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Rectors
of the New Church
Mile
End Road, 1906
The
Rev. E. Hall served the Parish as Rector from the consecration
of the New Church until 1902. In 1955 the older members of the
Parish still remembered his ministry here. Mr. David Durrant, of
Mill Road, told of Sunday School outings to Brightlingsea, when
the journey was made by train, and, in the evening, the tired
but happy children were met at the station by decorated farm
waggons waiting to take them up the long hill to the village,
escorted by the village band. He also remembered a Choir Outing
to the Crystal Palace some years before it was burnt down.
On
the death of the Rev. E. Hall a mural tablet was erected to his
memory in the Chancel and the balance of the subscriptions was
devoted to opening a fund for the provision of a new organ. The
organ was at length installed, in 1912, in the north-east corner
of the north aisle. It was moved to its present position in the
north side of the chancel some 22 years later, when the vestry
was rebuilt and enlarged. An inscription on the outer wall of
the new vestries reads:
In
loving memory of Esther Ellis Nevard who departed this life 26
July 1929. These vestries were erected 1933 by her husband
Albert Edward Nevard.
Rev.
W. J. Wallace M.A. H.
H. Savage. Church
Rector.
R.
W.
Revens, Wardens.
The
former organ stood in the south side of the chancel, next to the
Sanctuary, blocking the small south door, and the place where
the organ-blower used to stand is marked by a worn step close to
the Communion-rail.
The
Rev. H. S. Stevens succeeded the Rev. E. Hall as Rector in 1903
and during the period of his ministry the parish became much
enlarged by the influx of population to staff the Severalls
Hospital which was erected in the area in 1912.
For
some years the condition of the roof of the Church had been
causing anxiety to the Parish Council, and in 1906 the sum of Ł61
8s. 8d. was expended on extensive repairs. The Rev. H. S.
Stevens was succeeded by the Rev. M. C. Dickenson, who
ministered to the parish from 1917 to 1922, and “ The Roof
Repair Fund “ appears in the minutes of the Church Council
right up to the end of this period.
The
1914-1918 war saw forty-two casualties among the men of Myland
and a war memorial in the chancel bears a list of their names; a
small wooden crucifix hangs above it and a tablet at the side is
inscribed:
“
This Crucifix was found by Pte. William Tipper in France, and
given by his Mother to St. Michael’s Roll of Honour, in proud
and loving memory of his life laid down for his Country ”
Eighteen
more names were- added to the Roll of Honour as a result of
casualties suffered in the 1939-45 war.
No
account of St. Michael’s would be complete without some
mention of the Rectory The following is an extract from
Newcourt’s “Repertorium” dated 1710:
Terrier
1637. A Parsonage-House with an orchard. Back Yard. Barn. and a
Stable, and about 27 Acres and half of Glebe.
This
“ parsonage-house “ was entirely rebuilt during the ministry
of the Rev. P. Strong, in 1842, and was therefore thirteen years
older than the Church; it was a spacious house in late Regency
style, with well-proportioned rooms of great charm and dignity,
and a specially beautiful staircase curving up to the first
floor from the main entrance hall. It was built on the same site
as the old Rectory, but unfortunately the clay sub-soil which
had caused trouble in the past was to account for more
dilapidations in the future. By the time the Rev. M. C.
Dickenson was appointed in 1917, expensive repairs were
necessary, including a complete overhaul of the drainage system.
In order to economise and be able to meet the cost of the work,
the Rector and his wife lived for a while in the
private house, 118 Nayland Road, but by the time his successor,
the Rev. S. R. Cambie, D.Litt., was appointed the Rectory was
once more habitable and had been fitted with some modern
improvements.
On
the 17th October, 1922, the Rev.
S R Cambie was instituted at Myland, and it was a
coincidence that his predecessor, the Rev. M. C. Dickenson, was
also instituted on the very same day in the Private Chapel of
the Bishop’s Palace at Wells. The new Rector took up residence
at the Rectory but his stay in the Parish was not of long
duration as he did not enjoy good health, and in 1926 he
arranged an exchange of benefices with his friend, De. W J
Limmer Sheppard, D.D., Vicar of Holy Trinity, Ripon and
Saxlingham, near Norwich.
Dr.
Sheppard was also deeply interested in hymnology, having edited
the CMS Hymn-book and a collection of mission hymns. It was he
who augmented the Myland Church Choir by the introduction of
sixteen robed lady Choristers, admitted at a special service
after Evensong on Sunday, 9th May 1926.
He
also raised a bursary within the Parish to provide for the
training of one of the Church’s members, Miss Mona Mee, as a
worker in the Mission field. Miss Mee, who thus became “ Our
Own Missionary “ devoted her life to this work for nearly
thirty years and performed outstanding service in southern
India. A farewell gathering was held before her departure in
October, 1927, and presentations were made by her friends; she
in turn gave to the Church the electric light over the door of
the Parish Hall.
The
Eagle Lectern of hammered brass was also presented to the Church
during Dr. L. Sheppard’s ministry. This, and the revised
version of the Bible which stands thereon, was purchased with
money bequeathed by Miss Fanny Cant, of Myland Lodge, second
daughter of Benjamin R. and Elizabeth Cant, in memory of her
mother. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Colchester at the
morning service on Sunday, 10th October, 1926.
Mrs.
Edith Sheppard, who had been in delicate health for some time,
pre-deceased her husband, and a tablet to her memory is placed
on the wall of the Church next to the seat where she used to
worship; it is inscribed:
In
sweet and happy memory of the Rector’s Beloved Wife, Edith
Mary Sheppard: called to Her Lord’s Higher Service February 22nd,
1930.
Dr.
Sheppard died in 1932 and was succeeded in the following year by
the Rev. W. J. Wallace, M.A., Rector of Clophill, The Rev. W. J.
Wallace had spent the greater part of his life as a missionary
in China, and the frequent allusions in his sermons to customs
in the Far East evinced his deep and life-long interest in
missionary work. A flourishing Sunday school has always been
part of the life of Myland Church, and in this Mrs. Wallace was
a devoted worker. The Second World War, however, was destined to
shadow their later years at Myland with the loss of two of their
children: Cyril Stanley Wallace, killed whilst serving as an
officer in the Royal Air Force, and Joan May Maddams, who died
whilst interned in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. The Rev. and
Mrs. Wallace bore their sorrows with fortitude and continued to
minister to the needs of the Parish until the Rector’s sudden
death in the summer of 1948, and a tablet in the Chancel, close
by the Roll of Honour which bears the names of his son and
daughter, commemorates his service as follows:
In
loving memory of the Rev. W.
J. Wallace, M.A., Rector of this Parish from 8th
January 1933 until he died 26th June 1948.
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