The interior
At its consecration, the Clapham Observer described the design of the church as being “based upon the thirteenth century, showing certain French influence. The building is of lofty, airy proportions, and free from unessential features: indeed it might be described as austere in character, yet impressive and devotional. It consists of nave and wide north aisle, both of the same height, with choir and sanctuary in continuation of the nave, and of the same width and height, this giving an effect of spaciousness and stately length characteristic of a mediaeval church.”
In most churches the altar is at the East end because the tradition was that churches should face towards Jerusalem. The church is unusual in that the altar is geographically at the North end of the church but in this guide we will refer to locations in the church by more traditionally seeing the altar as being at the East end and the main entrance at the West. The internal length of the church is 110 feet (33.5m), the nave is 25 feet 6 inches wide (7.8m) and the aisle a further 20 feet (6m) and the height to the apex of the nave is 45 feet (13.7m).
The church has lancet windows of clear glass with symbols of Christ’s Life and Passion. The original window cords, some of which still remain today, are said to have been made from line from Sir Earnest Shackleton’s ship the “Nimrod” in which he sailed for the British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-9. The Expedition was most famous for coming within 97.5 nautical miles of the South Pole. It is not known how the church came to have this line but Shackleton did live quite locally in Sydenham and had been at Dulwich College as a boy.
There is a large Wheel Window at the West End and three long windows behind the altar which, with the three steps to the high altar, are designed to remind us of the Holy Trinity. There is very little stained glass in the church so the building enjoys a lot of natural light.
There are many angels in the church: 4 in the riddle posts around the altar, 12 on the choir screen, 6 in the stalls and 4 in the ceiling above the chancel. The chancel ceiling also includes plaster rosettes, doves representing the Holy Spirit and Pelicans symbolising Corpus Christi. The four riddel posts are each carved from one piece of solid oak surmounted by an angel praising God, the one on the front left resting on one knee.
The Sanctuary
The Sedilia, the three stone seats on the south side originally designed for use by the Celebrant, Deacon and Sub-deacon, are a memorial to Annie Burrows, the Headmistress of St Mary Magdalene School in Munster Square, who was a friend of Canon Dunn.
In the Sanctuary was an Anatolian carpet which was paid for by a Farthing Fund and was placed at the same time as the Bishop’s chair and communicant’s benches. This was replaced by the red carpet which is now in place.
A copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting the Last Supper (originally painted on the wall of the refectory in the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazia in Milan) was given as memorial to Leonard Alfred Whillier, who was a server and the church’s first crucifer, and who was killed in action on 15 September 1916 aged 23.
The Sanctuary lamp is a memorial to the Tipper family, Mrs Tipper was at one time the leader of the Mother’s Union and her stepson was in the choir.
The two church banners have recently been replaced or restored but they are copies of the originals. In one, the Apostles, with St John and the Blessed Virgin at the front, receive the “tongues of fire” which symbolised the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In the other the Holy Spirit is represented by the Dove descending from Heaven.
The Rood Screen
These screens were presented by Mrs Dalton, the Rector’s wife, and are carved from oak.
The Rood Screen shows Christ crucified with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John on either side at his feet. The second Vicar, Father Humphries, had these figures painted which caused some controversy at the time. The inscription on the Rood Screen is “Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto our God for ever and ever” which is the song of the angels before the Throne of God in Revelation 7 v12.
The Chancel Screen
The angels on the Chancel Screen are also carved from oak. They hold ancient musical instruments: the tymbu, busine, cith, orgru, guiterne and psalterian on the north side and the flute, cembal, lyre, orge, rubibe and comacon on the south side. The Screen was designed by the architect, Mr Burke Downing, but all the carving in the church was done by Mr Nathaniel Hitch, a distinguished and prolific carver whose work can also be found in many major churches and cathedrals including Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, the cathedrals in Sydney, Calcutta and Washington DC and even in the Blackfriar pub opposite Blackfriars Station.
The inscriptions above the angels are “O Thou that hearest prayer unto Thee shall all flesh come”, which is a quotation from Psalm 25 verse 2 and “Thou art our refuge and strength from one generation to another” which is from Psalm 90 verse 1.
In the small scrolls beneath the angels the inscriptions read ”O Ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord, Praise Him and magnify Him forever” and “To Thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all Powers therein” which are quotations from the Benedicite and the Te Deum, ancient canticles of the church which are sung at the service of Matins.
The Chancel Screen was dedicated by the Bishop of Kingston on the Feast of St Simon and St Jude on 28th October 1914.
The Choir
At first the choir used chairs because only the front choir stalls screen could be afforded. The first part of the stalls was paid for by the gentlemen and boys of the choir – there were no women or girls in the choir at that time and their introduction was quite controversial. In 1925 cards were printed to collect sixpences to complete the stalls at a total cost of £200. Finally in 1927, Mr Hitch, who was then in his eighties, agreed to complete the stalls and to wait for the balance of his payment.
The screen dividing the Cantoris or north side of the Choir from what was the Lady Chapel, but which is now the vestries, is a memorial to a Miss Clabon and her parents. It was dedicated by Canon Dunn at his last Sunday evensong on 21st December 1930. This beautifully carved screen includes birds, butterflies, insects and a church mouse in its decoration.
The panelling on the Decani or south side of the Choir includes memorials to various communicants. Collecting boxes were used to meet the extra cost of £165 for this panelling, and people who wished to have an inscription added paid for the work. Inscriptions continue to be added to the panelling – most recently the names of Father Tim Beaumont and Ted Turner, both much loved members of our church, were included. The original plans for the church show the intention was that the whole building should be panelled in a similar manner, and the original heating pipes were designed to be hidden by the cornices of the panelling.
