A brief history of the church
In 1862 the church of St James was built in Sandrock Road in the area then known as Calverley Plain, at a cost of £6000. The Architect was Ewan Christian (1814-1895).
In 1861 the Tunbridge Wells Gazette had this to say about the site for the new church of St. James: -
“It is to be raised in the midst of a district which may be called remote from any place of worship. It is at the very centre of extensive building operations that are every day being enlarged so that the population of the locality is growing rapidly and is in evident want of a fitting place of worship, the nearest church being St John’s. The site has been well chosen and the country around is open and beautiful”.
The first ceremony to take place at the site was the laying of the foundation stone and the Gazette gave the following graphic account: -
“The ceremony was scarcely performed when a very smart, pelting hail shower drove some away and compelled others to take refuge under the best shelter they could find. Just as the hail commenced to fall, some of the scaffolding (built up to hold the seating) gave way with some noise. A number of persons were on it and underneath it and fears were entertained lest some person should have suffered an injury. Though several were compelled to cling to the scaffold and others fell eight to ten feet, happily no hurt was sustained by a single individual. The falling hail and broken scaffold merely causing a temporary confusion unusual on such occasions”.
The report continues that about £100 was still required to open the church and about £800 was needed to build a spire. In September of that year, advantage was taken of the Harvest Thanksgiving services at Trinity and St. John’s to appeal for additional contributions to the building of St. James’ and £113 was received.
The consecration of the building was to have taken place in May 1862 but the Archbishop of Canterbury was unwell. Eventually the Bishop of Ripon was commissioned to open the building “with such sacred observances as are necessary to render it a recognised offshoot of the Mother Church”.
The ceremony took place in unfavourable weather once more but on this occasion inside. The body of the church was nearly filled. No less than eighteen clergymen supported the Bishop in his duties on the happy occasion and a new choir had been formed under the direction of Mr. J. Roberts.
The coordinates take you to the church gate.
You willl need to find information on a bench nearby.
GW abcd
N51 ((d-a-a) (c+d) (d-a) (b-c) (b-d)
E 000 (b-c-d) (b-d-a) (a+d) (c+d) (a+c+d)
The cache contains log book and small pencil.
Would be useful to bring tweezers!
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