New Postcards added to the website

A trio of postcards have been added to the Places of Worship page, in the Around Alton Cont. section of the website.

Alton Congregational Church c1910.

The postcards appear to be from the same series, whilst they do not contain any information as to who took the images or produced the postcards, one of them is postmarked 29th July 1910.

This building can be found next door to Alton Second-hand Books on Normandy Street, it closed in 1994 and was later converted into 3 houses.

A Chapel originally stood on part of the site now occupied by the former Church, however by the 1830's it had become rather run down and a new place of worship was required. Work began in 1834, with the new Church holding its first service on the 14th April 1835.

Originally much smaller, some houses on Normandy Street were demolished in the 1840’s leaving a gap that was occupied when the Church was extended in 1868.

The first postcard is of the School Room, the Church was home to the first Sunday School in Alton, which appears to have started in 1801. There are numerous newspaper articles from the early 1900s, marking the 106th Anniversary, 113th Anniversary etc.

The second postcard is of the main part of the church where the congregation would sit during the service. The windows at the back look out on to Normandy Street.

The third postcard is of the rear of the Church, if you walk down the Orchard Lane side of the Church, you will find this just before Knox Terrace on the left. Please bear in mind this is now somebody’s garden and front door.