Our History
A brief look back at the story of Salway so far.
Home / About / Our History
Salway Evangelical Church sits at the junction of Salway Hill (part of Woodford High Road) and Forest Approach, at the western edge of the Laing’s Estate. The site was previously occupied by Salway House.
Salway Hill was named after the Salway family, who lived in Salway Lodge, a large house opposite the Cricketer’s Inn. (The site is now occupied by the flats and houses of Salway Close.) Richard Salway, a merchant and a director of the Bank of England, was the last of his family to live there. He died in 1775.
A little further up the hill from Salway Lodge, stood Salway House. Originally a farm house, it was purchased by John Roberts in 1880, and extensively altered and improved. Roberts was knighted to recognise his contributions to local life – he was responsible for giving Woodford the Jubilee Hospital, the Working Men’s Club and the Memorial Hall. Roberts died in 1917 and the house was bought by a Mr Lusty.
.jpg)
Salway House at the time of John Roberts (Facing east)
.jpg)
Salway House after renovations
(Facing west)
In 1930, after Mr Lusty’s death, Salway House was acquired by Sir John Laing and his building company. They were developing the adjoining estate, which now bears his name. Salway House was demolished and the plot was set aside for a church. Sir John was a devout Christian and recognised the importance of providing a church building for the new community his development created.
The new church was to be called Salway Hall; it would be administered by trustees and led by a group of Elders, according to the doctrines and practices of the “Open Brethren” movement. Such churches (or “assemblies”) believe in the authority of the Bible and recognise a group of leaders rather than one ordained minister; they traditionally meet in plain, unadorned buildings.
While waiting for the new church to be built during 1932, the group of local Christians responsible for it held their meetings in the Wilfred Lawson Temperance Hotel, which stood at the corner of Chingford Lane and the High Road. Salway Hall was opened on 31 December 1932, with a service that included five speakers.
Salway Hall as it appeared soon after opening in 1932
The Second World War saw many members called up, but services continued throughout, sometimes in the two basement rooms (a store room and classroom that had a wall hatch between them). Contingency plans were made for the use of the hall for special purposes in the event of an invasion. A small bomb fell on the footpath outside the entrance from the High Road in 1943 but only slight damage was reported.
In the early days, singing was unaccompanied. In 1955 a large organ was donated to the church by a member who had previously had it installed in their home. It was a tight fit! Together with the organ (which is now beyond use), a variety of different instrumentalists have helped to provide accompaniment to worship. On 27th August 1961 BBC Radio broadcast a morning service from Salway – a vinyl recording still exists.
This photo from 1956 shows how the original window above the front door was bricked up to accommodate the organ pipes. Two round windows, one either side, subsequently replaced this central window, as seen in the recent photo.
Salway Hall 1956
.jpg)
Salway Evangelical Church today.
Through the years various building extensions have been completed. In 1958 the “Montague Goodman Memorial Hall” was added at the rear, named after one of the original church Elders. A new kitchen was installed in 1977, replacing the original downstairs kitchen that accessed the ground floor via a dumb waiter. Further extensions took place in 1982 (addition of a lounge and enlargement of a basement room) and 2002 (addition of an annexe room and enlargement of the main hall, including the removal of the permanent platform).
In 1965 the name of the church was unofficially changed to “Salway Hall Evangelical Church”; it was officially shortened to “Salway Evangelical Church” in 1976.
By 1979 the church Elders recognised the benefits of having a full-time paid worker in addition to the existing leadership; this person is now known as the Pastor. Various incumbents have served in this role, more recently accompanied by a second paid worker (“Pastoral Assistant” or currently “Family and Community Worker”).
Involvement with missionary work has always been paramount at Salway. Numerous missionaries, serving in different settings around the world, have been supported prayerfully and financially throughout Salway’s history.
Work among young people has also been a vital part of Salway – variously called “Crusaders”, “Pathfinders”, “Covenanters”, “Focus” and “Spotlight”, alongside Sunday School (now called “Discoverers”) for younger children. Youth clubs for various ages provided (and continue to provide) much-needed opportunities for recreation and friendship as well as Christian teaching.
The variety and scope of all the different activities and groups that have existed down the years is too vast for this brief summary. Suffice to say that they have all had the same aim of proclaiming the good news of Jesus to the surrounding community and building up the faith of those involved, alongside mutual support and encouragement. Our hope and prayer is that this will continue for many years to come.
Sources:
Woodford House photo (facing east): Fifty pictures of Old Woodford (ed Brian J Page) (1962)
Woodford House photo (facing west): Woodford - a pictorial history (Peter Lawrence and Georgina Green) (1995)
Woodford and District Historical Society Transactions; part XIV (1982)