being blown by hand until a modern blowing plant was installed in 1930. Further modifications with an overhaul of the organ took place in 1931 when the present screen at the back of the choir stalls was erected as a memorial to Mr. J. Pratt. The year 1937 saw another change with a new organ built by Beard of Epsom, a three-manual costing £1,500. The old Brindley Foster organ finding its way to serve, after overhaul and electrification, the Bourne Methodist Church, Southgate.

The Beard Organ was built on the unit principal and with a detached console standing on the North side just outside of the Chancel.

In 1959 a new console was given by a donor who wished to remain anonymous, and in 1961 the old generator power supply was scrapped. All current for the action and console is now supplied by a new 60 amp. transformer rectifier.

THE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

THE EAST WINDOW forms part of the memorial to Mr. F. T. Bircham.

The West window was given by Colonel and Mrs. Terry, of Burvale, in memory of Sir Richard Frederick of Burwood Park.

The Te Deum theme is also seen here, the four lights containing figures representing:­

Other windows are mainly depicting scenes from the life of St. Peter. The centre window on the North wall is specially notable as it is a memorial to the Rev. Broome Lake Witts, the first Incumbent of the Parish, and his wife Sophia Maria, who survived to see the present Church opened, although her husband had been Curate in Charge of the first Church of the Holy Trinity from September 1842 until his death whilst on a visit to Boulogne in 1861 at the age of 44, having served the people of Hersham for nineteen years.

Most of the stained glass is the work of Messrs. Clayton & Bell, including the last to be erected, the centre panel of the South Transept window showing St. Peter, in a more modern style, and which is the memorial to the Rev. E. Russell Brittain who died in 1957 having been Vicar of this Parish for twenty-seven years, 1927­1954.

THE LADY CHAPEL

THE LADY CHAPEL was the gift of Mr. Stanley McGaw in memory of his wife, the gift including the carved oak screens, the panelling, and complete furnishing with but one exception, the Sanctuary Lamp being the gift of the Mothers Union members.

The Plaques on the panelling under the North Window are of more recent date, having been painted and fitted by Mr. H. Thornton of St. Georges Hill. They are the Coats of Arms of (1) The Walton & Weybridge Urban District; (2) Colonel Terry; (3) The Duchess of Albany and (4) The Royal Arms.

Those on the East wall were placed there with the panelling and are of Canterbury, St. Peter, and the Diocese of Guildford.

WAR MEMORIALS

BELOW THE GREAT WEST WINDOW is the memorial to those men of Hersham who gave their lives in the First Great War of 1914-18. This measures twelve feet long by six feet high and is of Bere Stone, richly carved, with four panels containing the names of those who gave their lives, in letters of gold, 117 in number. At one end is enshrined a figure of St. Peter and at the other the figure of S1. George. In the centre is the Cross, and other niches are adorned with crowns of victory and emblazoned shields. In a case set on the bookshelf below is a Memorial Book, with pages of vellum, illuminated and containing the names of all those men, women and children, who lost their lives through enemy action during the second World War, and includes those killed by bombing raids within the Parish. The Standards of the British Legion are carried on either side of the memorial.

A memorial in the shape of a Wayside Cross, twenty feet high, was also erected in 1920 on a piece of land adjoining the Pond.

The site was later improved by filling in the pond and laying out a small public garden there. A second inscription was added to the base of this Cross to commemorate those who died and served in the Second War.

THE CLOCK

THE CLOCK which was originally in the Holy Trinity Church was taken away for overhaul when the Church was demolished and was later, in 1889, placed in the tower of the new Church.

The mechanism gave out in recent years and a new electric mechanism is now driving the spindle to the old face.

THE LYCH GATE

THE LYCH GATE at the main entrance was the gift of Mrs. Courtenay Terry, of Shrublands, Burwood Road, as a memorial to her husband, Major Courtenay Forbes Terry, who died in 1896.

In later years when Shrublands was pulled down, about 1930, bricks salvaged from the house were used to pave the pathway from the gate to the Church door. The double gates here have recently been renewed by the generosity of Messrs. W. & E. Simmons Ltd., who have lately been employed at the Church on other works, including the relaying of the brick pathway on a concrete bed in 1966. The pathway is flanked by standard roses and tall clipped yews.

ST. ANDREW CHURCH

THE POPULATION after the 1914 - 18 War rose rapidly to nearly 7,000 and eventually the building of a second Church for the Molesey Road area was considered with the result that we now have St. Andrews, appropriately named after the young brother of St. Peter. This new Church, built to the designs of R. J. D. Beaty-Pownall, Esq., F.R.I.B.A., was opened in 1936 and dedicated on October 18th of that year by Dr. Macmillan, the second Bishop of Guildford.

