1939-1996
S. Michael, Camden Town

The Parish Magazines record only two men from St Michael’s killed in the Second World War, compared to one hundred names from the First World War on the memorial. This may mean the First World War names represent the war dead of the St Michael’s district but the Second World War names only represent active congregants. Neither of the two were added to the war memorial.

At the beginning of 1945, the newly-revived St Michael’s Parish Magazine expressed the earnest hope that “As we enter in yet another year of the War, we are filled with high hopes that this year, we will see the end of it all and that peace will come to the world during the months of 1945 that lie before us. Let us pray that it may be so.”

When the end finally came that year, it was not without cost for St Michael’s. The Parish Magazine criticised those who were too hasty in their jubilation at the end of the War in Europe, noting the end of the fighting was not “a day for parties and merry-making, but rather of quiet gladness and thanksgiving that the end is at long last in sight.” The Magazine adds: “there will be many hearts still anxious for their dear loved ones who have to continue their fight.”³ This was a reference not only to Ted Garbutt, who had been reported missing about a month earlier, but to those still serving or held prisoner in the Far East. Soon after VE Day, the Requiem Mass on Saturdays was amended to a Mass praying for prisoners of war.

Despite this sombre pall, the church marked Victory in Europe with a service of thanksgiving at 12 noon, after the news of the surrender came through, and by two further Services of Thanksgiving on the following Sunday, at which the parish Magazine noted “it was good to see so many people come to give thanks to Almighty God.”⁴

For some at St Michael’s, the end of the War in Europe brought a swift resolution to anxious hearts – by June, released prisoners-of-war were already returning to the pews, and by August the last of the evacuated children had returned. For one Boy Scout, J. Ling, this was a particular triumph, as he was finally awarded his Athlete’s Badge, won a year previously before his evacuation from Camden. ⁵ But it was also in mid July that Ted Garbutt’s parents received official confirmation of his death.

The headline “PEACE!” opened the Parish Magazine of September 1945, and for the first time the prayer intentions in the liturgical Kalendar did not include intercessions for Prisoners of War and Those in the Forces. An anonymous donor also marked VJ Day by the gift of six lavabo towels and a pall as a thanksgiving for peace.

“On the day of going to press came the great news that peace had at long last come to all the nations of the world. After six years of heartache and anxiety our first feeling was one of profound relief that the whole beastly business of war was at last at an end. For millions of people in many countries the other feeling foremost in their hearts was that of great gladness that their loved ones in far-off lands were safe at last and would be returning to them as soon as possible. For many, alas, such a time as this is one of profound sadness as well as gladness – sadness because of those who will never return. We must remember them, too, in our rejoicing and pray for them.

Peace at last! Our first thought of peace naturally is the cessation of strife and warfare and the return of the old way of living. But such a feeling, though natural enough, is a negative one, and we can never return to the old days. We can’t go back – we must go forward.
Our hard-won peace, if it is to be a lasting one, must be a positive and active thing. These same qualities which brought us through so many perils and dangers must be used in the building of a new world where peace can be maintained and in which men can live in happiness and freedom – freedom from want and fear.

We failed lamentably after the last war. We must not fail again. This is a duty we owe to those who have given their lives to gain this peace – and to the children, who have already suffered more than we can tell, and who have their lives to live out in this new world.
So while our hearts are full of thanks to almighty God for His great goodness to us, let us not look back, but forward to the future with faith and hope and a determination that the sacrifices of the war shall not have been in vain. God grant that this may be so.”⁶

At Michaelmas 1945 the Church celebrated its Patronal Festival under peace conditions for the first time in six years. But despite the return of evacuated children and POWs, many of those in the Forces had not yet been released from their duties, and the lack of male choristers and adult altar servers was particularly felt.⁷ Later on, the Christmas Fair too was not “on the grand scale of pre-war days,” and Midnight Mass similarly suffered from a lack of demobbed choristers and servers.⁸ The church would not have anything approaching a full choir until the summer of 1946, with the MC and further servers slowly returning over the next few months.⁹ One member of the choir even returned with a wife from Malta. ¹⁰

One of the parish’s assistant priests, Basil Thomas Bean (1915-1987), left on 20th May 1945 to train as chaplain to schools for the Royal Association for the Deaf and Dumb, buying a red stole “to be a constant and fitting reminder, in his future work as a priest, of his friends at St Michael’s.”¹¹

