SARAH FOORD-DIVERS has news of a concert taking place next weekend at St Luke’s Church in Charlton Village…
On Saturday April 8 at 7pm, Arise will be an evening of music celebrating new beginnings, from upbeat gospel to heart-stirring classics, and many more. The line-up includes accomplished jazz and gospel pianist Dominic Barlow, musical theatre singer Ella Griffiths and singer-songwriter Owen Morgan, plus St Luke’s Community Choir.
St Luke’s new community choir meets each Wednesday
Ever wanted to join a choir, but couldn’t find one? REVD LIZ NEWMAN of St Luke’s Church in Charlton Village has an invite for you if you’re free on Wednesday evenings…
Come and sing in our new community choir at St Luke’s. No previous experience is needed and there are no auditions. Families and all ages are welcome from six to 100 years old!
We’ll be learning lots of different styles of song including gospel, spirituals, modern worship songs and traditional hymns. In each session we’ll start with an energised warm-up to prepare the body for singing, play fun singing games and rounds to build up confidence in singing, and learn new songs that will be used in the Sunday service.
We’d love you to come along to sing on Sundays as well, at least sometimes, but that’s up to you – if all you want to do is come along on a Wednesday, that’s fine too. In time, we’ll be preparing songs for concerts and community events as well.
Children are VERY welcome, but for safeguarding reasons you’ll need to book – email rector[at]charlton.church. Aged 18 and above? – Just turn up!
Noah Mosley, the new director of music at St Luke’s will be leading the sessions. Noah is an experienced choir leader, musician, conductor and composer and he loves to make music fun! Here’s his message:
The St Luke’s Community Choir meets on Wednesdays from 6-7pm at St Luke’s Church, The Village, SE7 8UG.
A carol service is taking place at St Luke’s Church next Wednesday
The annual Christmas carol service returns to St Luke’s Church next Wednesday evening. All are welcome, says REVD LIZ NEWMAN, the rector of the Benefice of Charlton…
As usual, St Luke’s Church, The Village, will host Charlton Community Carol Service on Wednesday December 15th at 7pm. It’s a simple service of readings that tell the Christmas story, interspersed with carols. Mulled wine and mince pies will be served afterwards! Representatives of a variety of community organisations will read and sing. There will be a chance as well to sing your favourite carols. Everyone is welcome and we encourage everyone to please wear a face mask.
The 17th-century building was traditionally a landmark for ships on the Thames – it still has the right to fly the Royal Ensign on two days a year in recognition of its former role.
It’s not the easiest of climbs for sufferers of vertigo, but we’re assured the views from the top are spectacular. And the church itself is worth a look if you’ve never been inside.
The church and tower will be open from noon to 4pm this Sunday, 17 October.
On Monday evening, the church is also hosting an information evening on for Safe Families, a charity working locally to provide support to isolated families.
At Safe Families we believe no one should be alone. Join us to find out how you can make this happen in Greenwich.
Join us where we will be sharing about who we are and the different ways you can support families in your community alongside Safe Families.
A few weeks back, we mentioned the St Luke’s and St Thomas’ churches were asking people to leave messages that could go on their Christmas trees. Well, the trees are up, and at St Luke’s, it’s good to see some familiar names on them. Something to take a look at if you’re having a Christmas Day walk…
During the summer, we reported on lead thieves causing damage at St Luke’s Church in Charlton Village. Now two other listed buildings in the village – the Summer House and the Assembly Rooms – have been vandalised by ham-fisted thieves who have caused thousands of pounds of damage while trying to get hold of lead, some of it degraded.
It remains unclear whether they will be able to cover the damage on insurance – a major setback to efforts to restore the buildings. Thieves have also targeted St Richard’s church hall in Swallowfield Road.
The Charlton Society‘s RODEN RICHARDSON looks at why each building is important – and explains the damage done.
The Summer House
With its uniquely classical proportions, this 17th century Grade I protected gem of a building is part of the Charlton House Estate and hence in the care of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, which has recently been carrying out much-needed repair and restoration work. The spectacular curvilinear roof is covered in fine, graded slate tiles, with lead flashing along its 4 curved ridges. After storms in January 2018 and tree damage to the roof, the existing and unsatisfactory asbestos felt flashing was replaced with conservation-standard lead.
However, it wasn’t long before this was torn from all four ridges by thieves in a single operation. It was all replaced in early September this year at a cost running into five figures – a sum vastly greater than the stolen lead. But then, at 2am a few days later, the thieves attacked again. No doubt expecting another easy haul, this time they didn’t reckon with an alarm that had by now been installed and they only got as far as partially lifting a short section of the flashing on a single roof ridge, which the Trust was able to repair by the following evening.
