Raising the money continued :
Here we will look at the way the bulk of the money was raised. The PCC was working to a figure of £6000 as the total cost of building. I imagine that they came to this figure as a result of a letter they received from Reema Construction Ltd, Salisbury. This is in reply to one written to them on the 11th July 1955 by the Revd Freeman. Reema send a copy of their "brochure of our Village Halls, and alternative designs, together with a price list, as you requested".
The only course of action open to the PCC was, of course, to borrow and beg. They had not done to badly on the beg side, getting a £1000. Now for the borrowing.
Revd Freeman wrote to the Archdeacon of Dorset and received a reply dated 5 August 1955 :
"I very much doubt if the Diocesan Building Committee will be able to help you but you can but you could try.
I have asked Saumarez Smith to send you a copy of the Commissioners Loan Scheme which will apply to your parish.
The D.C. Building Comm has nothing to do with the £1000.
Yours signature not readable"
and the ever efficient Saumarez Smith also writes on the 5 August 1955 :
Dear Mr Freeman,
You will have heard from the Archdeacon that he was arranging for a copy of the Church Commissioners' loan scheme for the provision of buildings for public worship in new centres of population to be sent to you. But I have to-day received a letter from the Commissioners in the following terms:
"I have your letter of the 2nd August.
Since the passing of the New Housing Areas (Church Buildings) Measure 1954 the Commissioners have been unable to set aside further sums for making interest free loans for the provision of buildings for public worship, and the former scheme is therefore, officially obsolete. There is, however, a small balance not yet advanced out of the allocation previously made by the Commissioners for this purpose, and until this balance is exhausted the Commissioners will consider applications for loans. Loans can be made to assist in providing a building for public worship in an area of large scale new housing development where no such building at present exists. I enclose three forms on which application may be made, but I must emphasise that I cannot promise that there will still be any money available for loan even in a case which is fully qualified, since applications will be considered strictly in order of their receipt.
In the circumstances the Commissioners prefer to correspond in this matter only directly with the diocesan board, and I have not written to the Reverend W Freeman."
These loans are not made direct to Parochial Church Councils, but only to Boards of Finance. This Board would make a loan to the Parochial Church Council on exactly the same terms as the Commissioners' loan to us. The relevant term of the Commissioners Scheme is as follows:-
"Any loan so made will be repayable by equal halfyearly instalments of capital (payable on the 1st January and the 1st July in each year) over a period of twenty years, with interest on outstanding balances at the rate of £3 per cent per annum. The Commissioners will however waive payment of interest if the capital instalments are promptly repaid. Outstanding balances of capital may be paid off or reduced at any time"
You will see from the Commissioners' letter that the sooner an application can be sent, the more likely is there to be money available. I enclose two copies of the Commissioners application form, and should be glad if you would complete and return one of them to me if your Parochial Church Council decides to apply for a loan. The other copy should be retained for your record. Question 11 should be answered in the negative, and it will be safe to answer question 8 in the affirmative.
Your sincerely Saumarez Smith Secretary."
Fully appreciating the urgency of the situation Commander Charlewood fills in the loan application form and returns it to Saumarez Smith on the 12 August 1955. It is interesting to note that in this letter for the first time the phrase "dual purpose hall" is used. This will be explained in full when we shortly come to examine the hall's construction.
Three days later on the 15 August 1955 Commander Charlewood again writes, this time to the Diocesan Pastoral Committee:
I have for reference your letter P.44p/490 of the 22 July 1955, addressed to the Revd. W J Freeman, and am directed by the West Parley Parochial Church Council to inform you that the P.C.C. accepts with gratitude the Salisbury Diocesan Pastoral Committee's offer of a Grant of £1000 towards the cost of erecting a dual purpose hall at Parley Cross.
My Council also accepts with gratitude your Committee' offer of a Loan for £1000 although the Council will not expect to draw on the loan until outgoing payments for the work have to be made
Yours sincerely Charlewood Hon Sec West Parley P C C
The three day gap between these two letters is intriguing. Was the one on the 12 August sent prior to discussion at the PCC? Given the urgency it may well have been with the PCC sanctioning the move together with the Pastoral Committee's Grant and Loan at a meeting sometime between the 12th and 14th. Anyway at this stage there is £2000 in the building fund. Not bad considering that actual planning permission could only have been received May / June time at the earliest.
It is as well that by now it was common for those who had many letters to write at home would own a small portable typewriter, (my wife still has hers and it works!) rather than the duplicate book used by Col. Daw. There are so many committees to satisfy, including the Pastoral Committee who on the 17 August wrote:
I am glad to know that the P.C.C. have accepted both the loan and the grant that the Committee has offered. You will, I know, keep the Archdeacon fully informed about your plans as the Committee would wish to be assured of his approval before actually sanctioning payment of either sum.
Tricketts Cross
I wonder if you have as yet heard whether the Commissioners have agreed to allow the sale proceeds of the glebe to be used to pay for the additional ¾acre of land.
Yours sincerely Falkner Secretary
Well its nice to know they trust you.... Trickets Cross still murmuring on in the background.
Possibly thanks to Commander Charlewood's prompt action in applying for the loan the Church Commissioners did provide finance of £3000. They did not write to West Parley PCC of course, as they only deal with Boards of Finance. In the days before photocopiers became common place some poor typist made a copy of the Commissioners letter by typing it out again on plain paper and sending it to Charlewood. Here is the text of the letter dated 26 August 1955:
Loan for the provision of building for public worship Parley Cross
The Commissioners have considered the application recently forwarded by your assistant secretary and they have agreed to advance an interest free loan of £3000 being 50% of the estimated cost of the proposed church-cum-hall in this area subject to the receipt of confirmation that the bishop will license the building for public worship when completed.
The loan is offered for a term of twenty years and the Commissioners will require an undertaking in the enclosed form to be signed by the chairman and yourself on behalf of your board to repay the loan by equal instalments of capital on 1st January and 1st July in each year with interest on outstanding balances at the rate of 3% per annum. Interest will not, however, be charged as long as each instalment of capital is paid within fourteen days of the due date.
The first repayment to the Commissioners need not be made until twelve months have elapsed after all the loan money has been disbursed, but repayment may be made before this date if your board so wishes. At any time during the currency of the loan special payments may be made in reduction of the balance outstanding.
The loan can be advanced by instalments of one half of the amounts certified by the architect from time to time as payable to the contractor. Payment will be made by warrants drawn to the joint order of your board and the contractor.
The bishop is being informed of the Commissioners offer which is subject to reconsideration if the loan is not taken up within twelve months.
Yours faithfully W J Broughton Deputy Principal.
So now there is £5000 in the kitty. By the time the notes reproduced on page 14 are written there is £5500, thanks to a very generous donation, all raised withing the space of roughly 10 weeks. Of course there is the small matter of repaying it, but at the moment the PCC does not know that the future holds massive inflation that turns to-days penny into tomorrows twopence, so that in relative terms the loan becomes less. Bearing in mind the notes on page 14 on the 20 September the Revd Freeman wrote a letter which is reproduced on page 16 as much for its historic content as its relevance to this history. For the record, the loan formalities with the Board of Finance/Church Commissioners were completed on 19 November 1955.
For those of you who wish to see the original letters mentioned on this page follow this link,opens in new window.
Go to Page 16
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