Yet altogether, St. Michael’s, its people, and its school had survived the War relatively intact. Indeed, one of the only major complaints about the post-War situation was that the scarcity of clothing coupons prevented all of the Brownie troop from wearing uniform.¹² At the 1946 Patronal Festival, they held the first Parish dance since 1938.¹³

The church would continue to feel the effects of rationing for the rest of the 40s. In Lent 1948, the Parish Magazine complained about its effects on the Maundy Thursday altar of repose: “Owing to the scarcity and cost of flowers and candles we shall be unable to deck it out in all its pre-War beauty.”¹⁴ As rationing continued after the War, one child at the church school received a generous gift from a pen friend in the United States: “the necessaries for a party for eight children and included cake mixture, icing sugar, decorations, invitation cards, cardboard plates, serviettes, table cloth, sweets, jelly beakers, games, etc., so eight Brownies will be lucky this month.”¹⁵ A local grocer also distributed rare fruits, oranges and bananas, to the pupils at the church school at Christmas.

Worship at St Michael’s in the post-War era was characterised by a strongly Catholic tradition. Mass was offered daily, twice on Holy Days, and choral singing was a particular strength, with the large men’s and women’s choirs, affiliated with the Royal School of Church Music, singing Evensong and High Masses. In addition to the more secular community groups offered by the church, such as the Scouts, there were also Catholic lay groups, including the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, which had a Ward at St Michael’s until 1946.

In 1947, the Communicants Guild was re-started. Members committed themselves to three rules: 1) to attend Mass each Sunday, 2) to receive communion regularly, and 3) to attend meetings before major Holy Days, although it was hoped that they would supplement this with their own rules. Today, the congregation at St Michael’s is still encouraged to adopt a Rule of Life, supported and encouraged by a lay-lead catechists group.

One recurring theme in the Magazines in the post-War period is a strong assertion of Catholic identity. In the summer of 1946, the Parish Magazine excitedly reported that with the arrival of the Very Reverend Archimandrite Nicholas in the parish, there was now a Russian Orthodox presence.¹⁶ When he was present at a Sung Mass at St. Michael’s the following year, the Parish Magazine remarked on this “very practical example of the link between the two branches of the Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox and ourselves.”¹⁷ A year later, when All Saints’ parish had been incorporated into St Michael’s, and the vacant church building was rented out to the Greek Orthodox Church, the Parish Magazine observed “it is interesting to note that within the boundaries of St.Michael’s Parish all three branches of the Catholic Church will now be fully represented – the Roman Catholic in Arlington Road; the Orthodox Catholic in Pratt Street, and the English Catholic (the established Catholic Church of the country), at St Michael’s.”¹⁸ Throughout the 40s and 50s, the Parish Magazine gleefully reports whenever there is “Another Convert From Rome” – there were at least five in those 20 years.¹⁹

In 1949 the church’s Catholic tendencies attracted some unwelcome attention. The Parish Magazine of April that year reported:

St Michael’s Church was the scene of an unhappy disturbance recently, when a body of people calling themselves the National League of Protestants decided to pay us a visit. Fifteen members of this extraordinary society – most of whom are non-conformists – placed themselves in various parts of the church and proceeded to shout protests one by one during the celebration of the 11:15 Sung Mass. Everyone at St Michael’s is to be congratulated on the dignified way in which they faced what might have developed into an unseemly brawl. Priest and choir carried on as if nothing untoward was happening, while the congregation worshipped as best they could. Meanwhile, the Church Warden – Mr W. Clark – and Sidesmen escorted each Protestant outside the Church as he got to his feet.²⁰

The concern with Catholic identity was maintained in the following years. A Parish Magazine article of 1956 on the importance of the altar claimed that “in churches where the altar is not venerated, you will find that such churches are merely places of preaching and talking or singing, and not of real worship.”²¹ However, ever keen to distinguish themselves from the Roman Catholic Church, in a follow-up piece on the use of incense, it was explained that incense was used during the Mass because “the use of incense is Catholic. There is nothing ‘Popish’ about it.” “It is used today throughout the Eastern Church, which prides itself on loyalty to primitive tradition and rejects the claims of the Pope as firmly and insistently as we do.”²²

