Worcester Park History
Farewell to the black horse
As many readers will be aware, Lloyds Bank closed its Worcester Park branch in Central Road on 6th November 2019, and I thought we ought to bid farewell to what was Worcester Park’s first bank – albeit not under this name and not in that location.
The Worcester Park part of this story begins in 1902 when the Capital and Counties Bank decided, or perhaps were persuaded, that it would be worth their while to offer banking facilities to the people of Worcester Park – which at that time was mainly focussed on relatively small clusters of houses in and around The Avenue, Church Road, Longfellow Road, Central Road (to use its current name) and Cheam Common Road. If ‘persuaded’ is the correct word, the persuasion may possibly have come from the Millward/Milward family, in whose premises in Park Terrace the branch was first opened.
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Thomas Frith Millward had taken on a wide variety of roles in the local community, based at the Post Office in Park Terrace, a small building closing off the far end of the terrace as shown in the centre of this postcard (postmarked 1907). He was the postmaster by 1874, and he and his sons Thomas William and Harold Frith (who seem to have adopted the spelling Milward, while their father retained the double l) variously diversified into new roles as estate agents and surveyors, coal merchants, stationers and drapers.
The name of the Capital and Counties Bank may not be very familiar today – although Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts may recall that in ‘The Adventure of the Priory School’ Holmes mentions that his account is held at the bank’s Oxford Street branch. The bank’s origins lie in two banks set up in Hampshire and Wiltshire in the 1830s.
At this time there were over 800 banks in England and Wales, roughly one for every 17,000 in the population (the great majority of whom would not, of course, have had accounts). In order to protect the Bank of England from competition, banks with more than six partners, or joint-stock banks, had not been permitted to issue their own banknotes, and whether such banks could legally operate even without issuing notes was doubtful. Most banks, therefore, were privately-owned businesses, many of them run by a single family combining banking with another trade, and active only in one or a small number of towns.
Between 1826 and 1844, it was possible to establish new joint-stock banks, and the many banks which were opened as a result of this relaxation included the Hampshire Banking Company, opened in Southampton in 1834, and the North Wilts Banking Co, established in the following year in Melksham (its nucleus was the private bank of Moule and Co, established in 1792). Both grew in the following decades, absorbing private banks in their respective counties.
In a series of transactions in 1877-8, the two banks amalgamated to form the Hampshire and North Wilts Banking Co, acquired the London bank of Willis, Percival and Co of Lombard Street – in the hope of being allowed to take on the latter’s position at the London Clearing House – and changed their name to the Capital and Counties Bank in order to make clear their aspiration to be a London as well as a country bank. Willis, Percival and Co were one of the oldest banks then in existence in Lombard Street, tracing their origins there to 1677, albeit with various changes in name.
The Capital and Counties were allowed to join the Clearing House within a few years, and continued to grow; in Surrey they acquired Haydon and Smallpiece of Guildford (established in 1765) in 1883, and Knight, Jenner and Co of Farnham three years later (the latter had begun as a private bank set up in 1806 by James Stevens, a woolstapler and hop merchant, who had a narrow escape from a highwayman while transporting cash). They opened a branch in Epsom in 1892, and the Worcester Park office was originally run as an agency from there, from 1902.
It appears from the table of branch opening dates given in R S Sayers’s Lloyds Bank in the History of English Banking (1957) that this means that Worcester Park was, surprisingly, served by one of the banks that would make up Lloyds Bank earlier than Kingston (where a branch was opened in 1921), Cheam (1923), Sutton (1925), Wimbledon (also 1925), New Malden (1926), Surbiton (1927), North Cheam (1930), Ewell (1931), although some of these did have branches of other banks.
Initially the Capital and Counties rented one room from the Millwards, open in the mornings on two weekdays and Saturdays. Some years ago I visited the bank’s archive and, if I remember rightly, I read that it was some time before the staff were allowed to leave cash on the premises between visits (I can’t currently check this, but a former member of staff of Lloyds tells me he recalls that a similar procedure still applied at part-time sub-branches in Hampshire in the late 1960s). The Millwards’ building can once again be seen in the centre of the next illustration.
The name of the Capital and Counties Bank may not be very familiar today – although Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts may recall that in ‘The Adventure of the Priory School’ Holmes mentions that his account is held at the bank’s Oxford Street branch. The bank’s origins lie in two banks set up in Hampshire and Wiltshire in the 1830s.
