


ST GILES FARNBOROUGH - HISTORY
Farnborough became a full parish in 1876, with George William Hingston as Rector. Before that Farnborough was part of the larger and more populous parish of Chelsfield, sometimes having its own Rector. but more usually just a Curate. For full details see Chelsfield with Farnborough. This explains why the church at Farnborough is comparatively small, even though the population of Farnborough has grown significantly since the second world war, and is now much larger than that of Chelsfield.
From 1876 many changes were to take place.
The Parish Vestry consisting of Rector, Churchwardens and Overseers had carried out all civil duties in the parish, such as raising local taxes, looking after the poor and repairing the roads for many centuries. An Act of Parliament of 1895 brought into being an elected Civil Parish Council, whose area of administration was the same as the Ecclesiastical Parish. In 1934 the civil parish of Farnborough was combined with other Civil Parishes to form Orpington Urban District. In 1963 this in turn became part of the new London Borough of Bromley.
The Parish Vestry continued for the
Ecclesiastical Parish after 1895, but was in turn replaced by Act of Parliament
by the Parochial Church Council from 1921.
In 1938, the part of the Parish to the south of Shire Lane was detached to form, along with part of the Parishes of Chelsfield and Knockholt, the new Parish of Green Street Green. This was probably the first change in the boundaries of the Parish of Farnborough since it came into being. The resulting boundaries continue to the present day, and are shown in the current map in the small panel to the right:
After the Second World War, the Parish of Farnborough began to grow in population. New housing developments were established and by the 1950s it was recognized that an additional place of worship was needed to serve the increasing number of parishioners resident in the part of the Parish separated since 1927 by Farnborough bypass.
On Sunday 22nd June, 1958 ‘The New Hall Church’, situated in Leamington Avenue, Orpington was opened and dedicated. Ten years later the Hall was re-named St. Nicholas’ Church Hall. It is now St. Nicholas Church - see St. Nicholas history .
The present Rector Matthew Hughes is the ninth since the beginning of the twentieth century. The previous eight are shown in these photographs, which are on display by the pulpit in the church..
Rector 1904 - 1927 | Revd. Ebenezer Joseph Welch | ||
Rector 1927 - 1940 | Revd. Robert Gladstone Griffiths | ||
Rector 1940 - 1950 | Revd. Ernest Peter Field | ||
Rector 1950 - 1964 | Revd. Albert Aidan Chapman | ||
Rector 1964 - 1973 | Revd. David Basil Webb | ||
Rector 1974 - 1987 | Revd. John Perry Druce | ||
Rector 1988 - 1995 | Revd. Graham Shaw | ||
Rector 1995 - 2000 | Revd. Mark Richard Turner |