Post-War change and growth at St Michael’s was addressed in the Parish Magazine: “Our numbers are not what they were in pre-War days, but we hope that as our young people come back and things gradually revert to normal, we shall regain lost ground.”²³ By the end of the War, the church had cleared its debt. An impressive feat, given the constant tide of repair works that threatened to engulf the building. One of the most pressing issues was that of the organ, the dedicated fund for which sought to raise £500 (around £15,000 in today’s money). In typical chipper fashion, the Parish Magazine notes that the organist “continues to make the organ play and disguises with his usual skills its many faults”, until such a time as the funds could be raised for the work.²⁴ The gutters and drainpipes also needed replacing, at a cost of £50 (nearly £2000 in today’s money).²⁵

Works were also undertaken to improve the notice board, apparently a source of great excitement:

“There were many faults with the notice board. It was the wrong shape and in the wrong position and as it stood for nine years without alternation, many details of services, etc., were inaccurate. It seems therefore a great opportunity to have a new board, remedying these defects. St Michael’s stands in a very busy and important thoroughfare. Great numbers of people pass by it daily, many others stand in weary queues outside its very gates (for the omnibus, alas, not for entry to the Church), while the more fortunate ones, already seated, look out the windows of the ‘bus as it waits outside. A really good and well-placed notice board is therefore of great importance not only for advertising the services of St Michael’s, but as a witness that the Church of God is alive and trying to do His will.”

“The Bishop of Willesden, in passing, felt impelled to stop his car and admire it [the new notice board], and complete strangers have gone out of their way to utter words of praise.”²⁶

It apparently provoked an argument (topic unknown) “down the length of a complete bus queue.”
The notice board also seems to have been the sources of some denominational confusion, with the Parish Magazine of 1947 reporting a conversation overheard between two women observing the church’s new notice board, where one woman suggested that it had been repainted because “they’ve just gone Roman Catholic!”²⁷

Such comments were no doubt a source of amused frustration, as in the 1940s and 1950s, the Parish Magazine is keen to express the distinctive Catholic identity of the Church of England. Just months before, in an article warning Anglicans against marrying Roman Catholics in the Roman Catholic Church, it had explained “the Church of England is the historic Catholic Church of this land, and its religion is that of the “holy Catholic Church” in which its members proclaim their belief whenever they say the Creeds.”²⁸

As much needed-repairs were made to the building, changes came to the inside as well. The 1926 statue of Our Lady was cleaned, re-decorated and brought to its present location in the Nave.²⁹ The parish hall’s electric pipes, which had been unaffordable for the church for some time, were replaced with stoves.³⁰ The organ blower, too, was in great need of replacement. In April 1949, the Parish Magazine reported that: “Your council are most mindful of the discomfort caused by the inefficiency of the present heating system.”³¹

As the War drew to a close, the Church of England had realised that the damage to churches and communities necessitated a large-scale re-planning of parish life throughout England – after the War, this would be launched as the Diocesan Re-Organisation Scheme. In Camden, the expansion of the railways in St Pancras and the creation of a ‘b’ ring road through the centre of the parish, as well as War damage to other churches, led to a proposal that St Michael’s parish should be expanded to include the neighbouring parishes of All Saints and St Thomas’.

This came into effect almost immediately after the War, causing the parish to quadruple in size. Despite its immediate effect, the merger was not formally completed until 1954, creating the parish of “St Michael’s with All Saints’ and St Thomas, Camden Town.” St Thomas’ Church was demolished due to War damage, with the intention to decommission All Saints and incorporate it into a new church school, to be built on the site. However, this transformation was never undertaken: in 1948, the church was ‘temporarily’ rented to the Greek Orthodox Church, who needed a suitable space as the Greek-speaking community in Camden grew after the War. Today, the church is All Saints Greek Orthodox Cathedral. St Michael’s itself was flourishing. In addition to the sudden growth of the parish, a flurry of baptisms heralded the beginnings of Britain’s ‘baby boom’.

With a greatly-expanded parish (and no additional clergy), it continued to struggle with its building. Funds raised during the Festival Octave of 1949 were earmarked to repair the roof, and tackle the dry rot which had appeared in the South wall. The boiler, frequently repaired during the War, finally required replacing. On top of this, a great quantity of lead was stripped from the roofs of the vestries and the roof on the side of the church above them. This was only discovered when a heavy storm caused flooding and damage to the recently-repaired pipes and gutters, which could not be covered by insurance. The walls in both the church and chapel required extensive redecoration.