At this time there were over 800 banks in England and Wales, roughly one for every 17,000 in the population (the great majority of whom would not, of course, have had accounts). In order to protect the Bank of England from competition, banks with more than six partners, or joint-stock banks, had not been permitted to issue their own banknotes, and whether such banks could legally operate even without issuing notes was doubtful. Most banks, therefore, were privately-owned businesses, many of them run by a single family combining banking with another trade, and active only in one or a small number of towns.
Between 1826 and 1844, it was possible to establish new joint-stock banks, and the many banks which were opened as a result of this relaxation included the Hampshire Banking Company, opened in Southampton in 1834, and the North Wilts Banking Co, established in the following year in Melksham (its nucleus was the private bank of Moule and Co, established in 1792). Both grew in the following decades, absorbing private banks in their respective counties.
In a series of transactions in 1877-8, the two banks amalgamated to form the Hampshire and North Wilts Banking Co, acquired the London bank of Willis, Percival and Co of Lombard Street – in the hope of being allowed to take on the latter’s position at the London Clearing House – and changed their name to the Capital and Counties Bank in order to make clear their aspiration to be a London as well as a country bank. Willis, Percival and Co were one of the oldest banks then in existence in Lombard Street, tracing their origins there to 1677, albeit with various changes in name.
The Capital and Counties were allowed to join the Clearing House within a few years, and continued to grow; in Surrey they acquired Haydon and Smallpiece of Guildford (established in 1765) in 1883, and Knight, Jenner and Co of Farnham three years later (the latter had begun as a private bank set up in 1806 by James Stevens, a woolstapler and hop merchant, who had a narrow escape from a highwayman while transporting cash). They opened a branch in Epsom in 1892, and the Worcester Park office was originally run as an agency from there, from 1902.
It appears from the table of branch opening dates given in R S Sayers’s Lloyds Bank in the History of English Banking (1957) that this means that Worcester Park was, surprisingly, served by one of the banks that would make up Lloyds Bank earlier than Kingston (where a branch was opened in 1921), Cheam (1923), Sutton (1925), Wimbledon (also 1925), New Malden (1926), Surbiton (1927), North Cheam (1930), Ewell (1931), although some of these did have branches of other banks.
Initially the Capital and Counties rented one room from the Millwards, open in the mornings on two weekdays and Saturdays. Some years ago I visited the bank’s archive and, if I remember rightly, I read that it was some time before the staff were allowed to leave cash on the premises between visits (I can’t currently check this, but a former member of staff of Lloyds tells me he recalls that a similar procedure still applied at part-time sub-branches in Hampshire in the late 1960s). The Millwards’ building can once again be seen in the centre of the next illustration.
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In 1918 the Capital and Counties merged with Lloyds Bank Ltd. Lloyds had started in June 1765 as one of the first private banks in Birmingham, under the name of Taylors and Lloyds. The founders were John Taylor, a cabinet-maker, Sampson Lloyd, an iron founder, and their two sons. Birmingham at this time was experiencing enormous growth as a result of the Industrial Revolution and, in common with other successful manufacturers and traders, the Lloyd and Taylor families took advantage of the demand for new banking facilities to launch a bank alongside their existing businesses. Within ten years, the bank had 277 customers, including 72 women, an unusually high proportion at the time.
Most country banks established agency relations with a London bank who would undertake transactions in London on their behalf, but the Lloyd and Taylor families went one better, establishing a separate London bank, Hanbury, Taylor, Lloyd and Bowman, in Lombard Street in 1770/1. Until 1864 the main Lloyds business in Birmingham remained a private partnership with a single office, but in that year the first branch was opened, and in 1865 it became a joint-stock bank, Lloyds Banking Co Ltd (and therefore had to give up issuing its own banknotes, although the popularity of these notes in the Midlands meant that they continued to circulate for many years). The last member of the Taylor family to be involved had left in 1853.
The bank still only had 33 branches by 1884, all within about 50 miles of Birmingham, but by 1918, through mergers and opening new branches, Lloyds had grown to 888 offices, with particular strengths in the Midlands, the North-East, South Wales and the West Country, while the Capital and Counties had 473 branches, notably in the South and South-East, the south-west Midlands, East Anglia and Cornwall. In that year the two banks merged, and the name Lloyds came to be applied to the whole business, although full integration took a while, not least because Lloyds used double-entry book-keeping, and the Capital and Counties used single-entry.
