Modern Britain

The Salvation Army, Chingford Mount Road began in 1935, when the Army opened a citadel on the road. The precise location for the Army citadel cannot be verified. It was somewhere around the junction with Hampton Road, some metres south of South Chingford Congregational Church. Possibly it was later demolished and this small building put up in its place, as it is now the only likely candidate. Unfortunately, even this is now used only for secular purposes.

South Chingford Congregational Church is on Chingford Mount Road at the corner with Hampton Road. The church originated in work done by Baptists and Congregationalists in the Chingford Mount district. In 1901 this mission was taken over by Buxton Road Congregational Church and in 1905 an iron building was erected on the site. In 1919, the church became independent and appointed its first minister. The current building was erected in 1954.

The Parish Church of St Edmund Chingford is a little further north of the Congregational church (above), on the north-eastern side of Chingford Mount Road at the corner with Larkswood Road. The church opened in 1909, probably on its current site, although this cannot be confirmed. The current church hall (pictured) was built in 1927, and a new church was designed by N F Cachemaille-Day, one of the most influential British architects of the 1930s, in 1938.

A commemoration stone was inset into the wall of the new church which read: 'This stone was laid by Mrs Inskip on 8th October 1938'. The patronage was originally held by the bishop and the Crown alternately but the Crown last appointed a minister of the district in 1936. The church gained its own parish in 1939, covering South Chingford and the northernmost part of Walthamstow, and since then the advowson of the vicarage has been held by the bishop alone.

South Chingford Brotherhood & Sisterhood meet in Brotherhood Hall, within Libro Court, directly opposite St Edmund's. The Brotherhood Movement opened a hall in Chingford Mount Road in 1926. This was rebuilt in 1954 as the Emerson Memorial Hall, but by 2009 meetings were being held in Libro Court, probably built in the 1960s. Of the memorial hall there is now no sign. It was probably demolished to make way for the large new housing complex to the south.

The Methodist Church South Chingford is on New Road, opposite Brook Crescent in Chingford Mount, a little further north of the parish church. It occupies a fairly broad site, with the church on the southern side of the road and a large hall beside it (out of shot, to the right here). The hall served as the first church when it was opened in 1931. When the new church building opened in 1935, the old one was relegated to its current support status.

All Saints (The Old Church) in the parish of Chingford, lies just north of Chingford Mount on Old Church Road, opposite Walthamstow Cemetery. The region's oldest church was first mentioned in 1181. It was evidently built on the manor of Chingford Earls. In 1265 there was a chapel on the manor of Chingford St Pauls. With this exception the parish church appears to have been the only place of worship until the nineteenth century. The tower was added in 1400.

The church gained the dedication of All Saints by 1397. By 1710 its name had been changed to St Peter & St Paul, but in 1840 it was in such a bad state of repair that it was abandoned and a new church built on Chingford Green. This was completed in 1844 and was dedicated to St Peter & St Paul, Chingford. The 'old church' regained the name of All Saints. It was allowed to decay but was restored in 1928-1930 and is now used regularly as a chapel-of-ease.

Chingford Mount Baptist Church is at 1a Leadale Avenue, on the corner with Old Church Road just a short way north of All Saints. A Baptist mission at north Chingford (1888) and another at south Chingford (1901) were both taken over by the Buxton Road Congregational Church, so a Strict Baptist place of worship in King's Road was formed in 1934. The Baptist church in Leadale Avenue was founded in 1936 by the same group. The present building was erected in 1961.

All photos on this page by P L Kessler.