Saint Wilfrid Church Heritage
CHURCH HISTORY SAINT WILFRID’S LEGACY CLERGY OF THE PARISH MEMORIALS THE WAR YEARS IN SEARCH OF SAINT WILFRID
A brief history by Peter Green and John Hawkins
church history
St. Wilfrid’s Church was dedicated in 1910 and built to meet the growing needs in the west of the town as the population of Bognor grew in what was the easternmost tithing of the ancient parish of Pagham.
What was actually built was only the first phase of a far more ambitious building by the architect George Fellowes Prynne which should have extended another three bays and had an imposing bell tower and baptistery if it had ever been completed. It was originally a daughter church to St. John the Baptist Church in London Road, Bognor and became the Parish Church on 25th of May 1971, when St. John’s Church was closed.
St Wilfrid’s Church has the rare privilege of being built on land once owned by the Saint to whom it is dedicated - Saint Wilfrid. When he was reinstated to his See in York in 687, he gave Parham estate to Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, and to this day this makes the parish ‘peculiar’ where the Patron is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
1891 Plans for St. Wilfrid’s Church
‘There has for some time been talk of a new church to supply the growing necessities of the West end of Bognor, and we hear that all the preliminaries are now settled and that immediate steps will be taken to carry it out.’ (‘From our Files’ - 100 years ago - Bognor Regis Observer 25/7/1991)
1896 Tin Chapel-of-Ease, Victoria Drive
The site in Victoria Drive has been settled upon back in 1895 and a tin chapel-of-ease, capable of holding 200, was built and dedicated in July 1896. The first Sunday service at the new tin chapel was later recalled by one of the choristers, Mr A. Brimacombe: “Unfortunately, the seats for the choir had just been varnished and we found it very difficult to stand up, our knickerbockers becoming most adhesive, especially after the long sermon” (Vanessa Mills, in ‘Bygone Bognor’, Bognor Regis Observer, 1990s).
1905 Plans for St. Wilfrid’s Church, Victoria Drive
There was a large assembly of church people at the Assembly Rooms, Bognor, in connection with the proposal to establish a building fund for a permanent “St Wilfrid’s” Church at West Bognor in the place of the present small iron structure. Mr G. H. Fellowes Prynne, F.R.I.B.A., the eminent church architect, explained the plans he had prepared for the proposed new church (‘From our Files’ – 75 years ago – Bognor Regis Observer 14/11/80).
1908 Appeal for Funds
The appeal made in 1908 towards the ‘Church Building Fund’ to cover the shortfall of £2,000 required to finish the first (and what turned out to be the only) phase of the original plans for the Church Building designed by the Architect G. H. Fellowes Prynne.
1908 Stone Laying
On Wednesday, July 22, in brilliant weather in Bognor, a very large crowd assembled at the corner of Ellasdale Road and Victoria Drive around the site of the new church of St Wilfrid’s to witness the service and ceremony of stone laying. Adjoining the site is the galvanized iron structure which has served the need of the church for several years (‘From our Files’ – 75 years ago – Bognor Regis Observer 28/ 7/ 83).
1910 Dedication
Despite the obviously inconvenient hour, the seating accommodation of the new church of St. Wilfrid’s, West Bognor, was fully taxed at 11 a.m. for the dedication service. (‘From our Files’ – 75 years ago – Bognor Regis Observer 2/ 5/ 85)
The church was only partially completed at a cost of £8,200. The tower, spire, three bays of the nave and baptistry were still missing.
The iron building must have been taken down soon after the opening of the new church, as a postcard which is, postmarked 16th August 1911, shows the church from Victoria Drive, with no sign of the old structure.
1955 Consecration of St Wilfrid’s Church, Bognor
Still waiting for the tower and other work to be completed, Bishop Bell consecrated St Wilfrid’s church. The bishop told the congregation that if the church waited for completion before consecrating the church, then one or two centuries might elapse!
1971 Granted Parish Church status
In May of 1971, the last service was held at the Parish Church of Bognor (St John the Baptist, London Road), before it was demolished in 1972 and the site sold in March 1973 to make way for the redevelopment of the High Street (originally W H Smith and Boots).
Subsequently, on 25th May 1971, as the daughter church to St John’s, St Wilfrid became the Parish Church of Bognor.
The Unfinished Church
The Church was unfortunately never finished – a bell tower, spire and 3 further bays with a west baptistry were proposed but never implemented. We are fortunate however to have a water coloured line drawing of the enlarged church as envisaged by the Architect responsible for the design of the building – G.H. Fellowes Prynne, F.R.I.B.A. Note how the proposed building was dressed in brick not the stone finish of the actual building.