Within a few years of the merger, Lloyds would make a number of changes to its provision for Worcester Park. A new tenancy agreement at the Park Terrace premises was agreed in 1922, giving the bank the use of the room from 10 till 1 on weekdays and from 10 to 12 on Saturdays for £30 a year, with an option to remain open until 3pm on weekdays for an extra £8.
As business increased, new premises were acquired: the first move was to two rooms rented from 1925 onwards in the premises of the builder G W Young in Central Road. Mr Young had set up in business in the lowest of the original parade of shops just above Brinkley Road (at the left-hand end of the parade in this postcard), and later moved into new premises on the corner (now D G Coles and Son Ltd and Central Locksmiths). Although the bank had left Park Terrace, the name ‘Bank Buildings’ would be applied to the original building until it was demolished after fire damage in the 1970s and replaced by Fairman Law House (now Mercury House).
Most country banks established agency relations with a London bank who would undertake transactions in London on their behalf, but the Lloyd and Taylor families went one better, establishing a separate London bank, Hanbury, Taylor, Lloyd and Bowman, in Lombard Street in 1770/1. Until 1864 the main Lloyds business in Birmingham remained a private partnership with a single office, but in that year the first branch was opened, and in 1865 it became a joint-stock bank, Lloyds Banking Co Ltd (and therefore had to give up issuing its own banknotes, although the popularity of these notes in the Midlands meant that they continued to circulate for many years). The last member of the Taylor family to be involved had left in 1853.
The bank still only had 33 branches by 1884, all within about 50 miles of Birmingham, but by 1918, through mergers and opening new branches, Lloyds had grown to 888 offices, with particular strengths in the Midlands, the North-East, South Wales and the West Country, while the Capital and Counties had 473 branches, notably in the South and South-East, the south-west Midlands, East Anglia and Cornwall. In that year the two banks merged, and the name Lloyds came to be applied to the whole business, although full integration took a while, not least because Lloyds used double-entry book-keeping, and the Capital and Counties used single-entry.
Within a few years of the merger, Lloyds would make a number of changes to its provision for Worcester Park. A new tenancy agreement at the Park Terrace premises was agreed in 1922, giving the bank the use of the room from 10 till 1 on weekdays and from 10 to 12 on Saturdays for £30 a year, with an option to remain open until 3pm on weekdays for an extra £8.
As business increased, new premises were acquired: the first move was to two rooms rented from 1925 onwards in the premises of the builder G W Young in Central Road. Mr Young had set up in business in the lowest of the original parade of shops just above Brinkley Road (at the left-hand end of the parade in this postcard), and later moved into new premises on the corner (now D G Coles and Son Ltd and Central Locksmiths). Although the bank had left Park Terrace, the name ‘Bank Buildings’ would be applied to the original building until it was demolished after fire damage in the 1970s and replaced by Fairman Law House (now Mercury House).
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A few years later, probably in 1930, a purpose-built bank at 184 Central Road, on the corner of Green Lane was opened. By this time the manager of the New Malden branch was responsible for Worcester Park, and the day-to-day running was overseen by Mr T H Willoughby, the Clerk-in-Charge. In 1936 full branch status was achieved.
This mid-20th century postcard provides a glimpse of the single-storey c1930 bank on the corner of Green Lane and, at the right-hand edge, part of the premises of the Co-op, or South Suburban Co-operative Society to give it its full name, at nos. 170-172, to which Lloyds would later move.
This mid-20th century postcard provides a glimpse of the single-storey c1930 bank on the corner of Green Lane and, at the right-hand edge, part of the premises of the Co-op, or South Suburban Co-operative Society to give it its full name, at nos. 170-172, to which Lloyds would later move.
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Lloyds would later extend their provision for the area with the opening of a small branch at Ruxley Corner, which subsequently became a sub-branch of Tolworth and finally closed, to the chagrin of account-holders who enjoyed the thought of the rural idyll that might come into the minds of the recipients of cheques headed ‘Ruxley Lane Branch’.
The premises on the corner of Green Lane with, if I remember rightly, reassuringly impressive dark wood panelling, would be used for more than half a century, but the next photograph, taken in 1989, captures the final change in location. In the foreground are the c1930 premises, with Lloyds’s familiar black horse logo with its green surround on a projecting sign, and above the door is a carved version of the horse. Six doors to the right, the bank’s new premises can also be seen, with a brighter green fascia board and another projecting black horse sign. The new, larger premises facilitated a more open-plan layout.
