OUR HISTORY
More than 300 years ago in 1718 the first church was built in Park Walk. It was called Park Chapel and was paid for by a wealthy Christian doctor Sir Richard Manningham.
Manningham was leasing an estate known as Chelsea Park from William Sloane. The estate stretched from Church Street (now Old Church Street) in the East to Park Walk (also known as Lovers’ Lane and Two Penny Lane) in the West.
At the time there was only one Christian church in Chelsea – now known as Chelsea Old Church - and the population was expanding so Manningham wanted to provide a new venue for people to gather to worship Christ.
By 1810 the population of this part of London had grown so much that the congregation saw the need to extend the building,
The enlarged building, seating 1,200 people, was reopened in October 1810 at a service attended by the future William the Fourth with an address by the presiding Bishop of London John Randolph.
The church flourished over the next 70 years. Here is how one newspaper described a Sunday morning service in Park Chapel in 1876: “Could the building be plainer and less attractive? And yet we find in this plainest of buildings with the simplest service possible in the Church of England a congregation full to overflowing... It is evident that Reverend Gregory has found the preaching of the simple gospel effectual in arousing his people to a life of faith and good works.”
That life of faith and good works was in evidence by many activities in the local community. The local branch of Scripture Union, the international mission movement, had its birth in the church, and schools for both boys and girls were started by the church. However by 1910 it was clear the Park Chapel building was falling into disrepair and the congregation decided to try and raise the money to rebuild it.
Major Cyril Sloane Stanley provided the freehold of the site and a wealthy member of the congregation, a solicitor named Charles Bannister, provided the bulk of £600,000 in today’s money to build it, on condition that the ministry in the church would remain a Bible-teaching one.
The Sloane Stanley and Bannister families are commemorated on the foundation plaque for this building which includes this statement of intent: “to preach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ which was for so long taught at Park Chapel”.
St Andrew’s, designed by the architectural practice of Arthur Blomfield - perhaps best known for designing the Royal College of Music - was built and consecrated by the Bishop of London as an Anglican parish church in November 1913.
Its first vicar was Revd Henry Keable. Sadly however following Revd Keable’s retirement in 1918 the congregation shrank and eventually in 1973 St Andrew’s was merged by the diocese into one parish with St John’s on the newly built Worlds End Estate.
St Andrew's Today
But now, by God’s grace, more than 50 years later, we have two healthy church families at St Andrew’s and at St John’s with a range of community activities in addition to our Sunday services.
Today St Andrew’s serves as a place of worship and Bible study, as part of the Diocese of London and Church of England. We offer regular Sunday services to which all are welcome, with an attendance at the main Sunday service of approximately 80-90 people, made up of a highly diverse congregation whether considered by age, race, ethnicity or language. We also offers study groups and individual teaching for all interested in discovering more of the Christian faith.
St Andrew’s also serves the entire diverse and multi-cultural local community with family services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, thanksgivings and memorial services.
Children’s Activities – St Andrew’s runs a creche and Sunday Club during Sunday morning services for groups of pre-school children and those aged 5–11. These are actively supported and once a month an All Age Service is held for everyone to enjoy a less formal service designed for the children to participate in.
International Café – The provision of a meal and opportunities to socialise in the evening for those in the neighbourhood feeling isolated or lonely because of language or cultural barriers.
Bread for Life – The collection of unsold bread from local bakeries to deliver house-to-house to those in the parish
Little Lambs – An invitation to young parents/nannies with infants/toddlers to use the space in our buildings and gardens on a Friday afternoon to meet one another and enjoy the freedom of being outside the confines of a home.
Gardens – The sharing of our garden to invite local residents to participate in summer barbecues, and Sunday afternoon ‘Stay and Play’ sessions for those with small children.
Youth Activities – An active Youth team which hosts weekly meals for local teenagers to meet in a safe place and enjoy games and socialising. We also subsidise summer camp experiences for them.
Helping Hands – Volunteers prepare and distribute home cooked-meals to members of the congregation and other local residents temporarily in need through sickness, bereavement, new parenthood or other changes to their family situation.
Chelsea Pre-Prep School is also based at St Andrew’s.
The future for St Andrew’s
One of the current challenges for St Andrew’s is funding expensive repairs to the original Vestry flat roof. The sum required to replace the lead roof with zinc and to repair damaged timber supports is approximately £100,000.
We are appealing to our congregation and local supporters for donations to help preserve our 300-year-old heritage, in the same way that both Park Chapel and St Andrew’s were built with funds raised by the local community.
There’s more information about how to support the roof repairs here.