Parish History

There has been a worshipping community in the ancient village of East Wickham since the 12th century, when a chapel of ease was erected in the parish of Plumstead on the pilgrim route from London to Canterbury.  East Wickham was established as a separate parish in the 19th century and the current church was built in the 1930s within the existing church grounds to cope with the swift expansion of the parish between the wars.  Our “new” church celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2023 and this was celebrated at a special service at Michaelmas 2023.    The original "old" church building is now used by the Greek Orthodox Community of Christ the Saviour.

A Brief History of the Parish and our two churches was presented at our 90th anniversary celebration.

Below are pictures from the parish's history:

In 1909 East Wickham comprised mostly farm land and orchards (Image courtesy of Bexley Archives):

A parish magazine (September 1916) from the Archive:

Sanctuary of the old church:

Construction of the 'new' 1930s building, including laying of foundation stone:

Consecration of the new St Michael's by Bishop Richard Parsons of Southwark, 18th February 1933.

Some images of our church school. Including the laying of the foundation stone in 1938: 

Coronation celebrations:

St Michael's, Christmas 1961: