Henry Croswell et al. in All Hallows' Church, Barking, East London - 7 March, 1880, 11:00 AM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 192:
We arrived late.
[…]
O[rgan]. – Old, in the West Gallery, little played.
H[ymns]. – S.P.C.K., ordinary and old-fashioned.
C[hoir]. – A few girls, drawlers ("paid"!)
CONGREGATION - very scattered about - perhaps 80 in all.
[…]
M[iscellaneous]. – It is very Low Church, the clerk curiuus [sic] with his "Ay-mens". There is no animation in the service. The total population might easily all be put in the church.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 192. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1549040487517 accessed: 19 November, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| hymns selected from 'Church Hymns' | performed by the choir and organist of All Hallows' Church Barking |
| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of All Hallows' Church Barking |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 7 March, 1880, 11:00 AM |
| Duration | 1 hours 40 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. Croswell’s mention of the S.P.C.K. (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) hymnbook refers to ‘Church Hymns’ (1871) and/or ‘Church Hymns with Tunes (1874, under the musical editorship of Arthur Sullivan). 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.