Located along a long woodland driveway that is also a public footpath, the Mission Church in the west Kent hamlet of Well Hill was established in the Parish of Shoreham to serve the seasonal hop-picking and fruit-growing communities.The arrival of the railway in the mid 19th century had seen an influx of people travelling from inner London to seek work as agricultural labourers in the fields of rural Kent.Having previously established two earlier Mission Rooms in 1890 and 1891, the Vicar of Shoreham, Robert Ashington Bullen, was keen to found another one at Well Hill.The land - a beautiful shaded chestnut copse alongside a bridle path - was provided by the Hart-Dyke family of the stately home of Lullingstone Castle, whose descendants still own the property today.The money for the church was raised through local public subscription, with many wealthy landowners contributing to the Mission, including architect Spencer Chadwick, who lived locally at Highfields.Chadwick provided the design for the timber framed church which has remained little altered since its consecration in 1893.The apsed sanctuary area was originally separated from the rest of the church by a partitioned screen; but in recent years it has been converted into a small vestry, with the altar being moved forward.
Photographs of previous vicars of Shoreham and Chelsfield are framed on the east wall; and there is even a photograph from 1920 of a long standing church organist, Mrs Jeffries, proudly sitting at the harmonium.The wooden benches date from the Victorian-era and came from a redundant Anglican church in Greenwich, which closed after the Second World War.Prior to that the seating was uncomfortable backless benches.The Well Hill Mission Church is now part of the Parish of Chelsfield, the neighbouring village which since the boundaries were changed in 1965, is now within the Greater London Borough of Bromley.
The Well Hill Mission Church is a much loved and cared-for community asset, which still holds two services each month. Text by Rob Baker
