Church Micro 463. St Paul’s. East Molesey. Multi-Cache
Church Micro 463. St Paul’s. East Molesey.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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If anybody would like to expand this series please do, we would just ask that you could let sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
The co-ordinates given are for the front gates to the church.
With these to hand look for the stone laid by Royalty.With these dates subtrack 3, minus the day, minus the month from 286 to get the new (N) and add the year together ?+?+?+?= minus the day + the month + 234 to find the new (W)
In 1843, the original parish church of Molesey (now St Mary’s) was in disrepair and the developer of this part of the town, Francis Jackson Kent, wished to have a place where those who had bought his property could worship. He therefore offered to build a church on this site at his own expense. St Mary’s ‘Vestry ‘(Parish Church Council) prevaricated, and Kent started work to build the church on his own. The new church became a second church within the parish. Operating under licence from the Bishop of Winchester, but it soon became a parish on its own.
(There are plans that St Mary’s and St Paul’s will soon become a united benefice)
The architects of the building, Salter and Laforest (who also designed the chapel at Lincoln’s Inn, the buildings of the Royal College of Surgeons and many others) designed the building to be constructed in phases. The first part to be built in 1855 was the chapel and most of the nave. The last to be built was the tower and spire in 1887, about 32 years later.
The threefold division of the church – nave, chancel and sanctuary – was very much part of Victorian ‘Ecclesiological’ church design, based on the ancient temple of Jerusalem. But the Victorians also insisted the detailed design must imitate the pointed arches of the gothic churches of the middle ages. The chancel at St Paul’s is clearly defined by a low wall and gated grille, but the sanctuary is only subtly defined by the rails and steps and richly-patterned floor tiles surrounding the high altar. Today this is seen as old fashioned, a simple altar on the dais arranged to be near the people is the centre of Sunday worship.
The interior is unusual in that the arches between the nave and aisles reach almost to the roof, so there are no clerestory (clear-story) windows to light the upper part of the nave. But this is more than compensated for by the open feeling and the larger windows in the aisles.
In the church are a number of memorials, the most notable of which is the very fine east window consisting of five lights. The centre one is to the memory of Marion Flockton and her infant son who both died in 1876. The other four lights are in memory of Francis Jackson Kent, the 'founder' of the church, who died in 1885 and who was responsible for much of the expansion of this part of Molesey in the middle of the 19th century. Francis Jackson Kent died in 1885 is now buried along side his wife Mary Ann Kent who died one year later in 1886, their gravestone monument can be seen in the church grounds of St Mary’s Church in Hampton.
During 2002 there was a major enhancement project with the installation of under floor heating, new carpets, pews and a sound system incorporating a hearing loop. There is also a ramp leading into the church building and glass doors are fitted to the porch to enable passers by to see into the church. During 2005, the Parish Room underwent a major refurbishment.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vg'f n yvggyr uvtu naq va n ubyybj, fgrnygu vf irel vzcbegnag nf lbh jvyy or va shyy ivrj. Vg'f Ubyl be vf vg fcryg evtug? Vf na y zvffvat?
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