New Church in the Hamlet of Hook near Kingston, Surrey.

New Church in the Hamlet of Hook near Kingston, Surrey. See "The Story of Hook in Kingston" by Marion C Bone 1989 ISBN 0 95116337 0 8: from mediaeval times the Hamlet of Hook was included in the huge ecclesiastical Parish of Kingston upon Thames, but under an Act of 1769 that Parish was gradually reduced as new District Parishes were formed. In the early 1830's, funds became available for the purchase of land and construction of a church in Hook, which was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester (in whose Diocese Kingston upon Thames then lay) on 14th September 1838, under the name and style of "The Church of St Paul at Hook". This First Church of St Paul was a small structure (42ft long by 25ft wide), of red and yellow bricks inter-mingled......designed in the early pointed style......lighted by narrow lance-headed windows.......on the roof a small open turret containing a bell. It contained seating for 191 persons (121 free, the remaining 70 being bookable at a rental of 10s 6d). It became a Parish Church in 1868, and its incumbent a "Vicar". By the late 1870's the church building was in a sorry state of disrepair,
and in 1880 the then Vicar and Vestry agreed to replace it. Land was acquired
on the north side of the church, funds were raised, and on 25th January
1883, the Second Church of St Paul at Hook was consecrated by the Bishop of
Rochester (into whose Diocese Kingston (and Hook) had been transferred in
1877). On 6th March 1883, a Faculty was issued authorising the demolition of the old church building. However, we know precisely where it stood, because at
the east end of the beautiful Hare Grave in the churchyard are inscribed the
words "Hic olim stabat ecclesiae veris altare" - " here once stood the altar of the old church", and the pillars marking the original gateway now frame the Memorial to those of the Parish who gave their lives in the First World War (1914-1918). - email from Madeline Child (Parish Administrator) 23 Nov 2005.