The premises on the corner of Green Lane with, if I remember rightly, reassuringly impressive dark wood panelling, would be used for more than half a century, but the next photograph, taken in 1989, captures the final change in location. In the foreground are the c1930 premises, with Lloyds’s familiar black horse logo with its green surround on a projecting sign, and above the door is a carved version of the horse. Six doors to the right, the bank’s new premises can also be seen, with a brighter green fascia board and another projecting black horse sign. The new, larger premises facilitated a more open-plan layout.
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The black horse was not the first Lloyds logo – that was a beehive, dating back to the 1820s – but it does have a long history. In 1864 the London strand in the Lloyds family, Hanbury, Taylor, Lloyd and Bowman, took over another London bank, Bland, Barnett and Hoare of Lombard Street, the successors to a Lombard Street goldsmith, John Bland, who was using the black horse symbol by 1728, and so when the two Lloyds strands were reunited in 1884 the black horse became available to the combined bank; the use of a black horse in Lombard Street went back at least to 1677, although it is not certain whether there was a direct connection. Such signs helped to distinguish premises at a time before street numbering.
If you look closely at the photograph, you may be able to see one more black horse, on the estate agents’ board projecting from the old bank. When Lloyds put the premises up for sale, they naturally used Gascoigne Pees who at that time were part of their own chain of estate agents, Black Horse Agencies which had been set up in 1982 and acquired a number of chains of estate agents, including the family-run Gascoigne Pees established in the 1930s. Incidentally, the Worcester Park branch of Gascoigne Pees, on the opposite side of Central Road from the bank, was the successor to Mills Birtles who had acquired the goodwill of Millward and Sons’ estate agency. Lloyds would continue to own Black Horse Agencies until 1998 when they were sold to Bradford and Bingley. After the bank moved out, no. 184 was transformed into a fish and chip restaurant, initially Kingfish, succeeded by Pavilion Fish Kitchen.
During its time at nos. 170-172, the bank would change name twice, the first change being a result of the merger with TSB in 1995. By early 1999, only a few branches displayed the new Lloyds TSB livery, but in one night, on 28th June, the remaining 2,380 were rebranded, in an operation that involved nine miles of fascia signs. The name reverted to Lloyds Bank in 2013 when over 600 branches were formed into a new TSB.
TSB, or Trustee Savings Bank, also had a long history: in the 1810s over 400 savings banks were set up across Britain to encourage people to put money aside for times of ill health and for their old age, and to encourage ‘habits of industry, economy and sobriety among the poor and labouring population’. Initially they were independent local institutions, but cooperation between them increased with the formation of the Trustee Savings Bank Association in 1887. As a result of mergers, the number had reduced to 73 by the early 1970s, and the TSB Act of 1976 established a new regional structure; after further consolidation, TSB was floated on the Stock Exchange in 1986. You can read more about the history of both Lloyds and the TSB at www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/our-group/our-heritage/.
TSB had a branch in Central Road, although this closed long before the amalgamation with Lloyds. This postcard (copyright Salmon Picture Library and reproduced by kind permission of J Salmon Ltd) shows, at the left-hand edge, TSB’s premises, on the corner of Longfellow Road, with their gilt-lettered fascia.
If you look closely at the photograph, you may be able to see one more black horse, on the estate agents’ board projecting from the old bank. When Lloyds put the premises up for sale, they naturally used Gascoigne Pees who at that time were part of their own chain of estate agents, Black Horse Agencies which had been set up in 1982 and acquired a number of chains of estate agents, including the family-run Gascoigne Pees established in the 1930s. Incidentally, the Worcester Park branch of Gascoigne Pees, on the opposite side of Central Road from the bank, was the successor to Mills Birtles who had acquired the goodwill of Millward and Sons’ estate agency. Lloyds would continue to own Black Horse Agencies until 1998 when they were sold to Bradford and Bingley. After the bank moved out, no. 184 was transformed into a fish and chip restaurant, initially Kingfish, succeeded by Pavilion Fish Kitchen.
During its time at nos. 170-172, the bank would change name twice, the first change being a result of the merger with TSB in 1995. By early 1999, only a few branches displayed the new Lloyds TSB livery, but in one night, on 28th June, the remaining 2,380 were rebranded, in an operation that involved nine miles of fascia signs. The name reverted to Lloyds Bank in 2013 when over 600 branches were formed into a new TSB.
