‘We are just ordinary people who believe the Bible, and have found in the Christian faith something real’: the intriguing story of Parkhill Chapel

The Christian Brethren archive held in Special Collections at the University of Manchester’s Main Library, is the largest such collection in the world. Within it are the records of various chapels (assemblies). My journey of discovery through box listing and researching two interconnected Brethren places of worship uncovered a tale of spiritual dedication, transformation and a surprising musical twist…

Early days at Malden Hall

The assembly was founded in 1874 in a building in Herbert Street, just off Malden Road, Kentish Town, North London, which was registered for worship as Malden Hall.

Copies of trust deeds from 1947 held in the archive include the names of the original trustees of Malden Hall in the nineteenth century, a number of whom were key figures in the Open Brethren at the time. The assembly was the result of work by C. Russell Hurditch, a renowned preacher and evangelist. Other trustees included the brothers Samuel Morley MP and John Morley, who were the proprietors of stocking manufacturers of that name based in Nottingham.

The inaugural meeting of Malden Hall, on Boxing Day 1873 (and subsequent special meetings in the following month), featured speeches by C. Russell Hurditch, as well as Dr. Thomas Barnardo (founder of the children’s homes) and Henry Grattan Guinness, a prominent Irish Brethren figure. Coincidentally, Hurditch’s daughter Grace later married Grattan Guinness and her diaries, held in the Brethen archive in Manchester, reveal a strong woman of faith. A Rylands blog post investigates her remarkable life.

Life at the Malden Hall assembly is recorded in the archive within a series of minute books and accounts, comprising matters relating to the life of the congregation – including some baptisms, weddings and deaths, details of services, donations to serving missionaries, Christmas gifts for aged poor, Sunday School and youth group activities.  

By the mid-20^th century, after suffering some bomb damage during the Second World War, the age and size of the building meant that maintenance was increasingly expensive, and Camden Council were looking to redevelop the surrounding area. Therefore, the trustees began to search for alternative premises nearby. Half a mile away on 17 Fleet Road, Hampstead, there was a building located on a main road that had the potential to be a most suitable alternative to the present site, where the assembly could continue and expand their activities in a modern age. The last service at Malden Hall took place in December 1959, concluding 85 years of worship there.

New beginnings at Parkhill

The new building was named Parkhill Chapel, as it was located near the junction of Parkhill Road. Malden Hall was rented out to a business who used it for a time as a textile warehouse, before the hall was eventually sold. What was Parkhill like inside? There were four floors in total. The main worship area and a mezzanine, a half-basement containing kitchen/meeting rooms and a flat on the top floor. The archive documents the various repairs needed, including major roof reconstruction.   

A property nearby at 35 Estelle Road was also purchased, which provided three flats to rent – these provided helpful income, but also required constant repairs and maintenance.

A publicity leaflet was printed and distributed in the local area, to introduce the new chapel and encourage people to discover more by visiting and attending the ‘simple and informal, but sincere’ services.

Assembly life and the local community

Services and activities at Parkhill continued in the same vein as they had done at Malden Hall – the archives document this in a collection of committee minutes, accounts, service books, lists of speakers, Sunday School and more, including names of persons present at the meetings. A sense of fellowship and Christian unity shines through the records. Missionary activity is an important aspect of the Brethren and one couple connected to the chapel are particularly noteworthy – Ronald and Maria Cunningham. They were commended by Parkhill in their mission to Ethiopia and a farewell service was held in 1964. Letters from the Cunninghams survive in the archive and the couple are also featured in the Echoes of Service files, as they continued work as missionaries around the world for many years.

The members of Parkhill comprised a mixture of ages and backgrounds. The chapel was close to the Royal Free Hospital and attracted students from there in the 1970s and 1980s. The surrounding districts encompassed Hampstead, Camden and Kentish Town. Occasionally anti-social problems occurred in the area, and the archive contains letters from neighbour, music photographer Gered Mankowitz, who had his studio at 19 Fleet Road, regarding trespassers on the chapel canopy and roof.

Outreach activities are documented within the archives, including door-to-door visits engaged in delivering Gospel literature in the local area of a mile radius from Parkhill Chapel, as well as a market stall distributing promotional material. The message was warm and welcoming, embracing committed worship and encouraging involvement with activities.

The Beacon

As the years progressed, despite their best efforts, the Christian Brethren membership of Parkhill reduced in number. The Shaftesbury Society recruited a community worker in the late 1980s to encourage social work in the community – however, Parkhill closed in December 1992, ending 32 years of Brethren fellowship. The Trustees agreed to lease the building to another nearby Christian assembly – Cholmeley Evangelical Church/Wilton Chapel – to plant a new congregation and continue the commitment to evangelical Christianity. This became known as ‘The Beacon’ and they carried on worship there for a time. But change was to come…

Paradise

According to documents in the archive, the chapel building came to be leased in 2009 by the band Coldplay, who had a recording studio nearby called The Bakery – Parkhill offered an additional and more substantial space where the band could play together in one room, with ample scope for redevelopment. They subsequently put in an offer to purchase the building outright, which was completed in 2010. The chapel was converted into a recording studio/rehearsal space and renamed The Beehive. Several multi-million selling albums, including Mylo Xyloto and Ghost Stories were recorded in part at The Beehive, containing global hits such as ‘Paradise’ and ‘A Sky Full of Stars’. Other musicians who have recorded there are Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel. Coldplay’s lyrics often include religious imagery – Christian thought blended with wider spiritual questioning to evoke a search for the deeper meaning of life and existence. It was therefore both coincidental and appropriate that a former place of worship continued to echo with words of divinity, blended into memorable songs.

It was decided by the Trustees that the proceeds from the sales of both Parkhill Chapel and 35 Estelle Road would be distributed to various Christian church organisations, in line with the requirements of the Trust Deed. The archive contains several heart-warming letters of thanks for these donations, which helped them to carry out works of evangelism and charity.

The Parkhill project

The collection was deposited by former Trustee Edwin Davidson, comprising a mixture of files and volumes covering the period 1873-2012. I completed this project over a period of two years whilst invigilating in the Special Collections Reading Room at the Main Library. The material has been listed and rehoused in acid-free folders, totalling nine archive boxes. My box list was converted by the curator into an online catalogue now available on Archives Hub (ELGAR). The material was fascinating and I found myself becoming engrossed by the story unfolding on the documents in front of me. Discovering that the chapel building was purchased by a world-famous band came as a complete surprise and added a different element to the narrative. Researchers can view the collection in person or by a virtual appointment by completing the membership and booking form and discover for themselves the multi-layered chronology of Parkhill Chapel.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the curator of the Christian Brethren collections, Tereza Ward, for her help and support throughout this project, as well as Tim Grass and Neil Summerton, historians of the Brethren movement, for sharing their invaluable knowledge.

Images taken by the Rylands Heritage Imaging Lab, except Figure 1 courtesy of Tim Grass © 2006.

All images unless otherwise stated are copyright of the University of Manchester and can be used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike Licence.