St Alban's: History

In 1880, as new houses were constantly being built and the population was rapidly increasing, it was deemed necessary to build more convenient, as well as increased, church accommodation for East Dartford and so St Alban’s began its life as a mission church.  It was intended that it should be built in St Edmund’s burial ground on the site of a medieval chapel but it was then decided that it would be too near it’s mother church of Holy Trinity.  The site in St Albans Road was given by Mrs Sankey and the total cost of construction was £636. 8s. 2½d.  The stone laying was held on 8^th June 1880 and the first service was held on 7^th October of that year.

The church seated 150 and adequately served the needs of the area for the next twenty years.  Further expansion of the population made it necessary to have a larger building.  In June 1900 a committee of ten men and ten women was formed to organise a band of helpers to raise money for the erection of a new church.

Subsequently there was an alternation in the plan and instead it was decided to enlarge the existing building to accommodate 400 people.  The cost of these alternations and additions was £2,631. 7s. 6d.  The church was then granted parochial status, the consecration took place on 17^th February 1902 and the ceremony was performed by The Archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor Frederick Temple, in the last year of his life.  (The greater part of what is now the Rochester Diocese came under the jurisdiction of Canterbury for sixty years but its original boundaries were later recovered).

The formation and consecration of the new parish a year later on 12^th March 1903 was one of the first acts of Archbishop Randall Thomas Davidson who had been enthroned exactly a month previously which means that St Alban’s was in the unusual position of being consecrated twice.

St Alban’s likes to remember that Archbishop Davidson was a curate at Holy Trinity church between 1875 and 1878.  He lived in Fulwich Road and took an active part in the life of what is now the parish of St Alban.  Many years later he wrote “I do not think any years in my life have been happier and none have been more useful than those which I spent at Dartford”.  In 1992, more than thirty years after leaving, Canon Peter Collins returned to take part in the 90^th anniversary celebrations and made exactly the same statement.

In 1909 the parish magazine issued its first edition and in the same year a site for the parish all was purchased for £160.  A Million Farthing Fund was launched to pay for the building.  The work was completed in 1911 at a cost of £1,114. 2s. 4d.  Records still exist of the individual amounts donated.  If a donor was able to raise 48 farthings (5p) the donor’s name was engraved on a brick on the frontage of the hall.

Also, in the same year, Rev. Hassard-Short formed the first scout group in Dartford.  It consisted of two patrols of boys from the choir.  Its popularity grew so quickly that within a few months there were six patrols.  At first they met in the grounds of The Dene, Brent Lane, then in a room in Fulwich Road, then in the newly built parish hall.  In 1910, at an inspection of scouts by Sir Robert Baden Powell at Gravesend, they were accorded the place of honour and headed the march past.

In 1912 St Michael’s mission church, Stone, was added to the parish and remained so until 1929 when it was handed back to St Mary’s Stone.  The intention was to replace St Albans and St Michaels with a new church on the site in Watling Street dedicated in honour to St Edmund King and Martyr.

Although many parish organisations were forced to close during the 1914-18 war many aspects of parish life continued and it was even found possible to install heating in the church in 1917 at a cost of £164.  To commemorate those from the parish who died in the war a memorial was erected beside the church at a cost of £264 and at the same time a memorial tablet was installed in the church.  These were unveiled in 1920 by HRH The Duke of York, later to become HM King George VI.

The first Annual Parochial Meeting was held on 12^th April 1920.  There were 1387 on the Electoral Roll.  In that year vestments were worn for the first time.

In 1922 a plot of land in Little Queen Street was purchased for the erection of a scout hall.  The midnight Eucharist was introduced in 1926 and the service of Matins was sung for the last time as the chief morning service on 26^th June 1927.

The stained glass windows at the east end of the church depicting the Good Shepherd, Our Lady and St Alban were unveiled by the Bishop of Rochester on 8^th July, 1928 in memory of Edith and Florence Miskin.

At the beginning of the 1939-45 war much of the church’s work became disorganised but was still busy enough to have flourishing groups for young and old, so much so that it was necessary to have two full time curates.  As the parish hall had been requisitioned for a First Aid Post all meetings were held either in the vicarage, 47 Park Road, homes of parishioners or the church.

In 1943 baptism of Michael Philip (Mick) Jagger on 6 October.  Lead member of the Rolling Stones.

