Forum Topic

The" lost church" at the corner of Churchfield Road and Spencer Road

A long-term resident of Acton was telling me there used to be a church at the corner of Churchfield Road and Spencer Road.It was demolished in the 1970s / 1980s and replaced with the flats that are there now.It piqued my curiosity and I wondered - does anyone have a photo of it?

Richard Grange ● 5361d38 Comments

Acton History site always worth a look (sorry can't do links):http://www.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/Postcards.htmSeems to be the Acton Congregational Church - great looking building, who would knock down such a wonderful thing?!Also found this here: bit http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22554#s2:"Acton Cong. church, Churchfield Rd., built 1871, seating c. 900, (fn. 58) by J. Tarring & Son. (fn. 59) Seated 800 in 1894. (fn. 60) Attendance 1903: 405 a.m.; 282 p.m. (fn. 61) Renamed Acton United Reformed church 1972. Joined Acton Hill Meth. church 1976 to form Acton Hill church (Meth., later United Reformed), using Meths.' bldgs. Churchfield Rd. premises sold and demol. (fn. 62) "

Sarah Harris ● 5361d

who would knock down such a thing - developers of course, because as I remember no one made a fuss about it.

Dee Cook ● 5361d

All the more reason to make a fuss about the historical 91 Shakespeare Road. Yet another building developers want to demolish and replace with substandard living accomodation.This is a house that can be renovated and bought back to it's former glory........

Ellie Rose ● 5361d

Sorry, no photo but memories - we used to hold our Girl Guide meetings in the church hall.  One of the group leaders, Alison, was dating John Entwistle of The Who and he would often pick her up at the end of the evening.

Maria Pettit ● 5361d

Why on earth would they knock down such an amazing building.Why also would they knock down the cinema where Morrisons stands?!

Munira Khan ● 5361d

www.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/Postcards.htmscroll down.

Ricardo Pelc-Wesoly ● 5361d

Anyone remember the lovely old cinema on the high st.that was scandalously knocked down by the Safeway's contractors?There had been a preservation notice of some sort put on the building so I believe, but this was roundly ignored in the name of avarice.It was a 1920's building I think,in red brick and had a helter-skelter style(possibly faux) stairwell rising from it.I think it was an old cinema but when I lived in Acton it was a bingo hall then a carpet retailer.There was a bit of a kerfuffle at the time and the demolition mob were fines £250K I believe.Peanuts to Safeways tho'.

Keith Iddon ● 5361d

http://www.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/Copy%20of%20Copy%20of%20img782.jpg

Ricardo Pelc-Wesoly ● 5360d

It was in 1958 that john enwhistle and pete townsend of the WHO made there first public appearance at the Congo club held at this very church bet you never knew that.

Ricardo Pelc-Wesoly ● 5360d

The old Odeon cinema in Acton was a topic on this site in 2008 with a photo.The building was reopened as the second B&Q in the country.The sloping floor was still there but the prices undercut everybody

John McNamara ● 5360d

Cheers John, my memory's a bit foggy, but I have a distant recollection of it being a carpet sales place just before it was bulldozed.I may be wrong tho'.

Keith Iddon ● 5360d

It was B&Q and they stocked carpets as well as DIY the carpet section was at the bottom of the slope in front of the screen.I was doing up my house and spent quite a bit of cash in there so when they floated on the stock exchange I bought some shares.Later Woolworth took B&Q over.

John McNamara ● 5360d

Ive been looking on google tonightand found these photos. Hope I can remember how to copy and paste. I didnt know it had been illegally knocked down. Disgraceful.

Munira Khan ● 5360d

Cheers Munira,excellent pictures.What a lovely building it was,inside and out.

Keith Iddon ● 5360d

Better take some photos of Acton Town Hall and swim pool before that's demolished.  I fear that the residents group who were involved in the decision making process inadvertently gave the Council the opinion that local residents wanted it demolished and a new pool built.

