The Bible Christian church and hall in Stanstead Road, Forest Hill (on the corner of Elsinore Road) was designed by James Tolley in 1881, and this architect’s drawing was published in the Bible Christian Magazine.
The memorial stones were laid on 1st December 1883, and the church opened on 27th July 1884. The estimated cost was £8,650 which may account for the detail in which progress towards this target is described in the pages of the Bible Christian Magazine.
There were two religious censuses in London in Victorian and Edwardian times. On 24th October 1886 it was recorded that the morning congregation was 145, with an evening congregation of 211. At some point during early 1903 the numbers at the morning and evening services were lower, 120 (including 43 children) in the morning and 129 (18 children) in the evening. In 1940 it was thought to seat 482, and thirty years later, 330, so even at the height of churchgoing, a ‘normal’ service would only a quarter fill the building.
At some point after 1970 the various Methodist churches in Forest Hill seem to have been replaced by a single modern building, which is still in use.
Please get in touch with us if you can tell us anything about St. James church, especially if can supply a photograph.
Sources:
The Bible Christian Magazine 1884, Vol. 63, pp80, 138 and 428
The Religious census of London. Hodder and Stoughton, 1888
The Religious life of London. Hodder and Stoughton, 1904
The Methodist Church, Department of Chapel Affairs. Statistical returns 1940
The Methodist Church, Department of Chapel Affairs. Statistical returns part 1, 1972
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I found this page while researching the context for a photo I was sent showing a view down Elsinore Road towards Stanstead Road from c.1900. Thanks for your fascinating info.
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