Many people were killed, the church and many homes were damaged during this war as a result of the heavy bombing in the area, but not one service was cancelled.  At 5pm on Sunday 6^th August, 1944 a flying bomb made a direct hit on an air raid shelter in Carrington Road and nine members from two families were killed. Although the church suffered some damage the 6.30pm Evensong went ahead as usual.

In 1948 Parish Communion at 9am was introduced in place of the 11am service.  This new pattern of worship was followed by parish breakfast in the hall and this practice continued until August 2000 when the hall was sold.

In 1947 building commenced on the new Temple Hill housing estate, which was almost entirely within the boundaries of the parish.  When completed it was expected that the population of the parish would be half as large again, therefore, a site on the estate was reserved to build a church and vicarage.  It was not until 1954 that a licence was obtained to erect three buildings for Temple Hill, namely a church, church hall and vicarage.  The estimated cost was £10,000 and half of this amount was met by the Church Commissioners.  The stone laying took place on 10^th September 1955 and the church was consecrated on 20^th February 1956.

In 1950 the new vicarage was built in Watling Street, at a cost of just over £3,000 on the site originally purchased in 1910 for £302 for the purpose of building a church, parish hall and vicarage.  It was dedicated by The Bishop of Rochester on 5^th October 1950.  A Golden Jubilee appeal was launched in February 1951 to last for a year to raise £1,000 to pay off the debt on the vicarage (£500) and to add £500 to the organ fund.  On 12^th April 1959 the scouts presented a new bell to the church to commemorate their 50^th anniversary.

In June 1967 the Parochial Church Council passed a resolution to experiment with the Altar being centrally placed in the Chancel.  The object of the change was to try to make worship of God the best we can offer by being able to see, hear and take part more fully.  On 3^rd September that year a well-supported meeting was held to discuss the new position of the Altar when it was decided to continue the experiment until further notice.

The land adjacent to the vicarage (just over 1 acre) was sold to Kent County Council in 1972 for £85,000.  The proceeds were invested, as required by law, with the Church Commissioners.

At the Annual Meeting on 12^th April 1970 a new measure came into force whereby laymen could be elected for Synodical Government.  Mr A Mewett, Mr B Pearson, Mr J Scott and Mr W Whitehead were elected to represent the parish on the Deanery Synod for three years.  Another ‘first’ at this meeting was that the age when a communicant member of the church could be elected to serve on the Parochial Church Council was brought down to seventeen years of age from twenty-one.  Mr Gareth Humphreys was duly elected.

In 1973 the Church Council decided that money from the New Church Account should be spent in improving facilities in the existing church.  Those who had made donations to the fund in past years were contacted, where possible, and agreed to this policy.

A new Children’s Chapel was created to replace the Children’s Corner, improvements were made to the Baptistry, the Vestry was rearranged and a new porch with toilet facilities and a quiet room was added.

In 1975 the church was able to increase its involvement on the much-enlarged Fleet Estate and services were held in the Community Centre every Sunday for which the church was given free use between certain hours and this lasted for five years.  At the end of this time the parish found it impossible to meet the rental costs and was forced to discontinue regular worship there.  During this time a house was purchased on the estate in order that pastoral care could be exercised locally by an assistant curate.  The parish still owns the property despite the fact that funds are not now available for an assistant curate and this brings in a regular income by way of rent.

A luncheon club was formed in 1976 for retired people that provided not only a meal but also a chance for social gathering.  Transport was provided where necessary.  This continued until 2000 when the hall was sold.

75^th Anniversary celebrations were held in 1977.  A special service was held when the Celebrant was The Bishop of Rochester.  There was a special activity each month during that year including the return of former vicars and curates to preach, competitions, flower festival, parish holiday at St Alban’s church, Copenhagen,  Denmark and, of course, the inevitable fund raising.  The main project was to buy a caravan on a site on the coast for use by one parent or needy families.  This was eventually handed over to the Diocesan Mother’s Union 20 years later for the same purpose.

A small committee was formed in 1977 to discuss whether it was possible to build a new scout hall to replace the existing iron clad one.  Plans were drawn up and the necessary permission obtained from Dartford Borough Council but on 8^th April 1978 fate took a hand and the building caught fire.  The group then found themselves with £10,000 insurance money and this, together with other monies and much fund raising, made it possible to erect a two storey building.  The grand opening was on 10^th October 1981 in the presence of many local dignitaries.