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The Building of St Mary's - Our Centennial, Episode 2

A Supplement to St Mary's Newsletter,

By Simon Steer

I have continued reading the old parish magazines and, am amazed at the speed in which the new church was erected. Following the appointment of the Rev John Robinson and the demolition of the old St Mary's (left) on Garratt Lane, it was quickly recognised that the facilities available were woefully inadequate for the population of Summerstown. It is true that the Building Committee, formed early in 1901, included some "Celebrities" (notably the brother of the Prime Minister, Mr Clement Attlee) though they did not bring any significant funding with them. The lion's share of the work of raising the funds was left to Rev Robinson, his co-workers and the parishioners of Summerstown.

To put this into some perspective, the original estimated cost of erecting the church was approximately £8,000.00. You may be forgiven for thinking that this is not a huge sum but I can only say, think again! We sit in our homes, bombarded with leaflets offering loans far in excess of this figure but what does this figure mean to us. The Government would have us believe that the average annual salary of today is £14,000 for those living outside of London and about £17,000 in London. Some of us do earn above this figure and others manage to get by on significantly less, many own their own homes, cars and all the trappings that make life comfortable.

However, back at the turn of the century, life was very different. The main source of entertainment, if you had time, was to read newspapers or, if they could be afforded, books.

So, what did the local families earn? Thanks to the internet, this is not too difficult to find out but you would need to know what type of employment was available and in view of the changing nature of the area, you will see that an education was not available to all, was considered a privilege and was even more important than it is today.

In Summerstown, the general population could not commute any great distance, there was some light industry but the majority of employment was either in Agricultural or Domestic service. A visit to the Wandsworth Museum gave a good idea of the make up of the area and there was a small industrial site located there on the banks of the Thames and small units following the line of the River Wandle. However, the majority of employment would have been unskilled General labour, Agricultural labour, domestic service and a small percentage of the remaining trades. This work, for the majority, would be for a 10-hour day, six days per week.

The local industry was changing from a rural, agricultural area to a more industrial one. Without an education, you could only follow ones forebears. The industrial revolution and the changing nature of the area meant that agricultural labourers were less and less in demand. The ability to read and write opened up greater opportunities, that could quadruple ones annual income, which in turn increased opportunities to the next generation. As a general rule, only a very small percentage of the population earned over £100 per annum and this parish was reported to be "Poor". However, it was found possible to raise the sum necessary by putting together their own spare pennies and parishioners appealing to their friends and family, they raised the incredible sum of £4,500 in just over 18 months. This sum had to be raised before grants of £500 would be made. Only then could work start on the foundations of the church. The Rev Robinson was adamant that the Church should be built without putting the parish into debt and it is recorded that he personally made a number of very generous contributions himself, as well as working tirelessly for the benefit of his parishioners.

HRH Princess Christian, Helena, the third daughter of Queen Victoria, officially laid the foundation stone of the new building on 4th April 1903, thus there remained £3,000 to be obtained, whilst the church was under construction.

The Rev Robinson thanked his parish and The Lord throughout 1901 and 1902, and progress reports were relayed during 1903, though he made a point of easing the pressure as by this time, they were surely feeling the pinch. As the schoolrooms were either provided or supported by the church, there were no such thing as "state schools" in the area, it was imperative that the church be completed, and quickly. There were 700 hundred children attending the Sunday School and for many, this would have been more than just their religious education, for many, it would have been their only chance to learn to read and write. The good Reverent was afraid that the church would remain unfinished and the cost of restarting such a project would inevitably cost more.

I recall a conversation I had with Rev Roger Ryan recently in which he quoted "there is nothing as permanent as a temporary solution" and I agree, as did Rev Robinson. This is evident by the height of the church tower. The original plans included an elegant and imposing tower, as you can see from the illustration above, that would be visible from all over the parish. However, the fund raising abilities of the team did not reach the amount needed and today, we still have a tower that does not reach the height of the ridge of the main roof! However, we should not disparage the parish for this, we have a great deal to thank them for as they managed to raise what must have seemed an impossible sum, despite the impoverished state of the area in a country in the middle of a war. The current building was consecrated with pomp and ceremony on 30th April 1904, one year and a month from the laying of the foundation stone and three years, three months from the formation of the building committee.

Therefore, I think we all owe our forbears a prayer or two to thank them, and the Lord, for the extraordinary effort that they put in to provide us with the structure we call "church" today.

January 2003.

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