Barming Articles
LONGSOLE MISSION CHURCH
Longsole Church in Longrede Lane, Barming, was built in 1896. The Rector Rev. T. Carr financed it with a donation of £160 (the equivalent of c.£20.000 in today's money) Initially it was hoped to be part of a larger development which did not materialise.
It had an unusual construction having been built by the 'Wire Wove Waterproof Roofing Company'. Only two other buildings with this method are thought to exist, one in North Wales and the other at Bicester.
Originally it could accomodate one hundred people although now it seats only fifty. Men sat on one side and ladies on the other. In fact there were more seats for men than ladies!
Photographs kindly provided by Steven Barrow
Alf Johnson was the manager of the farm associated with Oakwood Hospital. His uncle was Walter Barnes, the hospital superintendent
Alf Johnson, his wife Mary & mother-in-law Cicely
Alf's farm photos
Details of the 'carnival' outfit are unknown!
House Sales
We have recently been loaned some brochures detailing the sales of some houses in Barming between the wars. The following are some of the pages from them.
Barming House 1929
This map is dated 1912
BARMING VILLAGE HALL
The year 1924 has great significance in Barming as the Village Hall opened in that year.
Fund raising started in 1921 and, by 1924, £700 had been raised with £300 still to be found. Mr and Mrs. Clarke gave £200, the W.I. gave £100 as did Sir Edward Sharp, Bart.
The hall was opened by Mrs Harry Clark with Mr E. Taylor presiding. Also present were Colonel Sinclair, Mr Harry Clark, The Rector of Barming Rev. G.L.Morrell and Mrs. Taylor, the president of the Women's Institute.
The Women's Institute were evidently important in the start of the hall origins as initially they were allowed to have twelve meetings each year without charge.
Equipment for the hall included 150 second hand chairs costing 4/3d each from Messrs. Sanders. The W.I. purchased 15 tables and a further 10 were bought by the committee.
On 14th October, it was decided to charge11/2d to hire each table and chairs.
Also a piano was purchased but the cost is unknown although the W.I. donated £3-12-6 towards the cost provided they had free use of it.
Another donation was the green velvet curtains donated by the Coservative Party.
In 1935 20 more second hand tables were bought at a cost of £1-10-0
WAYSIDE CROSS MEMORIAL IN NORTH POLE ROAD, BARMING
Barming has an unusual war memorial in North Pole Road.
It honours the name of Lieut. Horace William Fletcher of 7th (Territorial) Battn. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers
His parents were Lionel and Eleanor Fletcher of Elmscroft, West Farleigh and he was born on 19 September 1889. After being educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford he prepared to take Holy Orders and became a resident at Oxford House, Bethnal Green in East London.
Following the outbreak of World War 1 he enlisted in the Royal Naval Division in September 1914. In the following December he was commissioned in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli from October 1915.
He then became a a Transport Officer in Egypt after which he transferred to the Intelligence Department.
During this time he took part in the Battle of Romani and then served with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine. On 26 March 1917 he was killed in action near Gaza. A sniper shot him whilst he was talking to some German prisoners. He is named on the Jerusalem War Memorial.
He is included in the Oxford House memoial
Also in the Merton College memorial
Currently the memorial has been removed as it was found to be in very poor cobdition.
It is hoped that the refurbished memorial will be installed back in position in autumn 2023
POST script
It was thought that the memorial referred to Hugh W.F.Fagan who had helped in Barming Church in 1911.
However he survived the war and died in 1952