St Paul’s

St Paul’s Church - West-Melton

St Paul's is located in West Melton, between West Melton Road and Weedons Ross Road. It's a small rural church with heating and cushioned pew seating. A portable ramp is available when needed for access to the church building.

There is a small church hall adjacent to the church building, with a kitchen, a wheel-chair accessible toilet and (permanent) ramp access.

Parking is available on-site next to the church and there's additional parking along the road.

Plots are available in the cemetery.

View all service times

Visitor info

History

Source: Malvern News, Issue 1,062 Thursday 10th November 2022

The first Church of England service at St Paul’s was held at the School House on December 22nd, 1872. It was conducted by Archdeacon James Wilson of Riccarton. Just prior to that, J. Potts had called for tenders to build a Church, stating that the timber was already on the site.
The Church was built to a Benjamin Mountfort design. Twelve years later, on November 28th, 1884, the Church of St Paul’s was consecrated by Bishop Harper, with the service attracting over 100 people.
It would appear that between 1872 and 1884, the Church was under the care of Riccarton, as many services were taken by Archdeacon Wilson. The Lay Reader John Hill took 372 services during this time. It is mainly due to his efforts that the district owns the Church. In 1881, over 200 people attended a function where John was presented with a testimonial acknowledging the district’s gratitude. John’s son in law, George Watson, was a Warden and Lay Reader for 41 years.
In 1885, a 200-pound bell was donated by Mrs Neave, and this stood proudly in place at the west end of the Church until 1952, when it was taken down as it was considered to be unsafe. Some 25 years later it was hung in a freestanding steel belfry built by Lester Langdale beside the Church.
Between 1884 and 1942, St Paul’s was part of the Parochial District of Courtenay. Due to a shortage of clergy during World War 2, the West Melton portion of Courtenay became attached to the Parish of Prebbleton and Templeton.
In 1956, St Paul’s joined with St Saviours, Templeton and St Columba’s, Hornby, to become part of the Parochial District of Hornby (now the Parish of Hornby). At that time, both Templeton and West Melton were moving towards shared ministry. This involved local people taking more major responsibility for the ministry of the Church, with the Vicar of Hornby taking an overseeing role.
St Paul’s has not been altered structurally during its years but it has had a new roof and the exterior walls have been roughcast. The adjacent cemetery bears the names of many well known local families.
150 year of worship in the West-Melton area was celebrated at St Paul's on December 11th 2022, led by Archdeacon Mark Chamberlain.