Alongside these expenses, the state of the organ finally forced them to have it repaired, having raised £700 (£20,000 in today’s money) over seven years of fundraising, arranging to pay off the remaining costs over two years. It is hardly surprising that with all of these repair costs the church was not always able to meet its Diocesan Fund contribution. When the new organ console was installed, it was dedicated in memory of Fr Osborn, priest at St. Michael’s 1903-1927. The console was not finally paid for until 1954.

Other works were also required. The Primary School was still lit by gas, and did not have reliable hot water. Electricity was not installed until 1950. These upgrades allowed them to avoid the fear voiced in 1946 that if church schools were not repaired after the War, they would be forced to allow them to be “controlled by the state.”³² In 1951, the school received Guided Status, allowing the church to retain control of it, and to appoint its own teachers.

It was also to be joined by a new secondary school on the site of All Saints’ Church in the late 1950s, although the promised assembly hall, dining hall, and gym (intended to be provided by an adaptation of the deconsecrated church building) never materialised, due to the continued occupation of the Greek Orthodox Church. The secondary school, however, filled a needed demographic niche: in 1958 the Head of the Church Primary School wrote with relief in the Parish Magazine “the bulge has passed to the secondary schools,”³³ as the baby boomers moved on to secondary education.

The 1960s brought no respite to difficulties with the fabric of the building. The cost of heating necessitated adapting the coke-fired boiler, and associated cost of a stoker, to an oil-fired boiler, which, in turn, required the building of a chimney. However, when the works were completed in 1962, the PCC was able to boast that “the Church is at last really warm and adequately heated”!³⁴

Unfortunately, the boiler required a complete replacement only two years later, at a cost of £500 (£10,000). The roof once again required re-tiling, this time above the Sanctuary, and the West wall needed re-pointing. These major works necessitated a new fundraiser for the £1000 needed (equivalent to nearly £21,000 today). After works had been carried out on and off for a year, the dry rot in the South and West walls was finally dealt with, only for it to appear in the panelling on the North side, near the main door, in 1962. This necessitated a further £190 worth of works (nearly £4000 today). In the same year, the 19th century pipes under the floor between the boilers and radiators were found to have rusted so badly that they had begun to leak. This ultimately required the replacement of all pipes and radiators in the church, at a further cost of £1000.

Unsurprisingly, the works already required that year had depleted any cash reserves left to the church, and they were forced to take out a loan from Ecclesiastical Insurers to begin work immediately, allowing a new heating system to be in place in for Christmas 1962, including new heating for Choir and Sanctuary. Through assiduous fundraising, they were able to pay off the loan in one year – all but £400 (£8000) of it from direct fundraising, only immediately to establish a new fund for the replacement of the boiler in 1964. The famous notice board once again blew down in a gale and required replacement, although this time it did not solicit quite the excitement of its 1940s counterpart.

Despite the issues that plagued the building, St Michael’s was host to two lavishly-appointed religious dramas in the 1950s. The first, Henri Ghéon’s The Marriage of St. Francis to Lady Poverty, was directed by John Lindsay. The set consisted of painted tapestries loaned by Canterbury Cathedral, as well as other elements borrowed from Glyndeboune.³⁵

This production attracted interest from West End stars, necessitating an additional late-night performance to allow actors to attend after appearing in their own shows. This “small but distinguished” audience included Jean Forbes-Robertson and Paul Scofield. The latter was so taken by the space that he expressed his interest in taking part in any future productions, though sadly this never came to pass. However, the performance was revisited in March 1951, and the same director put on Gheon’s Nativity play in three acts that December.

It does not seem that this was the end of St Michael’s connection to the theatre. In November 1958, pupils at the Church Primary School had a talk about St Michael from the Secretary of the Actors Church Union, and that Christmas they received the gift of a large new crib set designed by Mr J Hutchinson-Scott, a West End costume and scene designer whose set designs graced three out of four plays on at the West End at that time. The parish would continue to have ties to the theatre, with clergy maintaining ties to the Actor’s Church Union as recently as the Noughties.³⁶ It seems likely that the church’s failure to capitalise on this theatrical potential was related to the continuing flurry of expensive works required by the building.