history

April’s blog is based on a guided walk of Sutton town centre which I recently led as part of my church’s 125th anniversary celebrations. While preparing for the Walk, I learned so much about Sutton’s history; humble beginnings as a hamlet of 200 hundred inhabitants and 30 dwellings recorded in the 1068 Domesday Book, through the 1700s as a major staging post, with coaching inns on either side of the London to Brighton Road, to a thriving suburban town with the coming of the railway in 1846. And of course, there are the churches; we looked at three close to the town centre and the fourth, slightly further out, my own church which has its own intriguing history.

St Nicholas

Still surrounded by its ancient churchyard, the present church was built in 1864 at a cost of £7,600, to accommodate the increase in population; the original mediaeval church was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The Revd Herbert Turner became the incumbent in 1866, two years after the building of the new church, and he was well known locally for his charitable work. He set up a committee of local tradesmen to provide dinners for 2,500 poor children during the winter months, and a ‘Clothing, Blanket and Boots’ club for the poor. The church continues its work in the community by being the HQ of the Sutton Street Pastors who go out from here on Fridays and Saturdays to engage with the people of Sutton. They have developed a good relationship with rough sleepers, some of whom ‘live’ in the churchyard. On the North side of the church the windows are plain glass instead of stained-glass as a reminder of the bomb which landed and exploded in the churchyard on the night of 24^th September 1940. All the windows on this side were blown out, but this was the only significant damage to the church. In the churchyard stands the Gibson Mausoleum which was built in 1777, containing the remains of James Gibson, a London wine merchant and his family, paid for by his eldest daughter Mary. Both her parents died in 1776 and Mary used some of her inheritance to pay for them to be interred here instead of in the churchyard. Inside are 2 hexagonal sarcophagi and 5 hexagonal wooden coffins, all extended family of James Gibson. The tomb opens for annual inspection on August 12^th and last year a distant relative from America attended the ceremony. One of the church’s treasures is the original small mediaeval font, rescued from the original church.

**Tiny mediaeval font and image of St Nicholas**

**Delightful Easter tableau in the church**

Trinity Church

Trinity Church, built in 1907 in the Gothic style, is a lovely landmark in the town with its tall tower and unusual ‘crown and lantern’ spire, which it shares with Newcastle Cathedral and St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. So an ordinary church in what was a small suburban town has the same spire as two cathedrals! The church opened in 1907 as Sutton Wesleyan Church, replacing a smaller building further out of town. In 1973 the Methodist Church joined with the United Reformed Church (formerly Congregational Church) to form one congregation, and the church changed its name to Trinity. And two years before this, in 1971, the four central Sutton churches: St Nicholas Parish Church, Sutton Baptist, Methodist and Sutton Congregational Church, signed a covenant to work together for their congregations and for the wider community. Today, the regular congregation shares their building with Sutton’s Hong Kong Fellowship and the two congregations join together for social events and Carol Services .Trinity Church has several additional buildings, most added later but all in the same Gothic style. I think it’s a very beautiful and bold attraction in our town.

Attractive former Congregational Church (now demolished)*

**Additional buildings of Trinity Church**

Sutton Baptist Church

On the other side of Cheam Road, just outside the town centre, is the Baptist Church, built in 1934 in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style. I thought that this late 19th/early 20th century movement referred to furnishings, room design and wallpaper, I didn’t realise it could apply to buildings. Trinity and the Baptist Church were built less than 30 years apart, but they couldn’t be more different. This building replaced a more ‘traditional’ style of church a little way down the High Street, which was bought by Mr Shinner who wanted to expand his shopping empire to create a department store. I think the picture below is rather sad: a big banner across the church building basically declaring that the church will have to ‘make way’ for progress and commerce. However, I do really like the ‘new’ building, built in red brick in the ‘Modern Gothic’ style. I love the detail over the doorway and the high windows in the main church, wish I could take a look inside! The church is a noted in the Heritage Department of the Borough for its cotemporary brick design, lots of sharp angles and varying surfaces. In its way, just as impressive as Trinity Church.

Mock Gothic Window
Front of the church

**The side of Sutton Baptist Church (The parked cars give it scale)**

Sutton Christian Centre

Finally just to the West of the town centre is Sutton Christian Centre. In November 1896 Elizabeth Ockenden purchased most of the land on the south side side of Tate road. The plot was divided into smaller plots on which were built a row of terraced houses and two pairs of semi detached houses. In between these sets of houses, one plot was left for the construction of the church. A map of 1913 shows houses on both sides of the road, a ‘Baptist Chapel’ (the church), allotment gardens and some woodland. A pair of Tin Huts were built and the Chapel had its official opening day on 1^st January 1899 as East Cheam Baptist Chapel. Fast forward to 1970 and the tin hut and adjacent hall were demolished and a new permanent brick building with a flat roof was constructed. In 1981 this building was extended and improved, and the church became known as Sutton Pentecostal Church. Since then other improvements have been made, the church trustees purchased the semi next door and knocked a wall through so that the church and house were now connected. Originally the house was the home of the incumbent Pastor but later it became offices and space for meetings, etc. The Church changed its name to Sutton Christian Centre in the 1990s.