The damage done to the Assembly Rooms
Assembly Rooms
Completed in 1881 in red, handsomely decorative brick and terracotta, the Assembly Rooms were a gift to the local community from the Maryon Wilson family, the former owners and last occupants of Charlton House. Recently Grade II listed, and now the responsibility of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, the Assembly Rooms remain a great community asset which might have been lost if that same community hadn’t saved them from demolition in the 1970s. A highly ambitious restoration project at the time, one of the key tasks was to replace the domed, multi-facetted roof cupola. This highly skilled work was undertaken at a local college by students specialising in the traditional materials and techniques required. The cupola’s dome is covered in lead, and this has now become the Village’s most recent target for attack by lead thieves.
As the picture shows, they managed to prise some of the lead away until they were either caught in the act or because it was more difficult to remove than anticipated. Once again, the value of the lead is minimal when compared to the cost of restoration and repair work, which also involves the base of the cupola structure, the fine tiled roof that the thieves scaled to reach their objective and serious rainwater damage to the parquet flooring inside the Rooms, which, like Charlton House, have been closed since the onset of Covid-19.
Edward Schofield, visitor and operations manager at the trust, says that the attack comes at a time when the charity is working towards ways of safely and reliably reopening the trust’s buildings to the community. “This criminal damage goes beyond the basic theft of materials – apart from the disruption, the overall repair and replacement costs, not least for the extensive scaffolding required, will be considerable.”
St Luke’s
Built in 1630 – a little before Christopher Wren’s Royal Observatory a couple of miles or so away on the same escarpment – historic St Luke’s is one of London’s most compelling and attractive parish churches. Not immediately visible to the eye from the outside, the roof has two ridges forming a valley and it is from here and the gulley at the side that thieves ripped out lead coverings, causing extensive damage in the process, including to the interior fabric of the building. Churchwarden Rick Newman confirms that the amount stolen was minimal but that the cost of repair will run into the tens of thousands of pounds, considerably more than the limits imposed on claims for what is being deemed as “metal theft”. St Luke’s has ambitious plans for the repair and upkeep of the building – important and essential work on the unique castellated tower has already been completed – but with other works required, this theft and vandalism is a major setback.
It has just been discovered that lead has now also been torn from above the main porch and side door to St Richard’s Church Centre at the corner of Swallowfield and Sundorne Roads. Rick Newman describes the crime as “a frustrating addendum to the current epidemic of lead thefts in Charlton”.
St Luke with Holy Trinity has been targeted by metal thieves
The roof of St Luke’s Church has been vandalised by thieves who stole a small quantity of metal, smashing up parts of the roof and leaving ancient timbers open to the elements.
Recent heavy rain revealed the extent of the damage, with water pouring into the church. Volunteers now face the hard work of patching up the damage, which is believed to run into thousands of pounds.
Churchwarden Rick Newman told The Charlton Champion: “We’re not sure when the theft occurred in the days before it came to notice with the first rain in weeks and water pouring into the church. In ripping out galvanised metal from the central valley gutter and some ancient lead that ran the length of the south gutter, the thieves have broken countless tiles and exposed roof timbers to the elements.
“The lead in the south gutter had been anchored in place by the parapet. In order to steal the lead, several of these parapet blocks were smashed by the thieves. One massive block was toppled into the churchyard, causing further damage.
“Much of the metal was worthless. As scrap, the small quantity of lead would be worth a couple of hundred pounds at most; the cost of repairs will run into many thousands. Remedial work will require extensive and expensive scaffolding to say nothing about the cost of replacing tiles and masonry.
“Meanwhile, part of the churchyard has been cordoned off as a precautionary measure as parapet stones have been loosened. Temporary covering has been put in place as far as possible and we can only hope the weather is kind to us.
The work will cost thousands of pounds to repair
“The work that results from having to put right the extensive damage falls to volunteers. They would far rather be giving their time to things that are about building up and serving community at times of great need, rather than giving time to repairs that should never have been necessary.
“We are hopeful that most of the cost of repairs can be covered by insurance, but that results in ever increasing insurance premiums for all and a community unsettled by the actions of the few who seem to have no regard for others. Whether you regard St Luke’s as part of our local heritage or the house of God, or both, it is an important place for many who feel upset and unsettled by this crime. We pray for those responsible.”
The Charlton Champion 