Church-Supported Social Clubs
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No. 5 (originally no. 3) Hughenden Road
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| No. 5 Hughenden Road used to be No. 3 before buildings were erected on the opposite side of the road. |
Originally, houses were only built on the north side of Hughenden Road, so they were numbered 1,2,3 on the same side. But, when houses were later built on the opposite side, they were renumbered odd numbers on the north side and even numbers on the south side. And what was once number 3 Hughenden Road is now No. 5, next door to Hughenden Garage.
Back in 1882, when Hughenden Road was still only developed on the north side, the private building of no. 3 Hughenden Road (now no. 5) was used by local men as a social club.
From the moment Alfred Hodges [coming later to Blacklands & Beyond)] took over the local church in Laton Road in 1878, before he even became the official vicar, he demonstrated to the parishioners what a caring, considerate man he was. He worked tirelessly (and without pay for many years) to connect to all the people in the area he cared for.
To start with, when there were only a few households, Hodges visited them every day. Later, he made every effort to continue regular visits. He got to know the people in the area very well, and cared about their well-being. An advocate for all levels of society, no matter whether a poorer tradesman or a person of substance, he got to know and understand every local man and family, and one of his concerns became the problems and issues of alcohol and its use by his parishioners, in particular the role of the many local public houses.
Hodges decided his parishioners needed an alternative to alcohol and an alternative to public houses.
Soon after No 3 (now 5) Hughenden Road was subscribed for, then opened in the winter of 1881-82. Later, in November 1882, Hodges established The Christ Church (Blacklands) Working Men's Institute as that alternative. The Institute gave men space where they could meet up, play games, read newspapers and socialise when they returned from work, from six o'clock to ten o'clock every evening.
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| No. 5 Hughenden Road The original Parochial Rooms |
Originally, there were forty-six men paying the one penny subscription per week. They were also obliged to attend Sunday service as part of the cost of using the club. In 1883, one of the members of the Working Men's Institute, George Austin, became the builder of the new school building beside the church. Back then, he had his workshops behind the Institute, and prefabricated much of the new school building in them.
Later, In 1893, Hodges founded a parochial club for boys and young men, called the Junior Institute, or Lad's Club. The club was open to boys of age fourteen to twenty-one years, one of the first 'youth clubs'. Like the Men's Intitute, the rooms were open every evening for the youths to read and play games. Their payment was a small subscription fee and two Bible classes a week.
Hodges wanted to expand the busy parochial clubs already in use to also having a permanent site for a Sunday School for the boys, but there wasn't enough room in the small private building. This was discussed at the Easter Vestry in 1894, after which the sum of £225 was offered toward a plot in Hughenden Road. However, the cost of building had been estimated as £1500. They had, by then, the donations, or promise of donations, of £700. They decided that a mortgage of the other £800 at 4% a year would cost them no more than the £25 they then paid for the current Parochial Rooms in rent.
(back to contents)No. 28-30 Church House
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| 28B Hughenden Road, Church House, built 1896 |
The land was purchased from a Dr Goodwin in 1895. Then came a long legal battle before they could start building the new property, they planned to call Church House. It cost £172 in legal fees to relocate an ancient footpath which passed through the site.
Later that year, the foundation stone was laid by Reverend Hodges wife, Lucy, on 25th September 1895. The sun was shining and all of Hughenden Road was decorated with flags in celebation. The street was filled with residents coming out to cheer on 'Mrs Lucy', who they adored. The building of the Boys Schoolroom and Club Rooms had begun.
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| Church House, The Parochial Rooms of Blacklands home of the Boys Sunday School and the Mens Club |
A Mr W. E. Warman's tender for the Hall was accepted, and the first Trustees were: the Vicar (Hodges), Wardens, Mr. Dobell and Mr. Forrest.
The deeds stated that the
'Church House was to be used in perpetuity for Church of England purposes in connection with the Church and Parish of Christ Church, Blacklands'.
So, knowing that it is now residential, at some point a change-of-use must have occurred.
On 24th March 1896, Church House was dedicated by Dr Ernest Wilberforce, the recently consecrated Bishop of Chichester and friend of Reverend Alfred Hodges.
When Church House opened, membership was initially limited to men over the age of 18yrs and who lived in the Parish or who attended the Blacklands Church in Laton Road. There were similar rules to the old parochial rooms, in that there should be no alcohol nor gambling (or any games for money). Thirty-four men became members on opening night. Soon afterwards, there were seventy members, each paying a subscription and attending a Sunday afternoon Bible Class, which the members were obliged to go to.
The front no longer says "Christ Church Blacklands Church House", but now simply says "Blacklands" - it was one of the first things that interested me in the Blacklands area.
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| 28 Hughenden Road now called "Blacklands" |
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P.S. I'm not sure what happened to the Lads Club at that point, if membership was only for over 18s, but in 1908, the Lads Club, or Lads Brigade, as it was then known, moved to Sutton Memorial Hall.
Further Reading:
Christ Church, Blacklands (The Centenary History of a Late Victorian Church); Ralph, Richard; Hastings 1981
History of the Church and Parish of Christ Chrch, Blacklands, Hastings 1878-1928; Morgan, Rev. James, D.D.; Budd A. Gillatt, St Leonards on Sea 1928
Blacklands History, 1066 Online
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Really interesting article there. Keep up the good work Annelisa
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was really interesting to find out something about that old Church House, especially, and find out what it was originally used for. Also interesting that an ancient pathway used to run across where Church House was built. I did wonder if that was the one which continued down from Hughenden Road to Beaconsfield, but Church House seems to be almost half way between both of the paths to Beaconsfield Road on the opposite side. So, I don't know if either of them are a continuation of the one that got moved...
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