The Parish
of Christ Church, Luton was formed from that of St Mary, Chatham,
in 1852 though apparently a church may have existed in the area
since 1814. The living was declared a Rectory in 1866.
This picture of the 1842 church,
is on the opposite side of Upper Luton Road to the existing
church and was between Church Terrace and Luton Road. A reference
by Samuel Bagshaw refers to " a small neat district church
... erected ... in 1842.The church remained in use till the 1960's
by which time it had become the church hall and the church school
alongside it had long gone. Although it was later discovered that
no records existed of the deconsecration and the building was
probably still technically a church. Details of the burials in
the churchyard are held at the church office. The 'late bell'
removed from the 1884 church and transferred to the current
building bore the date of 1842 and so must have been present in
the original church.
This
picture of the church built in 1884 and consecrated on Tuesday 14th
July 1885. The architect of the church was E R Robson and Messrs
Naylor and Son of Rochester carried out the contract to erect the
building. The original building work did not include a tower
because during initial construction settlement occurred and
underpinning was required. The Tower and bells were added in 1929
but this eventually compounded the problems and along with dry
summers of the 1970's structural failure resulted. This meant
that the building had to be replaced but the outline of the
church remains in the Church grounds. The church closed at Easter
1982 and the whole congregation moved along the road to the
Methodist church on the corner of Connaught road and they
worshiped together until the opening of the new building.
Ironically during demolition the Tower was the last to fall and
at one point stood on three corners and just would not budge.
This
is the current church built in 1984. The architect was Patrick
O'Keefe and G E Wallis and Sons carried out the construction. The
Rt. Revd David Say presided at the Dedication service on 15th
September 1984. This new spacious building without pillars
interrupting the view is a very busy place with the hall on the
Luton Road side is in use every day of the week. Opportunity was
taken to transfer as much as possible from the former 1884
building including a large amount of the Stained glassed windows.
An internal lift allows easy access from the hall level on Luton
Road. Just inside the main door on the upper floor is the chapel
where you will find a place of quiet reflection. The famous
central panels of the East windows from the 1884 church are in
here along with the Carpenters window transferred from above the
entrance of the old church.
This is the church as you will find it today. Not much has changed
except the gardens have grown and the original railings have been updated for
safety reasons. This building will be 25 years old on the 14th September 2009
and celebrations will be held during the year.
This is a view of the Chapel which was
refurbished in 2004.
This is the place we serve, the village of Luton Chatham Kent.
This picture was taken in May 2005 from Ash Tree Lane near the "101 steps".
On 1st August 2007, part of the Parish known as Princes Park became a Parish in its own right and so the Conventional District became the Parish of Christ the King, Princes Park.