The present church on this site was designed by the architect Henry Ward and build in 1884/85 in the Renaissance style of stone. It was undergoing building works on the day of our visit in 2005. The first church on the site was built in 1856 in the Lombardic Gothic style. The main entrance is in a very restricted location, hemmed in by offices and shops on both sides.
The Hastings News of 12th September 1884 reports "The memorial stone of the new Congregational Church in Robertson Street was laid on Thursday 11th September. The church was on the same site as the old one. It re-opened on Wednesday 7th October 1885."
The rear of the building is visible in Cambridge Street, photographed here in overcast weather on 5th February 2009. The church has no identification on this elevation and isn't as clean! However, the architect's design is more easily appreciated from this perspective.
The badly deteriorated foundation stone is to be found in Cambridge Street; it reads:
THIS STONE
WAS LAID BY
JAMES SPICER ESQ.J.P.
OF WOODFORD
ON
SEPTEMBER 11TH 1884
REV. CHAS NEW MINISTER
H WARD
ARCHITECT
Digital photographs
Visitors to this album since June 2003
If you found this page using a search engine or other link, please use the icons below to link to one of the main sections of the Roughwood web site:
Please do not reproduce or store any of the pictures on this site without asking first.