The memorial stone to Canon Dunn’s father, who was the Bishop of Quebec, is to be found in the stone paving of the Chancel floor, marking the place where his body rested overnight. He was returning to this country on his retirement when he was suddenly taken ill aboard RMS Hesperian and died just outside Liverpool. The Bishop’s chair and benches for the High Altar, carved by Mr Hitch, were donated in his memory by his mother, Mrs Hunter Dunn, and her family. If that name sounds familiar, that is because “Miss J Hunter Dunn” who was “furnish’d and burnish’d by Aldershot sun” in Sir John Betjeman’s famous poem, “A Subaltern’s Love Song”, was the bishop’s granddaughter.
The Lectern
The lectern is also of oak and has the following inscription “The Word of our God shall stand for ever” which is from Isaiah 40 v8.
The Pulpit
The pulpit is made of Australian oak and was installed around 1935 at a cost of £255. The monogram “IHS” on the panel shows the first three letters of the name Jesus in Greek and the inscription “Where there is no vision the people perish” comes from Proverbs 29 v 18. At the top of the newel post is an Easter Egg symbolising the new life of the Risen Christ. The pulpit was not designed by Burke Downing and is not in the position that he intended . It is one bay further west. It used to be backed by a red curtain to help project the preacher’s voice down the aisle.
The Organ
The church’s original organ was a large American Esty organ which stood just outside the chancel screen. The organ we have today was built by Alfred Hunter & Son whose works were in Clapham High Street, where the new Library now stands. In 1913 it was estimated to cost £1,600 but fundraising was interrupted by the First World War. Rampant inflation immediately following the war meant that by 1920 the cost was estimated as £3,000.
However, with a gift of £100 from Hunter and Son, one of £250 from Mrs Dalton, a grant from the Carnegie Trust and a Garden Party which raised £1,000, an order was placed with Hunters which would provide a basic instrument sufficient to support congregational singing, but leaving about one third of the instrument “prepared for” to a greater or lesser extent. The basic organ was ready to be dedicated by the Bishop of Kingston on 8th May 1921. Hunter’s work was of excellent quality, and when funds were limited, he encouraged churches to omit the parts that could not be afforded rather than to try and do things more cheaply. In 1998 the Heritage Lottery Fund provided half the cost of restoring the incomplete instrument, recognising the quality of Hunter’s original work, the lack of intervention over the years and the fact that after 80 years the instrument required capital investment to restore the pneumatic action. Since 2002, with the agreement of the agreement of the HLF, work has been going on led by Robert Bowles to complete Hunter’s original design, using material from some of his other instruments which have become redundant - including the Congregational church in Leigh-on-sea, Catherington Parish church, St Mary’s Wimbledon and St Mary’s Clapham.
The new vestries
The new vestries were built on the site of the former Lady Chapel in 1998 with the aid of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In the vestry is a crucifix which belonged to Nathaniel Dawes, the Bishop of Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia which was given by Mrs Dawes in his memory.
The statue of our Lady is a memorial to Stanley Palmer, an assistant priest between 1937 and 1938 who died in what is now Trinity Hospice, and was given by the hospice staff. The statue was posed for by a nun from Mother Mary House at Woolwich.
The interior war memorial commemorates the seventy men from the parish who gave their lives in the First World War.
A statue of the Boy Christ which used to stand in this area was given by a former Sunday school teacher. There was also a triptych dedicated by Canon Tower of St Peter’s in 1932 and these items are now preserved in the choir vestry along with a wooden banner which was made by a server, Ken Watkinson, when he was 13 or 14 years old. There was also a table made by Mr N G Benstead from oak salvaged from his home as a thank offering for the lives saved when his house was bombed. The picture was given as a thank offering for the fact that no children were killed by enemy action in the parish. The bookcase now at the back of the church was presented by Deaconess Mary Allen, a full time unpaid parish worker and had belonged to her husband when he was Rector of St Mary’s Church Cambridge.
The parish was bombed on a number of occasions during the Second World War most notably in Narbonne, Cautley and Lessar Avenues and on Trouville Road, which were hit by V1 rockets and on the Southside. The areas where houses were destroyed are now filled by more modern blocks of flats.
The Nave
On the walls of the Nave is a beautiful set of Stations of the Cross which was given by Mollie Briant in memory of her husband, Laurie, who was our church organist and choir master from 1935 to 1983.
Also in the Nave stands the altar which came from the former Lady Chapel and the Vicar’s chair which was given in memory of W.O. Air Gunner Jonny Lane of 50 Squadron RAFVR who was killed on 22 June 1944 aged 22.
In 1998 the church undertook a major restoration project, largely funded by a legacy from Norman Brind and selling the former youth worker’s house in Hambalt Road, which included replacing the old ceiling, which had become unsafe, redecorating the walls, installing the glass doors at the West End, sanding the floors, rebuilding the gable at the West End, replacing the box gutter between the two roofs and moving the Font.
The North West doors
These were presented by the Wayfarers, a club in the early days of the church. The young men who were members regularly attended the church and were known for their netball games on the Common during the summer.
The Baptistry
The panelling includes an inscription to Lieutenant Frederick Charleston of the Lancashire Fusiliers who was killed in action in Flanders on 4 July 1915 aged 25. The marble Font used to stand here but was moved to the North Aisle to make it easier for the congregation to gather around the Font during baptisms. The oak font cover was given in memory of past parishioners. The church bell is rung from the Baptistry but used to be controlled electrically from the vestry.
The Church Hall or Contact Centre
Mr Burke Downing also designed a church hall to match the style of the church but this was never built.
Instead, this building was built in 1920. It was designed to last ten years but did good service until 1967.
On 30th April 1968 the Contact Centre was blessed by the Bishop of Kingston and today is home to the Clapham Park Montessori school and to many other church and secular groups.