TSB, or Trustee Savings Bank, also had a long history: in the 1810s over 400 savings banks were set up across Britain to encourage people to put money aside for times of ill health and for their old age, and to encourage ‘habits of industry, economy and sobriety among the poor and labouring population’. Initially they were independent local institutions, but cooperation between them increased with the formation of the Trustee Savings Bank Association in 1887. As a result of mergers, the number had reduced to 73 by the early 1970s, and the TSB Act of 1976 established a new regional structure; after further consolidation, TSB was floated on the Stock Exchange in 1986. You can read more about the history of both Lloyds and the TSB at www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/our-group/our-heritage/.
TSB had a branch in Central Road, although this closed long before the amalgamation with Lloyds. This postcard (copyright Salmon Picture Library and reproduced by kind permission of J Salmon Ltd) shows, at the left-hand edge, TSB’s premises, on the corner of Longfellow Road, with their gilt-lettered fascia.
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VE-Day celebrations, 75 years on By David Rymill
In the coming month it will be 75 years since VE-Day. Although the planned commemorations will doubtless have to be significantly curtailed, I thought it would nonetheless be appropriate this month to look back at some of the ways in which victory was celebrated in Worcester Park, not least as a reminder of the way in which local people had coped with fear and uncertainty, and were at last able to rejoice together.
For those who attended, and perhaps children especially, these parties could be memorable occasions, with small details preserved in the memory decades later: Margaret Trickett (née Davies) recalls that at a VE-Day party in Woodlands Avenue, at the island near no. 49, she was given a fairy cake ‘baked in a paper cup, and it wasn’t a white cup, it was a coloured one, and I remember picking it off so carefully, because I’d never seen a coloured one before.’
I should explain that celebrations were held on and close to both VE-Day in May and VJ-Day in August 1945, and indeed some were held in May 1946 to mark the first anniversary of VE-Day; it is not always clear which event the surviving photographs date from.
Longfellow Road has often held parties to mark national occasions. In 1945 the playground, rather than the street, was used for a children’s party, as shown in this photograph. This was sent to me by Elissa Forbat (née Courtney) who is shown in front of the third adult; she adds that the lady towards the right carrying a tray and wearing a check apron was one of the Deadman family.
For those who attended, and perhaps children especially, these parties could be memorable occasions, with small details preserved in the memory decades later: Margaret Trickett (née Davies) recalls that at a VE-Day party in Woodlands Avenue, at the island near no. 49, she was given a fairy cake ‘baked in a paper cup, and it wasn’t a white cup, it was a coloured one, and I remember picking it off so carefully, because I’d never seen a coloured one before.’
I should explain that celebrations were held on and close to both VE-Day in May and VJ-Day in August 1945, and indeed some were held in May 1946 to mark the first anniversary of VE-Day; it is not always clear which event the surviving photographs date from.
Longfellow Road has often held parties to mark national occasions. In 1945 the playground, rather than the street, was used for a children’s party, as shown in this photograph. This was sent to me by Elissa Forbat (née Courtney) who is shown in front of the third adult; she adds that the lady towards the right carrying a tray and wearing a check apron was one of the Deadman family.
Nearby, in Washington Road, Mrs Eamer who lived at no. 141 (having previously lived in an old cottage next door at 139) made an iced cake for a VE-Day party there, as her grand-daughter Mrs Blackmore recalls. Eggs were not a problem, as she had her own chickens, but ‘with rationing, you were only allowed 2 oz of butter so she had to save it up, and people helped her out with sugar and stuff.’
The Sutton and Cheam Advertiser reported on 17th and 25th May 1945 that several roads in the Sutton and Cheam part of Worcester Park had held Victory parties on or soon after VE-Day: the residents of St Clair Drive arranged tea and sports in Cuddington Recreation Ground, continuing into the evening amidst fairy lights. A party in Braemar Road was attended by 160 children from Braemar, Sandringham, Balmoral and Donnington Roads, and included an impromptu welcome for the nephew of one of the residents, who had returned after being a prisoner first in Italy and then in Germany. Michael Byrne recalls this party as the first time he encountered fireworks.
This photograph, provided by Richard King, shows that Clarkes Avenue adopted the standard format of a tea at long tables in the road for its VE party.
The Sutton and Cheam Advertiser reported on 17th and 25th May 1945 that several roads in the Sutton and Cheam part of Worcester Park had held Victory parties on or soon after VE-Day: the residents of St Clair Drive arranged tea and sports in Cuddington Recreation Ground, continuing into the evening amidst fairy lights. A party in Braemar Road was attended by 160 children from Braemar, Sandringham, Balmoral and Donnington Roads, and included an impromptu welcome for the nephew of one of the residents, who had returned after being a prisoner first in Italy and then in Germany. Michael Byrne recalls this party as the first time he encountered fireworks.
