Lion Walk
United Reformed Church
IN 1648 Sir Charles Lucas, commander of
forces loyal to Charles1st in Colchester, surrendered his sword to Cromwell's
army in an inn just off Head Street. At that time the tiny stream which was to
become Lion Walk Church had already begun to flow, and some of its first
members could well have been besieged with Sir Charles and watched as he was
marched down High Street to be shot under the castle walls.
For in the minutes of a church in Great
Yarmouth dated 1642 is recorded "In the meantime John Ward, being called
to Colchester, did there with others gather into church fellowship and there
continued".
John Ward died in 1644 but the faithful few
to whom he ministered worshipped in private houses, with difficulty and often
persecuted, until in 1688 William Rawlinson bought land in Moor Lane for a
meeting house, the site of the present St. Botolph's Parish Hall in Priory
Street. There the church flourished - early in the 18th century the
congregation numbered some 600
The second chapter begins with the purchase
for £75 of part of the garden of the Red Lion Inn and the erection thereon of
the Round Meeting House. This was timber-built, a strict octagon, and for 100
years the life of the church revolved around it vigorously. It was enlarged
during its lifetime and eventually seated over 700. The congregation were not
placid; they dissented to the extent that in 1843 nearly 30 members left and
formed Headgate Congregational Church.
The period was notable for the ministry of
the Revd T.W. Davids who came to Lion Walk at the age of 24 and stayed 33
years. His wife Louisa pioneered Sunday School work in Colchester, to the point
where at times 1,000 children attended each Sunday.
In 1863 the Round Meeting House was
demolished and in its place was erected a Victorian Gothic-style edifice, built
of Caen stone at a cost of £6,500. One prominent member left because of the
design - a "steeple house" pointing to Rome. In fact large parts of
the steeple fell before the end of the century once in a violent storm and once
in, of all things, an earthquake.
The church rode these calamities and was led
through the first half of the 20th Century by a succession of popular
ministers. By 1940 however, the Caen stone had begun to deteriorate. By 1972 -
the year in which Lion Walk became part of the newly-created United Reformed
Church. The painful decision to demolish and rebuild had to be made; it was
agreed that Lion Walk must remain a town-centre church. Planning permission for
development of the site was made conditional upon the tower and steeple
remaining. It has been underpinned and renovated so that more than ever before
it lifts the eyes and heart skywards.
| The church's new position above shops means
that most of the £1.5 million cost of the new complex has been borne by the
developers, but members and friends of the church have worked and given
sacrificially to create a worthy place of worship. The fine Willis organ has
been enlarged and re-installed. |
|
That tiny stream which began in 1642 and has
flowed continuously ever since, now in spate, at times sluggishly, moves
forward to the 21st century a deep and wide river to nourish the life of our
town.
Edward Dove
