St Mark's Church, Bromley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mark's Church, Bromley |
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| 51°23′54″N 0°00′57″E / 51.39837°N 0.01586°E | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | www.stmarksbromley.co.uk |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Evelyn Hellicar |
| Years built | 1895-1898 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | St Mark's Bromley |
| Deanery | Bromley |
| Archdeaconry | Bromley and Bexley |
| Diocese | Rochester |
St Mark's Church, Bromley is a Church of England church located in Bromley. It serves the local community as a parish church. You can find it on Westmoreland Road, just south of the town centre.
Contents
A Look Back in Time
How It All Started
In the 1880s, people living in the Bromley South area already had a group that met for worship. For many years, they had talked about building their own local church.
In 1884, the vicar of St Peter and St Paul, Bromley, Reverend A. G. Hellicar, received a special gift. A local man named Samuel Cawston gave them an iron church building. This gift also included all the furniture and fittings needed inside.
This iron church used to be at Addison Road, Bromley Common. It was moved and set up again on a piece of land on St Mark's Road, Masons Hill. This land was kindly lent by Eley Soames. The iron church was used for worship until 1898. In 1891, a local newspaper, the Bromley Record, suggested that a fund might be started. This fund would help replace the iron building where the St Mark's group had been meeting for five years.
In 1897, the decision was made to build a new, permanent church. The land at the bottom of Westmorland Road was bought for £500 by Thomas Dewey and Eley Soames. In 1896, a meeting was held at South Hill Wood, which was Mr Dewey's house. At this meeting, the plans for the new church were approved. These plans were drawn by the architect Evelyn Hellicar, who was the son of the Vicar of Bromley.
On Saturday, October 22, 1898, the new church was officially opened. Dr William Walsh, who was the Bishop of Dover, led the ceremony. Many people attended, and on the Sunday evening, the church was so full that some people could not get in.
At first, only the bottom part of the church tower was built. This part held the main entrance porch. The tower was finished and made its full height in 1903. It was officially dedicated on January 10, 1904. The tower was built using red bricks from Dunton Green. It was decorated with special Doulting stone from Shepton Mallet in Somerset.
Damage During World War II
On Wednesday, April 16, 1941, Bromley faced a very strong air raid attack. This attack began in the evening and continued into the early hours of the next day. Many public buildings, shops, and homes were badly damaged or destroyed. Sadly, both St Peter and St Paul’s Church and St Mark’s Church were hit.
A local report described the damage to St Mark's:
Many public buildings and shops besides private houses were seriously injured or destroyed; amongst the latter, both the Mother and Daughter Churches, viz. St Peter and St Paul’s and St Mark’s. The Church was struck apparently by a combination of incendiary and high explosive bombs. There was a serious fire in the South-West corner of the Church and garden and just inside the main entrance from the Porch. The whole of the Nave and North and South aisles were unroofed. The gallery was fallen, the font in situ but badly broken, the War Memorial Board broken and displaced. All window glass was destroyed and much of the stonework of the apertures broken. The pulpit and pitch pine seats were broken or covered with wreckage from fallen timbers. The East and West windows had their stone and brickwork broken, smashed and forced outwards on to the garden turf. In the Chancel much of the carved reredos and the Holy Table were in situ, slightly damaged. The organ was quite destroyed.
The church was hit by both fire bombs and explosive bombs. A big fire started near the main entrance. The roof of the main part of the church and its side sections was completely gone. The balcony had fallen down. The baptismal font (a basin used for baptisms) was still there but badly broken. All the windows were smashed, and much of the stone around them was broken. The pulpit and wooden seats were also broken or covered in fallen wood. The large windows at the front and back of the church were shattered. Inside the chancel (the area around the altar), some of the carved reredos (a screen behind the altar) and the Holy Table were still in place, with only slight damage. The church organ was completely destroyed.
Some items that were saved from the damaged church were moved to St Mark's Church Hall. The reredos was protected with tarpaulins. Only the church tower was left undamaged after the attack.
Rebuilding the Church
Even after the bombing, an annual service was held in the damaged church. This showed everyone that they planned to rebuild it.
The new church was designed by T. W. G. Grant. It was built by David Nye and Partners. The builders used the original foundations, which helped keep the same size and shape of the church. Parts of the old structure, like the arches in the nave (the main part of the church), were used in the new building. The lower part of the chancel arch was also saved, along with some Victorian carved decorations and the choir stalls.
On June 3, 1952, HRH The Duchess of Kent laid the corner stone for the rebuilding work. In 1953, St Mark's Church was officially rededicated. This ceremony was led by the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Christopher Chavasse, and the Vicar, Reverend H. J. A. Edwards, was also present.
St Mark's Church Today
The church you see today includes the original tower. It also uses many of the bricks and pieces from the late Victorian building that stood before the war. The inside of the church has a mix of styles. For example, the parabolic arches, which were liked by the architect Grant, look different from the Perpendicular shapes designed by Hellicar.
The reredos (the decorated screen behind the altar) and the choir stalls survived the war. The original baptismal font was accidentally broken during the war. The font used today was made in the 1950s. The pipe organ (designed by Rushworth and Dreaper) and the lectern (a stand for reading) are also replacements from the 1950s.
