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Carlton
St Michael

History

The need for religious provision for the rapidly growing Standhill Road area in the western part of Carlton-in-the-Willows parish was acknowledged in the early 1900s. A site at the junction of Foxhill Road and Hillview (on land that was laid out on a street plan for housing development but with very few houses actually built) was given by the Earl of Caernarvon of Highclere Castle, who had previously given land and money for the building of St Paul’s in Carlton. The brick and timber mission church of St. Michael and All Angels, which had originally been erected in Wallington, near Croydon in c.1870, was purchased, dismantled and transported to Carlton. The church originally cost £3,300, was bought for £500, and rebuilt and furnished for about £900. It provided accommodation for 300, and joined to it, in addition to the vestries, was a parish room, capable of seating 100. The funding came from a variety of sources including a donation from the Earl and £200 from the Church Extension Society, but the majority of the money was raised by local people by means of a loan from the London and Smiths Bank. A document is extant which records that there were thirty-one guarantors covering amounts varying from £10 to £100. 

The new mission (or district) church in the parish of Carlton-in-the-Willows was dedicated by the Bishop of Southwell on 14 December 1907. In his address the Bishop said it was one of the happy instances where the Church was in time, and was ready at once to receive those who came to live in a new district.

A young member of the congregation, Noel Good, aged 12, passed the senior grade for pianoforte-playing with honours at the London Victoria College of Music in July 1923, securing 91 marks out of 100. Noel often played organ at the church.

In February 1932 the rector of St Paul's church, Carlton, the Rev H. R. Yeo, announced that all Sunday morning and evening services at St Michael's would cease from the end of the month. Holy Communion, children's services and bible classes would, however, continue. The rector cited financial problems and the difficulties around recruiting a curate as the reason for the decision. He also admitted he felt the parish was divided and was of the opinion that 'the people of St Michael's kept to themselves.' Furthermore, he stated that 'there was no probability of St Michael's becoming a separate parish as had been expected.' Interviewed by the Nottingham Journal the churchwardens felt that the congregation was being let down and claimed that over the previous seven years the average annual attendance at Holy Communion was 900.

The last service was held at the church on 29 April 1934. The dismantling of the interior was already underway by this time and the church was demolished shortly afterwards. At the time of closure house-building had just commenced on Foxhill Road. Local residents claim that the timber from the church was purchased by the builder and used for the construction of the roofs, so perhaps parts of St. Michael and All Angels Church, Carlton still exist. A newspaper report on the closing of the church stated that 'a more convenient church is to be built and a new parish formed in the growing district of Porchester.' The new church was Porchester St James.

At some point after closure and demolition a new church appears to have been erected on a much reduced site. The 1953 Ordnance Survey Map shows a building with a different orientation. The 1961 OS Map shows the title Foxhill Gospel Church (Plymouth Brethren). This building is now used by The Foxhill Evangelical Church. 

The church performed baptisms, the details of which were copied into the Registers of St Paul’s. No evidence of marriages or funerals has been located.