A building and its people

Clapham needs a new Church

Holy Trinity Clapham opened for worship in 1776 - the same year as the American Declaration of Independence. A plain, simple building, it reflected the calm spirit of those rational and enlightened times.

It is the new Parish Church of Clapham. An old church had existed since the middle ages, in Rectory Grove, where St Paul’s Church now stands. It had grown over the years in a haphazard sort of way, and

The old Parish Church in 1815

by the mid-eighteenth century was in a poor state of repair and far too small for what was by this time one of the fastest growing villages round London. The centre of the village had shifted, and the emphasis was now on the area around the Common, where rich Londoners had their new mansions.

After much debate, the parishioners decided to build a new Church on the Common. An Act of Parliament was obtained, to allow the land to be bought from the manorial family and to set up a Trust to manage the construction. The leading trustees, headed by the Speaker of the House of Commons and by John Thornton, a wealthy merchant banker, met at the Plough Inn (still at the centre of Clapham by the Tube, but renamed) and in 1774 set the work in hand.

A preaching box - and big congregations

The Trustees chose as their architect Kenton Couse, who was employed by the Office of Works, the body responsible for Government buildings, and whose best known work is the front of 10 Downing Street. He provided a very simple design - a rectangular brick building with three doors at the west end, leading to the ground floor and galleries. There was a stubby tower, with a large clock from Thwaites of Clerkenwell, and four bells.

When John Venn became Rector in 1792, ever larger congregations were attracted by his preaching. New vestries were built at the east end, and at the west end a new porch was constructed, to give

Inside Holy Trinity, around 1805-1810

shelter to those alighting from their carriages. A big organ was installed in the west gallery. The seats in the nave were high box pews, for which their occupiers paid rent (that was how the church was financed in those days), while the poor occupied plain benches in the middle. Communion services were infrequent - Venn introduced the reform of holding them once a month - and the few who took Communion gathered at the east end in front of the beautiful mahogany table, made for the Church in 1776, which we still use each Sunday.

The Church has changed since those days, to reflect changes in approaches to worship. During the nineteenth century, the emphasis shifted away from the long sermon, and more towards congregational participation in hymns and music.

Changing times, changing Church

In 1875, the old box pews, dismissed as “horse boxes”, were dismantled and the present bench pews put in. The big three decker was cut down and the pulpit, all that survives from it, moved to the north side of the church, to allow room for a choir. There was a new font at the west end in a sort of medieval style - the novelist EM Forster was one of the first to be baptised in it.

 

Rededication after War damage

A new Chancel. Those changes left the overall shape of the church unchanged. But by the late nineteenth century it was seen as ugly, and not looking as a church should. There was even a move to pull it down and replace it by a Gothic Revival building. Fortunately that did not happen; but in 1903 the east end was reconstructed and considerably enlarged. The architect was a distinguished scholar, Professor Arthur Beresford Pite, who produced a scheme which was in sympathy with the classical plainness of the original building, but also brought the richness the Edwardians preferred.

War damage. During the Second World War, the Church suffered serious damage; all the windows were destroyed, the Lady Chapel gutted, and the main roof near to collapse. For a few years, the congregation had to sit under the galleries for safety. Restoration was completed by 1952, bringing the Church back to its early twentieth century appearance. The main differences were that the old organ in the west gallery was not replaced, and there were new windows in the east end and Lady Chapel.

Holy Trinity today

The most recent changes were made in 1991-94. While preserving the essential character of the Church as a place of worship, these changes sought to make it more available for community uses. The platform in front of the chancel steps was built; this now serves as the focal point for our main Sunday worship, but can also be used as a stage for music or drama.

At the west end, the screened area under the galleries provides both a meeting area and a chapel for small services or meetings of small groups. The Victorian font was replaced by a smaller font on a wooden base, more in keeping with the style of the church. The Lady Chapel, a fine room but difficult to use for services, was converted into the William Wilberforce Centre. The Chapel was divided horizontally, creating a large meeting room upstairs, with a smaller room, kitchen and toilets below.

Our Church is Grade 2* listed, so any changes must be made with sensitivity to is architectural qualities and historic past.  But as it has been adapted over the years, so it will no doubt change in future, so that we may give our best in the worship of God and service of his people.

Holy Trinity as it was and is now.  The picture above shows the Church from the east, in its original state, before new vestries were added in the 1790s.  To the right, Remembrance Sunday 2005.