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Historical link to The Church of King Charles the Martyr, South Mymms
Part 1 by the Revd. A. D. Hencken, Vicar from 1968- 80 (written in the 1970s)
with additional material by John Rowley 2001
Many people have asked why the Church in this parish should bear such an unusual Dedication since there are only six other Churches in this country which have this title and one of those is a ruin and stands as a War Memorial on the outskirts of Plymouth.
I suppose that it all stems from the mind of the Reverend Allen Hay, Vicar of the Mother Church of St Giles, South Mymms, who incidentally, was Vicar from 1898 to 1954.
Potters Bar was expanding rapidly in the 1930’s and another Church was urgently required in the new Estates being built in his parish. The Reverend Allen Hay therefore enlisted the help of the Reverend Trevor Basil Woodd, a fellow member of the Royal Martyr Church Union, and it was proposed at the A.G.M. of that organisation that it would further the cause of the R.M.C.U., which had been founded in 1906 for the purpose of honouring the name of Charles I, and to restore it to its proper place in the Anglican Calendar, if a new Church was built and dedicated in his name. The resolution was passed and a Fund started to raise the necessary money.
To return to K.C.M. in South Mymms, which is the official title, even though it is in Potters Bar. On Saturday 25th November 1939 at 3pm the Foundation Stone was blessed by the Bishop of Willesden and laid by The Reverend T. Basil Woodd, who is descended from Captain Basil Woodd, Gentleman-at-Arms to King Charles, and who was with him on the scaffold and who received his Garter Star (which is still a treasured possession of the Woodd family) ,just before his beheading. Incidentally, the High Altar Crucifix bears an emblem of the Garter, and there are several others in various parts of the Church.
Published by courtesy of David Thomson, Webmaster for KCM
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