This photograph, provided by Richard King, shows that Clarkes Avenue adopted the standard format of a tea at long tables in the road for its VE party.
Turning to the Old Malden portion of Worcester Park: Minnie Hopley recalled ‘After the war, they had children’s parties in the roads. We had one [for] Leyfield, Manor Drive and the two smaller turnings [Manor Way and Manor Close]; they put all the trestles out.’ Margaret Boult, who had moved to The Manor Drive in 1935, recalled ‘Mothers came out of their houses with plates of sandwiches (mostly Marmite, I think, as we got that from the clinic) and home-made cakes – it was wonderful what could be done with dried eggs!’ She also recalled races for the adults: ‘ My husband ever afterwards would occasionally surprise people by announcing that we were still Manor Drive’s undisputed threelegged champions.’ May Holland recalled that a piano was pushed out into the road and she played ‘dance music and the like.’
Mary Ralph recalled that the end of the war in Europe on 7th May was celebrated in Fullbrooks Avenue, as elsewhere: ‘As many of us as possible hung flags and bunting from our houses. Either later that evening or the next one, the residents of Fullbrooks Avenue brought things which really could be no longer used and which could safely burn to a part of the road outside no. 17, I think, and we all gathered round to sing, dance and make friendly conversation for a few hours at the end of which the bonfire was gradually put out. Next day it could be seen that the top surface tar macadam had melted away, revealing the concrete foundation. Sometime later, Malden and Coombe council’s workmen came and tarmaced all its streets’ bare patches, and for many years afterwards one could tell exactly where people had enjoyed their 1945 Peace Bonfires.’
I do not have any photographs of the Manor Drive or Fullbrooks Avenue celebrations, but Hazel Bleksley provided this one taken close by, in Highdown.
Mary Ralph recalled that the end of the war in Europe on 7th May was celebrated in Fullbrooks Avenue, as elsewhere: ‘As many of us as possible hung flags and bunting from our houses. Either later that evening or the next one, the residents of Fullbrooks Avenue brought things which really could be no longer used and which could safely burn to a part of the road outside no. 17, I think, and we all gathered round to sing, dance and make friendly conversation for a few hours at the end of which the bonfire was gradually put out. Next day it could be seen that the top surface tar macadam had melted away, revealing the concrete foundation. Sometime later, Malden and Coombe council’s workmen came and tarmaced all its streets’ bare patches, and for many years afterwards one could tell exactly where people had enjoyed their 1945 Peace Bonfires.’
I do not have any photographs of the Manor Drive or Fullbrooks Avenue celebrations, but Hazel Bleksley provided this one taken close by, in Highdown.
Moving into Cuddington ward: the residents of Kinross Avenue and Avon Close were particularly active in celebrating victory. A bonfire was lit on VE night at the junction of the roads. As the Surrey Comet later reported, this burned a hole in the road surface (of which the remains can still be seen). I am grateful to Diana Garland (née Vickars) for this photograph.
The VJ celebrations in Kinross Avenue and Avon Close in August were much more elaborate. I hope to return to this subject in August, but for the time being I am including two photographs supplied by Alan Lowe. One shows audience members and (in the front row) judges at a fancy dress competition.
The second photograph shows a close-up of the judges. Mr Lowe was able to identify Mr Fowler of Fowlers’ the stationers’ in Central Road, and of 4 Kinross Avenue, on the left and their neighbour Mr Essex of 30 Kinross Avenue in the centre; can anyone identify the lady on the right?
Inveresk Gardens was the venue for the next photograph, provided by the late Elsie and Bill Spinks.
Finally, our last two photographs show VE celebrations in Elmstead Gardens, courtesy of Ann Lowes and Gill Whitfield – the first was presumably taken from an upstairs window in Inveresk Gardens.
If you can supply any photographs or memories of victory parties, I should, as ever, be very pleased to hear from you.
David Rymill
David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk
01962 868976.
David Rymill
David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk
01962 868976.
An anniversary at St Mary’s by David Rymill
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Since I drafted this article, it was announced that, in accordance with national Church of England guidance, all public services are being suspended at St Mary’s to reduce the risk of infection. The church, is, however, about much more than public worship, and St Mary’s aims to continue to play a role in the life of the community. The church building will be open for private prayer every morning except Mondays, and the Vicar, the Revd Theresa Ricketts, will be sending a prayer, readings and a sermon by email each week. If you would like to receive this, please contact her by email via the website www.cuddingtonparish.org.uk or by phone on 8337 4914. She would also be happy for anyone who has questions or concerns to contact her.
