CHURCH IN SHOWROOM

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20507, 18 March 1941, Page 2

CHURCH IN SHOWROOM

ONE SHILLING A YEAR FIRM ASSISTS VICAR LONDON, Jan, 30. Canon James Walton, whose Kensington church, Our Lady of Victories, was bombed recently, is holding services agaiA in an £BOOO-a-year West End showroom. And he is paying one shilling a year rent for it. After the bomb Canon Walton had to abandon services. An Oxford street firm heard about it, telephoned him, offering him the use of showrooms in Kensington High street. Windows of the showrooms had been blasted, otherwise the building was waterproof. So Canon Walton went round to see the firm. He came to an agreement with them, paid his shilling rent and moved in. First he called in workmen and had the windows boarded up. Then he hired removal men to move what was left of the church furnishings. While lorries moved chairs and pews to the new premises, parishioners who had been warned of the change-over carried round prayer books and church plate. “As soon as I received the offer I clinched the deal straight away,” said Canon Walton. , “Attendances are back to normal now. Furniture we couldn’t save from the church has already been replaced. Normally the premises would cost something like £6OOO a year to rent. On top of that I should say, would be £2OOO rates.”