St Margaret's Parish Church

This church was built in 1908 so serve the residents of the new village of South Wonston. It is 30 feet long by 15 feet wide (9 m by 4.5 m), with a porch and vestry. A short extension to the roof at the east end forms a cowl for a bell with a pulley in the vestry for ringing.

The village of South Wonston – part of the parish of Wonston – was created in 1892. Initially, the growth of the village was slow, but the Rector of Wonston thought it important to establish a spiritual base for the community. In 1908 he paid £8 of his own money for a small plot of land for the purpose of erecting a ‘mission room’ and an order was soon placed with Humphreys Ltd of Knightsbridge, suppliers of pre-fabricated corrugated iron buildings.

Money was raised by public donations and from a jumble sale, a concert and two offerories, amongst other fundraisers. The building was purchased for £89 10s and the foundations cost £13. The church, navmed St Margaret’s Mission Church, was first used on Sunday 7 February 1909.*

St Margaret's Parish Church

St Margaret's Parish Church

*from the Weald & Downland Living Museum souvenir guide

8 Comments CherryPie on Jan 21st 2019

8 Responses to “Iron Church”

  1. The Yum List says:

    It is literally an “iron” church! I was expecting an analogy. :-)

  2. Hels says:

    It goes to show. As long as a church has all the internal space it needs and can fulfil all its weekly functions, it doesn’t have to be Winchester Cathedral.

  3. I have only come across ONE corrugated iron church in England!
    And I don’t remember the name of the church… Nor the name of the town. :(
    There was a village green, then a pond, etc…
    I will let you know if I can recall something.

    • CherryPie says:

      There did used to be one near me but I am not sure if it is still there now…

      There is one in Blists Hill Museum, although it looks a bit tired.

  4. Shabana says:

    looks beautiful dear Cherie

    how nice to make church out of personal money and donations

    first mosque in our native village was also made by my great grandpa and his cousins ’s personal money

    this is must to have place for spiritual growth in community

    • CherryPie says:

      It is so lovely to hear your personal story about your grandpa and his cousin. WOW!

      You and I both know about the importance of spiritual growth :-)