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St Wilfrid's Church I thought this week we could take a look at one of our churches and for this purpose I have chosen St. Wilfrids Church, which is situated at the junction of Ellasdale Road and Victoria Drive. The church is named after St. Wilfrid who is reputed to have brought Christianity to Sussex.

Whilst Bognor did have St. John's church in London Road, it was felt that the needs of the growing population in Aldwick necessitated a further church to the west of Bognor. In 1896 the congregation in this area had the use of a tin chapel, despite this it was still large enough to hold a congregation of 200. When we look back at many of our older churches today, with their large constructions, it is interesting to remember		that many churches started life only as a small tin chapel to serve the needs of the community. According to a brochure produced in 1905 which was to appeal for funds for this new church it was remarked that 'during the last year a number of houses have been erected within a short distance of the temporary church.' It then continued that a 'site was secured upwards of ten years ago.' Obviously people were becoming impatient!

In 1905 meetings were being held to discuss the new plans and drawings from Mr. G. H. Fellowes Prynne, F.R.I.B.A. who was an eminent church architect of the time. Looking at the church, it is worth noting that Mr. Prynne was also involved with churches in Bournemouth, Harrow, Purley, Bushey, Yorkshire and Worcester before he died in the 1930's. The Architect advised that his estimate for the proposed new church was divided into Chancel, Chapel and vestries at £2,800, a further section with transepts and nave would cost £3,200 and the western end costs were £4,165. Apparently a further £1,000 was required for the tower making a total expenditure of £12,000. This church would have provided accommodation for up to 1,000 people.

The inaugural meeting was held in the town Assembly Rooms, today known as the Picturedrome. According to a newspaper report of October 1905 the Lord Bishop, Dr. Wilberforce is reported as remarking, "there must be a beginning made for everything and he hoped that the meeting was really the beginning of a new church." Following further discussions the Lord Bishop remarked, "the plans before them struck him as being very handsome and very good, but		they certainly implied an expenditure of a considerable sum of money." Apparently the resident vicar advised that the current idea was simply to build four walls with the roof. Again in the appeal brochure it was stated that 'every effort will be made to raise as much money as possible in Bognor, but Bognor is not a rich place and there are few who can give substantial sums.' The report continues that 'neither are the visitors who crowd the church in the summer months.'

It would appear that the layout of the site was being considered very much with the new residents in mind. The homes were to contain a range of special features including large bay windows which it stated added 'attractiveness and providing more light,' and thus continued it would be 'a house into which your furniture seems to fit easily.' Like today's advertising brochures they also filled their homes with 'modern' furniture to encourage the purchaser with promises of the ability in one of the small bedrooms to 'accommodate a full size single bed and a dressing table, leaving ample room for moving around in the rooms.' Within three years of the first idea on Wednesday July 22nd the foundation stone of this new building was laid by William Fletcher of Aldwick Manor (today known as Hotham Park House) and was witnessed by large crowds. This new site was actually adjoining the site of their original tin chapel.



Five years later in 1910 the dedication service for the new St. Wilfrids was held in a church that was only partially completed, but which had cost £8,200 todate. The service, which was held on St. George's day, was also attended by 23 clergy from other Sussex Parishes in addition to congregation. The church still required completion of the tower, spire, three bays of the nave and baptistry. The building work in the parish continued and thus the congregation rose, and for many the fact that the church was not completed to the original plan or that the church had not been consecrated was immaterial.

It was not until 1955 that Bishop Bell consecrated St. Wilfrid's church. It was eventually decided to hold the service at this time, as it was assumed that waiting for the tower and other work may take many years to be completed, if at all. In 1972 when St. John's in London Road was sold, some of the money raised was used to erect a church hall for St. Wilfrid's, which is regularly in use. When the final demolition of St. John's was completed in 1975 the Bishop of Chichester transferred the status of 'Parish Church' to St. Wilfrid's, thus changing it's status from the original Daughter church.		In 1981 the Post Office designated a special St. Wilfrid's commemorative cover and date stamp for all letters posted along the Sussex coast - does anyone have a copy of one of these covers? Recently the church organ has been refurbished followed by a dedication service on 12th January 2003. The work has been carried out on an organ that was first delivered to St. Wilfrid's in 1910 and was designed as a three manual instrument, although the third manual was never installed. With the completion of the work the organ is now working as originally intended. Reading the explanation of this organ is quite extraordinary, as it contains 1,924 pipes, of which 638 have been added in the recent work.

The organ details continue with a description of the 'action' that is the connections to the keys, which have been attached to a modern electronic system. The connection of the refurbished organ has taken over 20 miles of cables with 4,000 cable connections. Other facets of this organ is that there are no moving parts to go wrong, due to the use of magnets in proximity to sensors, making the organ at St. Wilfrids the first in this part of the country with this modern system. The cost of these changes has been met by the hard work of the parishioners with fund raising activities over a number of years. To this day the church has not been finished, as the bell tower, two bays and the west baptistry, which were in the original proposal, have not materialised, although the church design appears complete to people viewing the construction today. When researching local history in relation to churches the temptation is to look at parish records, church records etc., however here we have a church that is totally modern and using the modern communication facilities available to all. They have a wonderful website, which is informative to the congregation and also full of information to all those seeking visual and descriptive information on the history of their parish church. Visit www.wilfrid.com to learn more



FESTIVAL OF LOCAL HISTORY - Plans are progressing well for this event in June 2003 but we are still seeking local people, groups, organisations and businesses to contact us regarding a display of their history at their usual location. Contact me now to be included in the programme.

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St Wilfrid's Church

In 1905 meetings were being held to discuss the new plans and drawings from Mr. G. H. Fellowes Prynne, F.R.I.B.A. who was an eminent church architect of the time.

Five years later in 1910 the dedication service for the new St. Wilfrids was held in a church that was only partially completed, but which had cost £8,200 todate.

To this day the church has not been finished, as the bell tower, two bays and the west baptistry, which were in the original proposal, have not materialised, although the church design appears complete to people viewing the construction today.