Christ Church
Coldharbour Surrey

Christ Church in Coldharbour, Surrey is a Christian congregation serving the Coldharbour community and encouraging others through a life-changing Christian journey.

We seek to serve God by working for justice and peace, respect and learn from all the great faith traditions and desire to be known by the love we have for one another.

 

http://www.coldharbourchurch.org.uk  

Christ Church lies between Abinger and Broome Hall Roads towards the southern end of the village, with the churchyard gate in a short road joining the two, a few hundred metres south of where Broome Hall Road splits from Abinger Road.

The best postcode for anyone using a satnav is RH5 6HF - once you get near, you should see the Church!  

The Early Years

Christ Church was built in 1848 to meet the needs of the growing village. Its construction, together with that of the vicarage, was funded by John Labouchere of Broome Hall and the 13th Duke of Norfolk provided the land. Designed by Benjamin Ferrey, a pupil of Augustus Charles Pugin who was responsible for the rich and intricate interior of the Houses of Parliament, Ferrey based his design on that of a simple late thirteenth century chapel while drawing on the decorated period of English Gothic architecture for the chancel arch and widow tracery. With its six sides, Ferrey's font, now facing the south door, demonstrates the influence of the Ecclesiastical movement on his work.Hinge Christ Church is seen to be a fine example of the mid-eighteenth century Gothic revival 'beauty of holiness' movement, taking the word to the people. Built of local, Leith Hill, sandstone, Christ Church is a Grade II listed building.

Consecrated by Bishop Sumner, Bishop of Winchester, Christ Church was initially a 'chapel of ease' of Holmwood Parish but with an endowment by Labouchere Coldarbour became a parish in its own right in 1850. John Labouchere was a banker, a partner in what became Williams and Deacon's (for a time Williams, Deacon, Labouchere & Co) which was taken over by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1929, but continued to operate under the old name until it was merged to form Williams and Glyns before being fully absorbed into RBS. Labouchere shared evangelical Christian beliefs with his bank partners and was president of one evangelical organisations vice-president of two others, treasurer of eight, governor of three and on the committee of another three.

On the west wall of the balcony are two painted Gothic style panels. The one on south side of the west window sets out the Ten Commandments and that on the north side sets out the Lords Prayer and the Apostles Creed. These formed the original, 1848, reredos.

In 1854 Labouchere's wife, Mary Louisa, funded the building of an infant school on land at the northern end of the churchyard. While Christ Church remains a thriving Church, the school was closed in 1908 replaced by one providing for a wider age range in the centre of the village.

1904 - A Major Reconstruction

In 1904, Labouchere's successor in Broome Hall, Sir Alexander Hargreaves Brown, together with two other local land owners, the Heath family of Kitlands and Hervey Vaughan Williams of Leith Hill Place, funded a major reconstruction of the interior of Christ Church, to the design of W D Caroe, a major figure in the arts and crafts movement and architect of the Cardiff University Main Building. Caroe's work included a new roof structure for the nave with cross beams and a fine king post roof designed to prevent the considerable weight of Ferrey's roof from pushing the walls outwards and causing the roof to sag. Caroe's work also included new choir stalls, reredos and pulpit as well as chancel fittings. The benefactors also provided a new Rothwell organ, for which Caroe built a new organ case and chamber. Margaret Vaughan Williams, Ralph's sister paid for a restoration of the organ in 1932.

The Most Recent Changes

The interior of the Church remained unchanged until 2000 when Jonathan Mansfield, an architect who lived in the village, designed a meeting room - the Annabel Room, in memory of Annabel Constantine - and a balcony at the west end, with much of the work being in polished oak. Jonathan also oversaw the conversion of all the pews to be freestanding, enabling them to be moved so the nave can be configured in different formats, as well to be largely cleared for special events. New lighting was installed throughout the church, including four large Arts and Crafts style wrought iron fittings in the nave with uplighters illuminating the fine roof and downlighters the pews. A disabled toilet was installed off the Annabel Room in 2017. To accommodate the toilet, the church boiler was moved to the outside of the west wall, where it is enclosed with wood harvested from National Trust trees on Leith Hill.

The War Memorials and Flags

There are two war memorials on the northern wall of the nave. The westernmost one commemorates the thirteen villagers killed in the First World War, while the easternmost one commemorates the three villagers killed in the Second World War.

Two Union Jacks hang by the war memorials; the one near the Second World War memorial was flown at Anstie Grange during the First World War when it was used as a hospital. It was presented to Christ Church by family of C E Heath, owner of Anstie Grange and who is commemorated in a window on the south side of the nave (see below).

The standard of the former Dorking branch of the Royal Naval Association is on the inside of the western wall, in the balcony. John Venus, our vicar between 1983 and 1993, had served as a Royal Navy chaplain and introduced a Sea Sunday service with the Dorking branch of the Association; they presented Christ Church with their standard when the branch was wound up in 2011. We continue to celebrate Sea Sunday every July.

These two memorials supplement another on Coldharbour Common, to the north of Christ Church on the opposite side of Abinger Road, which is where our annual Remembrance Sunday service is held. This memorial has Grade II listing as 'an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20', with the design described as 'a simple yet dignified stone pillar war memorial'. It lists all the villagers who served in the First World War, identifying those who were killed and those who were injured, as well as those killed in the Second World War.