Huts being demolished, notice the lack of ‘Health and Safety’ including a child’s pushchair on the site!*

* Photos from Sutton: A Pictorial History, Frank Burgess, 1993, Phillimore Press. Photos of the Tate Road site from Sutton Christian Centre’s collection

The difference between a church and a chapel: ‘A church is a community, while a chapel is a place.’ So says Wikihow, which appears to be a children’s Wikipedia. Churches usually have a permanent congregation and have a pastor or priest to lead regular services. Chapels are smaller places of worship and can be situated in a hospital, school, a private residence or a churchyard. Some large churches and cathedrals have chapels in the side aisles. Nowadays there are also chapels in airports and work places; some are simply rooms set aside for private prayer and contemplation. The four I’m going to write about are all separate structures with lots of history. All these chapels are free to enter, all well worth a visit.

Source: Wikihow

Fulham Palace Chapel

Fulham Palace was the home of the Bishops of London from the 11^th century until 1973. It’s still owned by the Church of England though today it’s managed by the Fulham Trust and open to the public. The first chapel on the site dates from 1231 and the fourth one, the Tait Chapel was designed by William Butterfield for Bishop Tait in 1867. Damaged by a bomb in World War ll, the chapel was reorganised and redecorated in the 1950s for Bishop Wand. Students from the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting painted murals over Butterfield’s decorative brickwork in 1953; the murals feature events from the New Testament. The large East stained-glass window shows the risen Jesus giving the command to Peter ‘Feed my sheep.’ On each side of this are portraits of Bishops Wand and Creighton.

The Conversion of St Paul
The Stoning of Stephen

The King’s Chapel of the Savoy

Also known simply as the Savoy Chapel, it was built as part of a charitable foundation under the terms of the will of King Henry Eighth. The chapel is all that remains of the Savoy Hospital, which replaced a 14^th century palace on the site of the Savoy estate, built by John of Gaunt, younger son of King Edward Third. King Henry set up the foundation to provide lodging and food for 100 ‘poore and nedie’ men, presumably homeless. The original hospital, completed in 1515 consisted of a Great Dormitory and no less than three chapels; obviously the souls of the men were considered as important as their physical needs. The hospital was demolished in the early 19^th century because of redevelopment of the area; the survival of the 500-year-old chapel is probably because it adjoined the main buildings rather than being an integral part. In 1937 the chapel became the home of the Royal Victorian Order and today it is still consecrated for services and also hosts musical concerts.

Source: royalchapelsavoy.org

Spectacular Ceiling
Altar
Queen Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee
Memorial Window

Fitzrovia Chapel

The Fitzrovia Chapel is located in the Fitzrovia Place Development in the central courtyard of the former Middlesex Hospital. It’s something of a surprise to enter the courtyard surrounded by residential and office buildings completed in 2015, and to see the late 19th century chapel, built in the Gothic Revival-style. It was built in 1892 as the Middlesex Hospital Chapel; the hospital itself was completely demolished between 2008 and 2015. Standing on a base of artificial grass with carefully spaced trees, the exterior of the chapel isn’t particularly impressive, but the moment you step inside – WOW! A written description, or even my photos, cannot do justice to the interior of this amazing space, it’s a must-visit! The Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation manages the Chapel today and regularly hosts art exhibitions.

Source: Wikipedia

**Memorial Plaques to employees of the Middlesex Hospital**

The Lumley Chapel, Cheam

The Lumley Chapel is the oldest building in Cheam in the London Borough of Sutton and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is situated in the churchyard of a Victorian church, St Dunstan’s and was the chancel or sanctuary of the original church of St Dunstan which was founded soon after 1018. Parts of the chapel itself are believed to be pre-Norman Conquest. In 1580, 1^st Baron John Lumley inherited nearby Nonsuch Palace and in the 1590s he converted the church into a memorial chapel to his two wives. The most striking memorial is that to John’s first wife Jane, who died in 1578, which features depictions of their three children at prayer. Sadly all three children died in childhood. Lumley’s second wife Elizabeth died in 1617 and her recumbent effigy lies on her tomb in the chapel. This tiny chapel is crammed with memorials, monuments and wall plaques but somehow does not look overcrowded.

Source: cheamparish.org.uk; Wikipedia