First Church (1840-1869)
On the 15th August 1840 James Hayward of Loudwater sent a petition to the Bishop of London to establish a Church on the Common at Chorleywood [below]. A copy of the petition is still kept at Christ Church.
Chorleywood was at that time part of the parish of Rickmansworth. As Chorleywood grew in size Hayward argued that the 300 or so residents were two miles from a church.
James Hayward, John Barnes (the owner of several properties in Chorleywood and builder of Chorleywood House) and Prowting Roberts of Heronsgate gave an endowment for the church.
On the 17th July 1844 the Quaker burial ground opposite the church, entered through a small door in the wall between the Manor House and Manor House Cottage, was assigned to the church.
The church was consecrated on 13th November 1845. On 29th December it was formally declared a separate parish by the Bishop of London.
The church, designed by B. Ferry FSA, consisted of a single nave, chancel, tower and vestry, and was finished outside with flint and bath stone.
In 1853 a house was built for a teacher, with a large room to be used as an elementary school, spearheaded by the first vicar, Rev Arthur Scrivener. There were classes in the evenings for older men and boys. Demand grew and a large barn like structure added in 1860 and a gallery within the large school room was constructed in 1868.
Rev James Aitken was appointed vicar in 1867 and almost immediately started raising funds with John Henry Barnes and John Saunders Gilliat to build a new church. They appoint George Edmund Street (designer of many churches and the Law Courts in London) to build the new church and demolished the old church building.
The Second Church when new (1870-1913)
On the 20th December 1870 the new church was consecrated.
Only the original tower was retained for use in the new church, though the spire and belfry were not added until 1881 and the clock a year later. The new building was faced with flint flints, with Bath Stone use for the windows, as seen the photo from 1890 [above].
The interior, all designed by Street, is an example of restrained Victorian Gothic. In 1875 Rev James Aitken and his curate designed six hanging brass candle coronae to light the aisles and four standing brass candelabra to light the chancel [below].
The Church at War (1914-1945)
For the First World War the parish magazine reported that “of 190 church members who signed up, 92 were serving in the war, 50 of them scholars trained at our school.” 46 names are inscribed in the memorial in the church to those who died.
21 of these men attended the church school. Every year the children in Year 6 at the school hold a service of Remembrance where they read out the names of those from the school who died in both world wars.
11 Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves from both World Wars are in the Church Yard at Christ Church.
In 1916, Sir George Alexander (renowned actor and theatre manager who built The Court and is buried at Christ Church) and Sir Henry Wood (conductor and founder of the Proms, whose country home was Apple Tree Farm) – put on a fund raising event in the Parish School Room to raise money for ‘comforts’ for the men of Chorleywood on the front line.
In 1920 the Lych Gate was built, given in memory of John Barnes grandson Arthur, by his wife Sybil.
In 1927 electricity was installed at Christ Church.
The Second World War had become a huge problem for the church by autumn 1940. Members of the congregation were called up to war. The church was damaged by a bomb in September. The Darvell family ‘attended to the repairs’ of the roof. The organ out of action until 1941 and the chancel windows still damaged in 1942.
Post-War (1945-1968)
In 1948 the civil Chorleywood Parish Council requested a memorial be made for those who died in World War Two in the style of the one for World War One. Designs were drawn in 1948 and approved in 1949.
The early 1960s saw a great effort to provide independence for St Andrews Church from Christ Church. Previously, St Andrews was a chapel associated with Christ Church. However, running effectively two churches was deemed to be inefficient and too difficult. Following persuading the Diocese of Oxford to provide parts of their land to the new Parish to help reach the required number of members (back when Chorleywood West was still in Buckinghamshire). On the 2nd October 1963 St Andrews was declared its own Legal District and (following the building of the current church at St Andrews) its own parish in 1966.
Reform (1969-1990)
Christ Church went through a series of reforms during the 1970s and 1980s.
Rev Peter Sertin was installed in 1969 and was vicar at Christ Church until 1979. He oversaw a huge increase in the church’s offering to families and children.
In 1969, Pathfinders, a group for 11 – 14 year olds, was started by Geoff and Sheila Marshall-Taylor, later joined by Anne Lovegrove. This group, reformed into REAL in the 21st century, still runs on Thursday evening’s at Christ Church during term time.
The following year, Holiday Week for primary school children was started by Rev John Perry of St Andrews, joined by Rev Peter Sertin. As numbers grew at this children’s summer event to over 1,000 a marquee was erected on the Common near to Christ Church school. Morning meetings, with a bible story, songs and a devotional talk, were followed by games on the Common. Detonate (as the Holiday Week is now called) is still run by the churches, but is now situated in the Russell school.
In 1971 YPF (Young People’s Fellowship) set up, led by Philip Lovegrove, for older teenagers. This group has carried on under the same name ever since and still meets during term time on Wednesday evenings.
Around this time, monthly family services with guitar led worship started as well and in 1979, a Mums and Tots group was started by Ann Humpage. Guitar led family services now take place every Sunday at 10:30 at Christ Church and toddlers groups still meet mid-week.
Reform was not just limited to services and new groups. In 1970 the old Vicarage was knocked down and replaced by the new one to make room for an expansion of Christ Church School. Rev Sertin moved into the new Vicarage in 1971 and the school expansion was opened in 1973 by Rt Rev Robert Runcie, Bishop of St Albans, and later Archbishop of Canterbury [below]. The Church Room was also built in 1973, a meeting room for church groups and the first set of toilets on site. In 1977, a new church organ was installed.
In 1981 the BBC transmitted a service at Christ Church [below]. One of the original service sheets for this service is still kept in the loft at Christ Church.
The Church of England was also reforming around this time. Christ Church was a part of these reforms. In 1984 Anne Lovegrove was ordained in St Albans Abbey as part of the first ever cohort of women priests in the Church of England.
The church had a lucky escape around this time when the spire was struck by lightning in 1984, setting the wooden shingles of fire. The fire was spotted from the Vicarage and the fire brigade was able to save the main structure. Near disaster was also averted in 1990 a large cedar tree fell, narrowly missing the church and the school.
The Modern Church (1991-Present)
From 1991-2000 the Rev John Kingsley Smith the vicar. He was followed from 2000-2011 by the Rev Gavin Collins who is now Bishop of Dorchester.
During the Rev Gavin Collins’ time as vicar the Church Room was demolished [below] and The Junction was built. It was opened by the Bishop of St Albans in 2011, the Rt Rev Alan Smith. It replaced the previous church room, offering many more meeting rooms on two floors. Its provision was seen as a remarkable answer to the prayerful giving of the fellowship and community, especially as funds were raised in a recession and it had been thought unlikely that planning would be granted for a two-storey building. This was achieved because of the emphasis on serving the local community, especially young and elderly people. It was decided that 20 percent of the total cost should be given to mission causes, a total of £285,500 in 2014.
The current vicar, the Rev David Hall, was appointed in 2011.
In 2013 the Rt Rev Paul Bayes, Bishop of Hertford, opened extension to the school, funded by a legacy to Christ Church.
The Arch Bishop of Canterbury was interviewed by J John at Christ Church in 2014 for his ‘Facing the Canon’ video series [below].
REAL Summer, a series of activities at the church for children between the ages 10 and 16, was started by a committee led by the Youth Minister Simon Tulett in 2017. Following a break for covid, Josh Sutton (current Youth Pastor) re-launched it in 2022.
In 2020, in response to the lockdowns for the pandemic, Christ Church started livestreaming services.