Twickenham United Reformed Church

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Our Church Building

Above you see the main church building, an 1860's rebuilding of the original 1844 chapel (see History pages The first pastorate and Rebuilding, 1866-7). The architect was J.P.Manning of Mitre Court, Fleet Street, London. His comments on the building (from the Congregational Yearbook 1867) include:

"The buildings, which present a specimen of very successful planning and effective grouping, were designed with a view of making available, as far as possible, the old buildings and materials, and are of brick, picked stocks with red brick and Bath stone dressing partaking of a Byzantine character, adapted to the purposes of the buildings and materials used".

Not everyone was so enthusiastic. A visiting reporter from the Richmond and Twickenham Times view (11 Oct 1873):

"Had Solomon been an architect and seen the Congregational Chapel on Twickenham Green ... [he] would have been sorely puzzled to define its architecture correctly .... In appearance the building is unique and as a matter of taste it is a question whether it would not be well for it to always remain so seeing that the elevation is as heavy as it is inartistic.... Were it possible to speak in terms of praise, consistently with truth, of this curious conglomeration of bricks and mortar, it would give me great pleasure to do so, but I have to write what I think, and am therefore bound to confess that beauty is not an element in its design. Nor is the interior any more pleasing than its outwards appearance."read full account

Notwithstanding this comment, our building is on the local authority's list of 'Buildings of Townscape Merit'. In 1997 the garden was landscaped and paved, a new low garden wall replacing the unwelcoming high old one.

Inside the church

The chapel has an open roof, and over the entrance is a deep gallery, the seats being well arranged so that all the congregation, both there and in the body of the chapel, can see the preacher. The place he occupies is not easy to describe. It is not exactly a platform nor is it exactly a pulpit, but perhaps it is more the former than the latter. Elevated on a structure of red and white bricks and partly polished wood and partly painted after the Mediaeval style of decoration it presents a most singular appearance, an idea of which it is not possible to convey in words. It excites some wonder in the mind of the visitor, but whether wonder and admiration are combined depends entirely on the taste of the stranger in matters relating to architecture and ecclesiastical decoration. [Richmond & Twickenham Times October 1873]

The pine panelling and cross on the end wall were added in 1970, concealing some very time-worn plaster. In 1976/7 the interior was transformed when we removed the pews, replaced rotten timber with a new level concrete floor, laid the carpet and put in the chairs.

The main church building is fitted with a loop system to assist the hard of hearing.

Our organ

We have a very good two-manual organ which has now served us well for 120 years; before then singing was accompanied by a harmonium. At our December 1885 Church Meeting it was reported that

.. on Tuesday 8th inst a Recital and Sacred Concert was given in the Church upon the opening of the New Organ under the direction of Mr E.Minshall, organist of Dr Parker's, the City Temple. ... The organ was built by Messrs P.Conacher of Huddersfield for £250 and after thorough examination and trial by the organist of St Mary's Parish Church, Twickenham, it was pronounced by him a very desirable instrument perfectly satisfactory in very respect and admirably adapted to the requirements of this church.

The organ has been rebuilt in 1924, 1949 (when an electric blower was added: previously it was hand pumped) and in 1975 (when the pedal board was electrified). More about Conacher & Co., Organ Builders

Our banners

We have two banners. The first, seen in full in the picture of the organ above with a detail from it shown to the left, is based on the picture in the centre of the stained glass window above the cross which depicts the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. It was made by the late Mrs. Elsie Bartlett, one of our members, in 1979 for our first United Reformed Church Provincial Day in Canterbury.

The new banner (right) was made in 1996 by a number of our members for our United Reformed Church Southern Province Provincial Day in Croydon.

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Some pictures of our church drawn by pupils of Archdeacon Cambridge's School, Spring 2007

Our thanks to the artists: choosing which ones to show was really hard!

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Last updated 23 June 2008. For comments and reports of bad links etc., please mail webmaster@twickenhamurc.org.uk