The Church Windows

Christ Church has some fine stained glass windows. The west end window, best viewed from the balcony, is a fine example of the work of C E Kempe and Co, successors to C E Kempe who had designed stained glass windows in several cathedrals including Gloucester, Hereford, Wells Winchester and York. The window was installed in memory of Raymond Heath who died in the battle of Loos in 1915. Raymond was a member of the family that owned Kitlands and had contributed to Caroe's work of 1904.

Progressing towards the Chancel, the first window on the right, the south side, was designed by Hugh Easton (who also designed several windows in Westminster Abbey, including those in the Battle of Britain chapel) is also in memory of a Heath, Cuthbert Eden who died in 1939. C E Heath was a visionary Lloyd’s underwriter, recognised as being the father of non-marine insurance and is credited with creating the market’s first burglary policy and the first earthquake and hurricane insurance. He even insured against Zeppelin attacks during the First World War. Many of C E Heath’s ground-breaking approaches to insurance and risk are still in practice at Lloyd’s today.

C E Heath was the grandson of George Heath, searjant at arms who is responsible for the security of the Houses of Parliament; George had built up the Kitlands estate, on the eastern side of the village, from a number of farms. George's son and CE Heath's father, Admiral Sir Leopold Heath, built Anstie Grange to the north of Kitlands and planted many rhododendrons. C E Heath inherited Anstie Grange and its rhododendrons are depicted in the window.

Below the window is a plaque commemorating Lord Claud David Hamilton. husband of C E Heath's daughter, Genesta. Lord Claud Hamilton was an officer in the Irish Guards and attached to the Gurkhas. His widow was a great supporter of the Gurkhas and used to arrange for a Gurkha band to play at the annual Village Fete.

The second window on the south side is in memory of Major Alfred Fox Cotton, related to the Heath family by his marriage to Admiral Sir Leopold Heath's daughter, Marion Emma. It was funded by the brothers and sisters of his widow, while a plaque below the window is a tribute by his wife. Like Lord Claud Hamilton, Major Fox served with the Gurkhas , the Fourth Gurkha Regiment. He died at sea in 1890 on a voyage home from India.

The east window is by James Powell and Sons who, as well as making stained glass, were also known as Whitefriars Glass, producing glassware.

Coming back into the nave, the first window on the north side is a fine Pre-Raphelite window in memory of Gordon Hargreaves-Brown who died at Ypres on 29 September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. His father, Sir Alexander Hargreaves Brown, was the principal funder of Caroe's 1904 reconstruction of the Church's interior. George's son, Sir John Pigott Brown, who was killed in Tunisia on Christmas Day in 1942, is commemorated on the wall panel to the west of the window commemorating his father.

The third window on the north side two panels. The right hand panel, which is of unknown date depicting the Virgin Mary, is in memory of Sir Alexander and Lady Maxwell. Sir Alexander was Permanent Under Secretary at the Home Office from 1938 to 1948. The left hand panel was created in 2013 by Amanda Winfield of Abinger Common.

The Churchyard

To the north of the Church lies the grave of Marian and Caja Hemar. Marian was a noted Polish journalist, playwright, comedy writer and songwriter, who left Poland, eventually for Britain, following the German invasion. Once in England, Marian broadcast to Poland for Radio Free Poland. After the war he continued to broadcast to Poland and became one of the best known members of the Polish community outside Poland. In the late 1950s Marian came to live in Coldharbour with his wife Caja, who he married in London in 1946. Caja was a Danish film actress who is probably best known for her role in holding the torch aloft at the start of some Columbia Pictures films.

Near the south west corner, lie the graves of members of the Heath family, including those of Admiral Sir Leopold Heath, Cuthbert Eden Heath and Lord Claud Hamilton.

The graves of Sir Alexander Hargreaves Brown and members of his family are also along the eastern side, while that of his predecessor at Broome Hall and founder of Christ Church, John Labouchere, as well as of his wife Louisa, is an altar tomb towards the northern end of the churchyard, near the former infants school Louisa funded.

On the east side, near the John Venus Hall is a group of Wedgwood and Vaughan Williams graves, two families linked by the marriage of Margaret, the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood III (of Leith Hill Place), to Arthur Vaughan Williams from nearby Tanhurst. Following Arthur's early death, Margaret moved back to Leith Hill Place with her three young children, Hervey, Margaret and Ralph. Josiah Wedgwood III and his daughter Margaret, as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams' brother Hervey and sister Margaret, are among the family members buried here. Ralph Vaughan Williams ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey.

Just to the west of this group is the grave of Bill Travers, star of Born Free, in which he and his wife, Virginia McKenna, play Joy and George Adamson who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood and then returned her to the wild in Kenya.

Vicars of Coldharbour

The vicars of Christ Church have been Rev C R Bird, 1849-52; Rev G W Hillyer, 1852-84; Cannon Pelly, 1884-90; Rev R J Rooker, 1890-97; Rev H J Harding 1897-1913; Rev M Denman 1914-27; Rev F J O Lewis 1927-30; Rev L W Wale, 1930-54, Rev F W Argyle, 1954-56; Rev C T Chapman 1956-61; Rev P M H Kelly 19661-65; Rev A Cardale 1965-82, Rev J C Venus 1983-93. Our present vicar, Rev Tony Berry, was appointed in 1993.

Coldharbour was an independent parish from 1848 until 1956, when it was united with St James Abinger, where Rev C T Chapman was Rector; all subsequent appointments have been to both parishes. The United Benefice of St James Abinger, Christ Church, St Marys Holmbury and St Johns Wotton was created in 2015, with our Vicar, Tony Berry, its first priest.