The church on the corner
St Philip’s Church and, behind it, the church school, both demolished in the 1950s to be replaced by Arbon Court.
We are grateful to Harry of Arlington Square for lending us the splendid photograph above: it shows St Philip’s Church, on the corner of Linton Street and Arlington Square, in 1912 or thereabouts.
When the houses of Arlingtonia were built around 1850, the Church Commissioners reserved a space on the corner of the square for a church to accommodate the new population. But due to shortage of funds, building work did not begin until 1855.
The chancel stone was laid by Rev Daniel Wilson on 25 October, when coins and a scroll were deposited in a bottle beneath an inscribed marble slab. After more delays caused by lack of money, St Philip the Evangelist was finally consecrated in January 1857.
The architect was Alexander Gough, who also designed the school that stood behind the church on Rees Street. St Philip’s was built in the grey limestone known as Kentish rag and had a square tower topped with a spire and four pinnacles (the ‘Rhenish’ style). It accommodated 1,100 worshippers and served the district for just under a century.
Arbon Court
By the end of the Second World War the building was in a decaying state and in 1953 the church closed, its parish amalgamating with St James’ in Prebend Street. The following year, when St Philip’s was being used to store cardboard boxes, a fire destroyed part of the building, so permission was given to demolish it. Arbon Court was built on the site in 1958.
A children’s service took youngsters from Arlington Square to the gardens of the Missionary College in Upper Street.
Our second vintage photograph shows children from St Philip’s church school in their Sunday best on the occasion of a Children’s Service at the Church Missionary College. This institution, built for the training of missionaries, stood on Upper Street opposite the Town Hall. The grand building was demolished in 1915 and replaced by the flats known as Sutton Dwellings.