Dee Cook ● 5360d

Thanks so much for the pictures. It was huge!I think that sadly we are careless of our buildings - and continue to be. eg 91 Shakespeare Road Here are some fab photos of the old cinema that was on the site of Morrisons.http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/results.aspx?index=0&form=advanced&monumentType=CINEMA&placeName=Acton

Richard Grange ● 5360d

The current craze for ripping out anything old and replacing it with something flashy and new may hit the buffers because of the rising cost of energy to produce the materials. Cement and steel require lots of dwindling resources, so use them wisely to produce something that is able to last.

Chris Bell ● 5360d

Try these linkswww.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/Postcards.htm -www.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/index.htm

Nicola Howard ● 5357d

In one of the pictures that Manira Khan posted,is the building in the background still there? I mean is it the opticians on the corner of Churchfield road or have I got my bearings wrong?

Kyria- Josephine Sewell ● 5345d

No Kyria, it isn't the opticians on the corner of Churchfield Road. The view is looking up towards what is now Morrison's, the post office and the carpet shop, but not as far as the other side of Horn Lane. I remember there being an old post office near to B&Q when I first came to live in Acton over 30 years ago and I think there were the Acton Gazette offices as well.

Amanda Knights ● 5345d

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Fred Bray ● 5345d

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Fred Bray ● 5345d

and Rectory Road and Back Street...all long gone?

Jim Lawes ● 5342d

Rectory Road is still there! Runs down behind Morrison's.

Amanda Knights ● 5342d

... and Langley Drive used to be called Jaret Road - I'd forgotten that!

Lorna Dodd ● 5342d

whats the church on Winchester street? Anybody know?

Kyria- Josephine Sewell ● 5341d

It is is where Berrymead Priory was - maybe that was marked as a church?

Amanda Knights ● 5341d

"whats the church on Winchester street? Anybody know?"It was called St Andrews Church...and next door (in Salisbury Street) was the Priory Constitutional Club.

Jim Lawes ● 5341d

Looking at Victoria County History online it states:-" ST. ANDREW'S mission church, Salisbury Street. Begun in shop premises. Church by 1894, contained font from old parish church, with which mission was connected. Attendance 1903: 209 a.m.; 111 p.m. Curate-in-charge 1915. Closed after Second World War, when bldg. demol." (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22552)So, either the building wasn't demolished until after the 1967 map, or they had not updated the information!

Amanda Knights ● 5341d

Was this postcard mentioned before? Looks like that Church on the corner...

Jim Lawes ● 5311d

Has this postcard been mentioned before?

Jim Lawes ● 5311d

JimI love this postcard - its actually the nicest view I've seen of the Churchfield Road and the only one I've seen looking east. Thanks for the post.

Richard Grange ● 5311d

JimLove this photo -  makes the Churchfield looks really beautiful complete with iron gas lamps.Its also the only photo I have seen of the Churchfield road from this period looking east.

Richard Grange ● 5310d

Thats strange we had a listed church on Bromyard Avenue which burnt down and then became flat?????

Diana Oneill ● 5308d

I finally found the picture of us as kids in front of the church on corner of Churcfield and Spencer Roads.  Can't scan it, but it is in colour (circa 1977). You can see the brickwork on the side of the Church, as the picture was taken from the doorway of 1 Spencer Road, you do see quite how big the church was. If you'd like to see if, I'm more than happy to meet up.

Jo Poole ● 5185d

That's right Dianna. It was in the middle of the road. I think there are some pictures of it on the 'We Love Acton' facebook page......Go to where it says 'photos' at the top of the page and have a scour through. Some great old pics of Acton on there.......

Ellie Rose ● 5185d

For those not aware and interested in such issues: Ealing Council is going to demolish the existing Acton Baths heritage building this month / next month, replacing it with a modern 'vibrant' (?!) multi-purpose facility with 2 smaller pools. Keeping only the Kings Room facade facing the high street. Some recent pics of the internal views of the baths and lots of discussion and memories are posted on the 'We love acton :)' facebook group (over 2000 members).

S Bradford ● 5184d

Thanks for the reminder; I was the leader of the Congo Club at the time and John asked if the band - then The High Numbers, I think - could practice there; I agreed as long as the club members could watch/listen. I was in the BB with John and Alison was my twin sister's best friend

Paul Reed ● 4913d