Early History

Heybridge Basin was dug out of Heybridge Marsh in 1793 prior to the opening of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, which ran from the Basin to Chelmsford in 1797. Prior to this the only evidence of habitation was the remains of ancient salt works. The first houses were built around the Basin in about 1793 and the community slowly built up with the increase in trade.

Faith

As with most Essex marsh villages the Basin was predominately Non Conformist and, in this case, congregational. In 1834 moves were made to set up a permanent place of worship and on 17^th May 1834 a certificate of registration was granted to John Copeland Jnr. On 11^th November 1835 a certificate “Under the hand of John Sadd, junr., that a messuage in the possession of the said John Sadd was forthwith to be used as a place of religious worship, and was registered in the Commissary Court of the Bishop of London.”

This set the pattern of worship in the Basin for the next 80 years.

The development of the village between 1850 and 1875, before the depression of the 1880s and further development in the first decade of the twentieth century, mostly due to the increase in fishing, created the need for a place of worship for the Anglican community that had started to flourish. For a time these villagers were destined to wander about looking for a permanent place of worship. The alternative was a mile walk to Heybridge along the tow path of the Chelmer and Blackwater canal. At first they made use of an upper room rented from a local businessman by the name of Perkiss for which they paid the grand sum of £4 for 1916. Then at the end of the First World War a gift from Edmund Ernest and Maude Alice Bentall, of the local engineering company of that name, answered their prayers. After the war numbers of wooden army huts became redundant. The local firm of May and Butcher purchased many such huts which had stood on Osea Island and rebuilt them in the Basin area where they were used as homes. A number of these are still in use at Millbeach and at the junction of Basin Road and Goldhanger Road.

It is quite likely that the erstwhile Sergents’ mess hall from Goldhanger airfield was moved at the same time but this one was purchased by Mr and Mrs Bentall and presented to the parish of Heybridge, to be used as a mission church at the Basin, and was duly transferred and converted for worship.

The church was given in memory of 2^nd Lieutenant Earnest Hammed Bentall of the 1^st Battalion King’s Royal Riffle Corps who was killed in action on 3^rd October 1915 during the Great War.

It is claimed that Mrs Bentall presented the maker of this window with a photograph of her son and that the face of St George is a likeness of him. The window bears the inscription, taken from 2 Tim 2:1-3, “Thou therefore, my son … endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”

The church was dedicated, to Saint George, by the Bishop of Colchester on 4^th March 1920 and has remained in use ever since. It is of timber construction covered in plaster on the outside with a small bell tower as its only addition since its military use. Internally it is very simple with a small vestry at the west end. The seating consists of benches mostly manufactured by May & Butcher, a village firm, who were makers of, among other things, mangers.

Simplicity has been the basis of worship in the Basin in both churches and this simplicity prevailed for the rest of the twentieth century. The number of members of the Congregational (later URC) chapel very slowly reduced very much in line with patterns in small villages throughout the country, whilst the Anglican numbers remained remarkably stable.

People

A church can only function if it is used and this requires the involvement of dedicated people who are prepared to devote their time to keeping it alive. Two such people were Francis and Donald May, father and son gentlemen farmers who took on the role of Deputy Churchwardens from the inception through to the 1980s.

Francis’ initials appear on the first page of the service register in which the first service is recorded as taking place on August 10^th 1916 led by churchwarden E. Hume, the collection amounted to 3/9½. Francis continued until 1942 and was succeeded by Donald who held the post until 1985.

Another dedicated member of the church was Joan McCready, also a local farmer, who had been brought up in the village and surrounding area. On her death in 2000 it was decided to install a window in her memory. This depicted her beach hut (she loved to swim in the waters of the river Blackwater), and scenes around Jacob’s Farm including pictures of her beloved chickens with the inscription from St. Luke’s gospel “ I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34).

By its very nature as a village ‘Mission Hall’ lay involvement was high and, especially during interregnums, many services were led by Lay Readers. One Reader who was involved more than most was Ron Fairman of the Crouch Valley parishes. In his book ‘The Crouch Valley Parishes and pulpits in the Dengie Hundred’ Ron refers to St George’s as “a most friendly little church” and also tells of the time he preached in the cow shed of Jacob’s Farm at Rogationtide. Another stalwart has been Eric Major who until recently was Reader for the Heybridge and Langford benefice.

At one time the Harvest Festival service was held in the Jolly Sailor public house followed by an auction of produce. The setting, close to the River Blackwater, is a reminder of the words of Psalm 137. It was a call for the regular churchgoers that, as they sat down by the water, they should remember that there was a world out there waiting for answers and that, perhaps, our ‘singing songs in a strange land’ (or pub) could be the answer for some!

Services

Until the late 40s most services took the form of Evensong with, perhaps, one service of Holy Communion per month. This gradually changed to Matins and Holy Communion during the 50s. This has now changed to mostly Holy Communion with one Family Service per month.

Some entries in the service registers make fascinating reading. On several occasions services were cancelled due to bad weather and we have February 22^nd 1948 ‘no service owing to heavy snow’ whilst on Easter Day April 17^th 1949 for Evensong we have ‘No Service. No one present. Very Hot Weather’. In 1953 on February 1^st there was no service due to floods. Perhaps the most interesting entry is for Easter Day 1956 (April 1^st) ‘No Service. Clergy did not turn up’, maybe the date is appropriate?

Numbers of communicants have remained remarkably constant throughout the years. The first service of Holy Communion was on March 14^th 1920 with 12 communicants and on Sunday January 8^th 2006 we had 11. The average number currently is 12-15 with a packed church for Christmas, Easter etc.

In 2004 the URC Chapel finally closed its doors when the last member, Mrs Rene Chilcott who was also church secretary and organist, died. At a special event in early December 2004 the memorial plaque commemorating those who fought in the Great War, and the lectern which carries the names of the three who did not return, were presented to St George’s by Rev Don McCalister the URC minister for Maldon.

The Future

The work of the church continues to reach out into the village with regular coffee mornings which are a way of encouraging visits by folk who would not normally darken the doors of a place of worship. These events are also supported by members of the URC. As with most churches fortunes wax and wane but we keep going. Ten years ago we had a thriving Sunday School and a choir, these have both ceased to exist but services are well attended and we have welcomed several new worshipers in recent years. We have to be realistic as numbers are low but this is not the whole story. As long as the building holds up we shall provide a place of welcome to the village.