St Michael's Church, East Wickham

St Michael's is our [Mum's] local parish church. There are actually two churches on the site. This is the main entrance to the small, simple flint and brick built building from dating from the 13th century or earlier - it was a "chapel of ease" (easy access) to St Nicholas', Plumstead, but became a parish church in its own right in 1852.

My paternal Grandparents were married in this church in January 1926, and I have wedding photos of them at this very door.

During the First World War, the government built 600 huts to help accommodate workers from Woolwich Arsenal, and in 1926 the church was restored, including removal of the old box pews, however there was still only room for 135 people in a parish with a population of thousands, not hundreds, and new housing estates continuing to spring up. So in 1932 the foundation stone for a new church was laid, and it is this church which featured most in my youth, as I attended its associated CoE primary school, and we held annual school events in the church. The old church is now leased to the Greek Holy Orthodox Church.

Disappointingly, the churchyard has been cleared of its tombs and headstones, as we understood that members of my Grandmother's family were buried there. I suppose it makes it easier to maintain, but it feels we have lost something of our social history.