Henry Croswell et al. in St John's Church, Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London - 13 November, 1881, 07:20 PM

from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 278:

[Croswell recorded that the service began at 7pm]

[…]

O[rgan]. – I couldn't see it.

H[ymns]. – Church Hymns.

C[hoir]. – So far as I could see there many unsurpliced singers [sic], paid and very ordinary.

[The congregation numbered] 700 […]

S[ermon]. – […] We didn't stop.

[…]

M[iscellaneous]. – It was a very quick dull service with no life in it at all..  This evening was an absurdity.  We got to the Church at 7.20 and left at 7.35!  We sat close to the door.

cite as

Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 278. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551437099960 accessed: 29 March, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)

location of experience: St John's Church, Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London

Listeners

Henry Croswell
assurance clerk, Sunday School teacher
1840-1893

Listening to

hide composers
hymns selected from 'Church Hymns' performed by the choir and organist of St John's Church Ladbroke Grove
Anglican church music performed by the choir and organist of St John's Church Ladbroke Grove

Experience Information

Date/Time 13 November, 1881, 07:20 PM
Duration 15 minutes
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Notes

Henry Croswell (1840–93) kept a record of his visits to churches in London over a period of more than twelve years (1872–85). He made methodical notes about the number of clergy, the churchmanship, the congregation, the sermon and the church architecture, as well as commenting on the music that he heard (the organ, the hymns and the choir). The above listening experience has been extracted from one of these records. ‘Church Hymns’ (1871) and ‘Church Hymns with Tunes’ (1874) were publications of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.), under the musical editorship of Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900). This collection was the most successful of the competitors to ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’ in the late nineteenth century, containing a larger number of hymns overall, and more hymns specifically intended for children and young people.


Originally submitted by lcc5 on Fri, 01 Mar 2019 10:45:00 +0000
Approved on Tue, 14 Jul 2020 10:58:21 +0100