Chapel Next the Green (the history of Twickenham Congregational Church) index page
In September 1877 the LCU requested its West District Committee (WDC) to confer with the Church with a view to filling the pulpit, but before they could act the Church sent a call to the Rev E.Schnadhorst of North Bow. Evidently he did not accept, for within six months, with the agreement of the Church, the LCU had formed a committee to superintend the Church. On 16th December 1878 the LCU General Committee was advised that as:
“The divisions in the Church and Committee were such as to give no hope of any good being done by the one or the other. The District Committee recommend that the Church should be disbanded“. The following resolution passed at a Trustees meeting held on 12th December was read:
“That we are of the opinion that it is desirable that the church at Twickenham should be dissolved and that the Chapel and schools should be used for a time as a mission station for public worship and instruction and we are prepared in the event of this course of action being adopted to ask the London Congregational Union to take the direction of the work for a tine and give them our sympathy and aid in carrying out the same.”
It was resolved that the District Committee be empowered to act with a view to disbanding the Church and the Secretary was empowered to continue the supply of the pulpit.
OVERSIGHT FROM GEORGE WALKER
Acting on this, the Rev George Walker was engaged to take charge of the fellowship. The Rev Robert Macbeth, minister of Hammersmith Church and LCU West District Secretary reported to the General Committee on 17th March 1879:
“that the Church had been dissolved, that services were being continued, and that the Trustees were prepared to cooperate with the Union if the Union would provide supplies… The W. District Committee recommended the General Committee to sanction the engagement of Mr Walker to supply It was agreed that he be engaged for six or 12 months … and a grant of £100 be promised. The understanding to be that this appointment did not constitute him to be the pastor.“
George Walker was to supervise the work of the Church for two years. In May 1879 the RTT advertised the re-opening of the Sunday School; later that year the chapel was closed for renovations.
On a lighter note a series of fortnightly lectures was started in November 1879. The lectures included ‘Longfellow, his place and power as a poet’, by G.S.Ingram, former pastor; ‘American Humour’ and ‘Ferns of Devon‘ , by George Walker himself; and reflecting an interest in the technology of the time, ‘The Phones: Microphone, Telephone and Phonograph’, by J.E.Greenhill.
By March 1880 the WDC were having second thoughts and recommended the ending of “the engagement with Rev G.Walker, who gives the impression of busybodying in two or three Churches at one time”. The Church expressed an opposite view, and the LCU agreed to continue the arrangement “with the hope that it will not be unduly prolonged”.
In February 1881 Mr Walker wrote to the LCU stating that “if a greatly reduced grant was made for the half year he would leave at the latest by the end of June” . To encourage him on his way the grant was promptly halved to £25 for the half year! This left Mr Walker with little option but to leave, though for several years after he was writing to the LCU complaining that he had not meant to be taken seriously. During this period he published two editions of ‘Sermons preached at Twickenham Congregational Church’.
His last pastorate was at Long Melford, Suffolk (1884-1894), after which he remained out of charge until his death in April 1908.
TOWARDS RE-FORMATION
To ascertain the situation for himself the Rev Andrew Mearns, Secretary of the LCU, conducted the services on July 3rd and 17th 1881, and reported that “the total number present on the Sunday was about 50 in the morning and 100 in the evening including the boys from Fortescue House“. Within two weeks the LCU engaged a young man, Aurelius Gliddon, to take charge of the Church. Mr Gliddon had trained for the Methodist ministry at Headingly College, and until March 1881 had been a Wesleyan chaplain to the forces in Malta.
He quickly made an impact on the church and in September it was reported to the LCU that “the attendance at the Sunday services and the weekly offerings had considerably increased”. The following month it was reported that “the Trustees are anxious for the church to be re-formed and a mortgage raised to pay off all liabilities“. The winter months discussions were held with the LCCBS who agreed not to press for payments due for work carried out during the LCU oversight. In January 1882 the LCU agreed that the WDC could proceed with the arrangements for the re-formation of the Church.
Before these were completed Mr Gliddon took a short break and on March 16th married Margaret Lelean at Ebenezer Chapel, Guernsey. It was a gesture of confidence in the future that was not to be misplaced. On their return the delighted members of the congregation held a reception for the couple, the RTT reporting that “Mr Gliddon had only been the minister of the Church for eight or nine months but has during that time won the esteem and regard of his people“. Slight journalistic licence — but it was not to be long before he was minister. With his new wife, he moved into a house in Popes Avenue rented from Abraham Slade.
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