Plans are being made this year to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the present St Mary’s Church, Cuddington, at the top of The Avenue – although the plans have to be regarded as provisional at present, as we wait to see how the health situation develops.
This isn’t the 125th anniversary of there being a church in Cuddington – there was a stone church in the parish by about 1100, about two miles away in what is now Nonsuch Park, and there was probably a wooden church before that. Nor is it the 125th anniversary of the congregation, as that met for nearly 30 years in an Iron Church opened in 1867. It’s the 125th anniversary of the opening of the first stage of the present church building: the first services were held in the new church on 21st July 1895.
I have set myself the challenge of finding a photograph or document relevant to each of the 125 years, to form a timeline around the walls of the church. I’m planning to mention several members of the congregation who have gone on to full-time ministry, links with numerous charities in the UK and overseas, two visits by future Archbishops, and two operatic world premières.
I also want to feature some of the many people who have been christened or married in Cuddington, and I hope WPL readers will be able to help. Do you have photographs or memories of family events at St Mary’s, such as christenings or weddings? Or can you contribute photographs, cinefilms or recollections of church occasions you attended, such as church fairs, Rose Queen fêtes or parish outings, or group photographs – formal or informal – of youth groups, the choir or Young Wives, or of the many community organisations that have met in the church halls over the decades?
Please get in touch with me at David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk (please note the double letter l followed by a figure 1) or on 01962 868976 or (020) 8330 6563 if you can help. We will only display copies, so digital copies by email would be fine, or I will return originals after copying. If it proves unwise to arrange celebratory events in the church, I hope we can have an online exhibition, so please let me know if you have any objection to your contribution being used online.
Our illustrations show the earliest christening and wedding photographs taken at the church that we know of so far. One was taken at the christening of John Vickars on 5th June 1949. He is shown being held by his godmother Kathleen Freeman, who is standing with her husband Ron Freeman – they ran the drapers’ J E Freeman in Central Road – and their daughter Barbara. To the right are John’s parents, Alice and Harold Vickars, with their daughter Diana (now Garland), and on the far right is Mrs Vickars’s brother Charles Appleton (Mr Freeman and Mr Appleton were the godfathers).
The wedding photograph was taken when Anthony Kinnerly and Jean Robbins were married on 20th May 1950. In both cases, behind the family groups you can see the small entrance porch in the temporary west wall of the church, as constructed in 1895 – and as it remained until it was extended in 1959.
The earliest parish registers (held at Surrey History Centre) give an interesting insight into the varied community that the church served in its early years. Much of Cuddington was still farmland: two babies baptised at St Mary’s in the early years were children of cowmen at Coldharbour Farm (near Seaforth Gardens), Thomas, son of Charles and Elizabeth Harmes in 1898; and Ada, daughter of George and Ada Millard, the next year. The parish then extended across Stoneleigh and well beyond Nonsuch Park: another child baptised in 1899, Violet Maynard, was the daughter of Henry, a carter, and Matilda his wife, who lived at Cuddington Court Cottage – presumably associated with Cuddington Court Farm, where Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club is today.
From the Victorian houses in and around The Avenue, both ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ were represented: early weddings in the new church included that, in 1904, of Francis Ratcliffe and Kathleen MacInnes, butler and cook at Worcester Court (where Worcester Gardens is now), and William Hume-Rothery, son of a barrister at The Pines (later 45 The Avenue), was christened in 1899; he became the first professor in the department of metallurgy at Oxford in 1958. I also noticed the baptisms in 1910 of two children whose father’s occupation was listed as ‘author’ – but as I am running out of space I will save that for another time.
Whilst the plans may have to be revised as the health situation develops, the congregation currently hopes to begin the celebrations over the weekend of 11-12 July, with a traditional summer fete on Saturday 11th and a service to which people who have been married or baptised at St Mary's will be specially invited on Sunday 12th. We hope to have our anniversary displays on show from that weekend. We want the display to be a collaborative community exercise, so we plan to provide space for visitors to add more photographs and memories once it has been launched.
The plan is to keep the displays on show until November so they can be seen by visitors to two further special weekends: the nationwide Heritage Open Days during the weekend of 12-13 September, when we plan to have displays about the history of the church and of Cuddington in the 1890s, and the concluding celebratory weekend in November, marking the anniversary of the church’s consecration; a special service has been arranged for Sunday 22nd.
