The Beginning

Earlsfield was originally part of the Allfarthing Manor.  The residential district was developed at the end of the nineteenth century on either side of the London to Southampton Railway.   Its name probably derived from that of the wife of the Lord of the manor until the 1890‘s.

 

The Conventional district of Saint Andrew Earlsfield was formed from the outlying portions of the parishes of St. Anne Wandsworth, and St. Mary Summerstown in 1884; it became a separate parish in 1890. The Church was consecrated on 8th February 1890. By 1889 the Parish numbered some 6,000 people and was expanding rapidly with new developments. Before the Church was built, the congregation worshipped in a temporary Mission Church, which was far too small for the needs of the rapidly expanding population.

 

Two acres of land and the site for the Church were given by Magdalen College Oxford, who also owned a large area of adjacent land. Two Churches were built in the parish: Bendon Valley Mission Church later became the district Church of Saint John the Divine, Earlsfield, and in 1938 was made a separate parish. The district Church of Saint James, Earlsfield remained within Saint Andrew‘s parish.

 

At the time of the creation of the Church Building Fund in 1888 the population of the area described as:- “Very poor working class, hawkers and coster­mongers, with a proportion of artisans, railway servants, and a considerable number of people whose incomes are only sufficient for their own necessities”.

 

Mr E. W. Mountford A.R.I.B.A. was commissioned as Architect for the project of building this new Parish  Church.   He had also been the architect for the new Chancel at All Saints Wandsworth, the Session  House Central Criminal Court as well as the Chancel of St. Anne‘s Wandsworth (1886).

 

The Architecture of the Church is ”English Gothic” of  the  thirteenth century. The length of the Nave is 90 feet and its width 25 feet. The Chancel 40 feet long and the width of the aisle 13 feet. The height of the roof from floor to ceiling is 45 feet,  60 feet to the outside ridge, and 90 feet to the cross on the summit of the Fleche.

 

The seating in the original building was for 540, but when extended it seated 800; all seats were to be free from the outset. In 1990 seating capacity was 400.

 

The Walls are faced externally with red brick from Teynham, Kent. The external and internal stone came mainly from Doulting Quarries in Somerset, some stone coming from from Ham Hill.

 

Roofs -  covered with Purple Brown Brosely Tiles

Floors - Wood Block

Tiles -  Minton

Chancel steps - white marble and pavement marble

Chancel floor - Rouge Royal and Black from Belgian Quarries.

 

It is to be noted at the Consecration Service February 8th 1890 that:- ”A beautiful wrought iron screen is shortly to be placed on the North and West sides of the Lady Chapel.” N.B.  a picture of the brass symbol of St. Andrew and the arms of Rochester Diocese are shown later in this booklet.  The Altar in the South Chapel was brought with its furniture from the temporary Church. The faces of the five people depicted on the front show contemporary men including the Vicar at the time.

 

The original contract for the building was £5,800.  All but £800 of the original sum was raised prior to the Consecration in February 1890.

           

St.   Andrew’s  1890 - 1899

The population of Earlsfield rose from 6.000 in 1890 to 12,000 by 1899.  In that time the new parish Church of St. Andrew was built, or at least three fifths built. Following the pioneering work of the first Vicar of Earlsfield, the Revd. Colman, who began the project and the Revd. Watson who built up the Parish and its activities, the Revd. Tudor Craig (probably the most famous Vicar of St. Andrew‘s) was inducted in 1899.  Within a few weeks of his induction Tudor Craig wrote an open letter to the inhabitants of Earlsfield concerning the completion of the present unfinished church....

”The accommodation of the church is no longer sufficient for the needs of  the Parish. The time has evidently come when all who are interested must make vigorous efforts to finish the House of God according to the original handsome design. This is proved by the crowded congregation on the Sunday especially in the evening, and also by the general consensus of opinion of those who are best qualified to judge”.

A sum of  £2,500 was required to complete the building of the West end of the Church.  Tudor Craig realistically stated:-

”I know quite well how impossible it will be to collect locally more than a portion of the sum required. Nevertheless we in Earlsfield must do our best, and what a grand thing it would be if all would give something, so that the poorest person might feel that he had given, if only a few pence, towards the completed Church.”

£1,030 was raised from the parish at the height of the Boer War and the remainder given by Societies, Friends and Church Authorities.

 

Before the lamps went out

The  Period 1900 - 1914 was a socially active time for St. Andrew‘s.  There was an increasing population in the parish and a subsequent rise in the congregation.  On Derby Day the costers would gather outside the Leather Bottle for a drink en route to Epsom.  Next door could be heard the hammer on the anvil at Spiller‘s Forge.  There were shops in abundance. New developments had not reached beyond Tranmere Road so it was possible to walk from there to Wandsworth Common and pass unbroken fields.

 

The trees in Burntwood Lane met on either side to form a canopy reminiscent of a Cathedral Arch.  Small classes were held for the Sunday School in the Hall. The older pupils were divided between those who formed the Bible class and those girls who were much older and accompanied Miss Tudor Craig to the Vestry for their lesson.   At the end of the lesson all the pupils would come together for a session of questions, hymn singing and prayers.  Once a month a children‘s service would be held in Church in the afternoon.   Each class would sit in its appointed pew with its teacher.   During the winter months concerts were held which proved to be very popular.

 

The choir accompanied local singers in at least two fine renditions of Handel‘s Messiah. There were a number of fine football teams representing the Church and the Institute.  Teams were  successful in the Surrey Junior Cup as well as the League.   Even in defeat, as in a report of March 28th 1903, there was praise for Allison,

“The Earlsfield St. Andrew‘s custodian, rendered his side good service last Saturday, and had no chance with the shots that beat him”.

In an age prior to the invention of the television or wireless, when entertainment was ”home-spun”, the  Church  seems to have fulfilled the role of spiritual and social provider.

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Prepared by Colin Pritchard