Here is an interesting link with our first Church which had been demolished in 1889. A Churchwarden for forty years, Mr. F. L. Vaux, who lived at Claremont Cottage, at the corner of Burhill and Burwood Roads opposite the West end of St. Peters Church, retained two stained glass windows from the old church. These were restored and built into St. Andrews, one at each end. The one over the Altar depicts St. John Baptist and bears an inscription that it was in memory of the Rev. William North who was the first Curate to serve Hersham in the Holy Trinity Church in 1839. The second window can be seen over the entrance door and it is thought has no special significance.

The music at St. Andrews was originally provided by a single manual tracker action pipe organ with pedals and this was used until 1961. The organ now in use is electronic, with two manuals and pedals and was purchased mainly with a bequest to the Church by a former worshipper here.

A detached speaker unit was added later.

THE VICARAGE

THE PRESENT VICARAGE replaced an old structure which occupied the same site, was built to the designs of the Diocesan Architect, D. E. Nye, L.R.I.B.A.

WHITELEY VILLAGE

THIS VILLAGE was founded by the will of William Whiteley, a well-known London business man, and was officially opened by King George V and Queen Mary in May 1921. It stands within the Parish at the West end of Burwood Road. It has its own Church, St. Marks, and is served by a Chaplain appointed by the Trustees.

BENEFACTORS OF THE CHURCH

IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED by all Parishioners that but for the generosity of several who have lived and served here, this Parish would not be what it is today.

Mention of Frederick Loring Vaux has already been made in this record, but it should be known that apart from his forty years service as a Churchwarden, he has provided the Parish, entirely at his own expense, the Peal of Bells, the Alabaster Reredos, the Church house, St. Peters Institute, "Bargate", Esher Road, and finally, following his death on Christmas Eve, 1933, at the ripe old age of ninety-three, his will revealed that he had bequeathed his field opposite his home-"To the Guild­ford Diocesan Trustees to preserve and keep the said field and premises thereon as an open space in perpetuity and so as to protect all amenities for the Parish Church and to maintain the residential amenities of the immediate neighbourhood, etc., etc."

The field is now well-known as "Vauxmead", and is let to the Surrey County Council during School hours as a school playing field.

Mr. Vaux also interested himself in all the local activities and was very much to the fore in getting the Village Hall built and with the Working Mens Club. He also provided a Club for boys on his own premises before building St. Peters Institute, and the old club room still stands next door to the Womens Institute. Another outlet for his generosity was Back Green which at one time was very uneven. He had it cleaned up and left with a nice even surface and finally provided a post and rail fence around it similar to that now surrounding Hersham Green.

Other benefactors include Mr. F. T. Bircham who has already been mentioned and who lived at Burhill Park, owned the field referred to above and in 1883 offered it as a site for the new Church. It was not, however, selected, there were three offers to choose from, so Mr. Bircham sold the field to Col. Terry, who owned the adjoining property, and then gave the purchase money to the Building Fund. He died in that same year and therefore did not see the finish of the project which he had so much at heart. Some years earlier he had bought the Advowson, i.e., the right of presentation to the Benefice of Hersham.

The recorded cost of this is put at £1,075, and later this was passed on freely to the Bishop of the Diocese. The disposition of this sum by the Ecclesiastical Com­missioners was that £475 was to be held for the benefit of the Vicar of Walton, from whom it was purchased, and the balance of £600 to the Building Fund for the new Church. Mr. Bircham also provided Hersham with its first Parish Room, since converted, and at present used as the Church Office.

Mr. Rupert Pratt was known in more recent times as a colleague of Mr. Vaux in his work with the Boys Club, and also for his interest in the establishment of St. Andrews Church in Molesey Road. He it was who provided the site at the corner of Arch Road, and also gave another piece of land in Arch Road which was subsequently sold. He also remembered the Church in his will by which, after the lives of certain relatives, property was to be sold and the amount received divided in equal parts between. St. Peters and St. Andrews Churches.

He died in 1945 and the legacy amounting to nearly £1,500 was received only quite recently.

Many other people have contributed in various ways and many have given generously of their service which has often been found an even greater gift than money could provide.

INCUMBENTS OF THE PARISH

The writer is indebted to the late Rev. B. L. Witts, and to the late Mr. F. L. Vaux who by their writings of years ago and the collections of photographs, notes, news­cuttings, etc., have provided a wealth of interest without which much of this booklet could not have been written.

Thanks are also due to Mr. A. J. Whatling A.R.I.B.A. and Mr. J. Emmerson for their assistance and co-operation with Architectural details and Organ notes.

It is also interesting to know that on the last Census taken in 1961, our small Hamlet of Hersham contained 14,525 souls!

With the development which has taken place since then we must surely number a figure fast approaching 20,000!

E. J. REDMAN, August 1967

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• This page was last updated on 17 October 2007.