David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk
Plans are being made this year to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the present St Mary’s Church, Cuddington, at the top of The Avenue – although the plans have to be regarded as provisional at present, as we wait to see how the health situation develops.
This isn’t the 125th anniversary of there being a church in Cuddington – there was a stone church in the parish by about 1100, about two miles away in what is now Nonsuch Park, and there was probably a wooden church before that. Nor is it the 125th anniversary of the congregation, as that met for nearly 30 years in an Iron Church opened in 1867. It’s the 125th anniversary of the opening of the first stage of the present church building: the first services were held in the new church on 21st July 1895.
I have set myself the challenge of finding a photograph or document relevant to each of the 125 years, to form a timeline around the walls of the church. I’m planning to mention several members of the congregation who have gone on to full-time ministry, links with numerous charities in the UK and overseas, two visits by future Archbishops, and two operatic world premières.
I also want to feature some of the many people who have been christened or married in Cuddington, and I hope WPL readers will be able to help. Do you have photographs or memories of family events at St Mary’s, such as christenings or weddings? Or can you contribute photographs, cinefilms or recollections of church occasions you attended, such as church fairs, Rose Queen fêtes or parish outings, or group photographs – formal or informal – of youth groups, the choir or Young Wives, or of the many community organisations that have met in the church halls over the decades?
Please get in touch with me at David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk (please note the double letter l followed by a figure 1) or on 01962 868976 or (020) 8330 6563 if you can help. We will only display copies, so digital copies by email would be fine, or I will return originals after copying. If it proves unwise to arrange celebratory events in the church, I hope we can have an online exhibition, so please let me know if you have any objection to your contribution being used online.
Our illustrations show the earliest christening and wedding photographs taken at the church that we know of so far. One was taken at the christening of John Vickars on 5th June 1949. He is shown being held by his godmother Kathleen Freeman, who is standing with her husband Ron Freeman – they ran the drapers’ J E Freeman in Central Road – and their daughter Barbara. To the right are John’s parents, Alice and Harold Vickars, with their daughter Diana (now Garland), and on the far right is Mrs Vickars’s brother Charles Appleton (Mr Freeman and Mr Appleton were the godfathers).
The wedding photograph was taken when Anthony Kinnerly and Jean Robbins were married on 20th May 1950. In both cases, behind the family groups you can see the small entrance porch in the temporary west wall of the church, as constructed in 1895 – and as it remained until it was extended in 1959.
The earliest parish registers (held at Surrey History Centre) give an interesting insight into the varied community that the church served in its early years. Much of Cuddington was still farmland: two babies baptised at St Mary’s in the early years were children of cowmen at Coldharbour Farm (near Seaforth Gardens), Thomas, son of Charles and Elizabeth Harmes in 1898; and Ada, daughter of George and Ada Millard, the next year. The parish then extended across Stoneleigh and well beyond Nonsuch Park: another child baptised in 1899, Violet Maynard, was the daughter of Henry, a carter, and Matilda his wife, who lived at Cuddington Court Cottage – presumably associated with Cuddington Court Farm, where Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club is today.
From the Victorian houses in and around The Avenue, both ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ were represented: early weddings in the new church included that, in 1904, of Francis Ratcliffe and Kathleen MacInnes, butler and cook at Worcester Court (where Worcester Gardens is now), and William Hume-Rothery, son of a barrister at The Pines (later 45 The Avenue), was christened in 1899; he became the first professor in the department of metallurgy at Oxford in 1958. I also noticed the baptisms in 1910 of two children whose father’s occupation was listed as ‘author’ – but as I am running out of space I will save that for another time.
Whilst the plans may have to be revised as the health situation develops, the congregation currently hopes to begin the celebrations over the weekend of 11-12 July, with a traditional summer fete on Saturday 11th and a service to which people who have been married or baptised at St Mary's will be specially invited on Sunday 12th. We hope to have our anniversary displays on show from that weekend. We want the display to be a collaborative community exercise, so we plan to provide space for visitors to add more photographs and memories once it has been launched.
The plan is to keep the displays on show until November so they can be seen by visitors to two further special weekends: the nationwide Heritage Open Days during the weekend of 12-13 September, when we plan to have displays about the history of the church and of Cuddington in the 1890s, and the concluding celebratory weekend in November, marking the anniversary of the church’s consecration; a special service has been arranged for Sunday 22nd.
David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk
