St Luke's first came into being in 1867, prompted by Lady Blunt, the wife of the then Vicar. At that time, it was a brick building with one side aisle and a curtain that could be drawn to separate the chancel from the body of the church when it was used for social activities. In the side aisle stood the big table which is now in the Parish Church vestry, and the village library was kept in two bookcases.
When it became obvious that it would be better to build a new church rather than attempt to repair the old one, the churchwardens chose to use a prefabricated building. As it is wooden, planning law required a space around it, so the kitchen and committee room were built in brick so that they could go closer to the boundary.
Somewhat surprisingly, by far the most illustrious item in St. Luke’s is the carpet. In 1960, Westminster Abbey sold off all the carpet which had been in the Abbey for the Coronation, some gold and some blue. A piece of blue carpet was purchased and put in the chancel of the old St. Luke’s. For the new building it was cut in half and relaid behind the altar – you can see the seam. The altar table itself had been inside that main door of the Parish Church, used for hymn books, but being light oak, it did not fit well with the darker wood elsewhere in the church. It was a memorial to Mr. William Ellis the village schoolmaster, and also the organist and choirmaster who died in 1961. His daughter Miss Ellis was happy to have it used as the altar in St. Luke’s.
The altar rails were given by Miss Reddick, a long time resident of Old Windsor. She commissioned them and had them specially made in the Great Park workshops from oak from the Park, and they are a memorial to Rev. Harwood who was for many years the much loved vicar of the parish. The lectern was the gift of the Lacey family in memory of their parents, and the Credence table was the gift of the Mothers Union – at one time a flourishing group in the church.There are 75 hassocks; these were embroidered by many people and portray many of the organisations active in the village. Each contains a card recording details of the maker, with a short biography in some cases. This information is also recorded in a “Kneeler Book.”
The cache is a brown nano (sorry!) somewhere across from the church itself... Please replace as found.
****************** ********************
For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
****************** *******************