Calshot St George is a small chapel in the village of Calshot. St. George’s Chapel RAF Calshot, held its first service in June 1919, and claims to be the oldest RAF church. It was part of RAF Calshot until the base closed in 1961, it then became the centre of worship for the Islanders from Tristan da Cunha who were evacuated from their island home in the Atlantic in 1961 following a volcanic eruption.
They were intially housed in Pendell camp, a disused army camp in Surrey, travelling in motor vehicles for the first time in their lives. There they slept in large barracks, families only gaining some privacy by hanging up clothing on lines between the beds. It was a particularly cold winter in England so soon the Islander’s health began to suffer with little immunity to flu, bronchitis and pneumonia.
On the 23rd January 1962 the Islanders were moved to Calshot, to the ex-married quarters of the RAF base, which were then renamed Tristan Close. The RAF’s sole representative left at the Camp was Sgt. Reginald Davies, a kindly bachelor who was remembered as playing marathon games of cricket with the children in the evenings. Although not quite enough houses to give each family their own, they were together and formed a community of their own. They also had St. George’s Chapel, a community hall, a postoffice and store, within easy walking distance.
St George's became the centre of worship for the islanders, who regularly attended Holy Communion at 8.30am, with the older generation going to Evensong at All Saints’ Fawley.
For more information about Tristan da Cahuna and the link with Calshot see the excellent Fawley Heritage site here; http://www.fawleyheritage.co.uk/people/tristan-da-cunha-memories
To find the final cache location, look to the left of the door to the chapel where you will find a telephone number. The number is 023 80 abcdef. The final location can be found at N 50 (ax2)(b+1).(c-d)(b/2)(a) W 001 (b/e)f.(f/2)(e)(b/2).
The final cache location is just over a mile away and is a lovely walk or a short drive. Very near to the final cache location you can also find out more about the history of RAF Calshot.
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html