WALTHAMSTOW NATIONAL SPIRITUALIST CHURCH

By T Stokes

The Vestry Rd. building dates from 1819 and was originally a schoolhouse for 200 children, supervised by husband and wife teachers, and the building still retains this old character . 

The little adjoining building which housed the old fire tender, was modernised to incorporate a small stables when becoming horse drawn in 1835, and later brought into the spiritualist church main building.

 

Just opposite was the old Work House, which became the museum,

and now a monument to political correctness, a ghost known as the “grey lady” has been recorded here and is said to be the school mistress.  I only experienced the sad orphan children with their little malnourished white faces, tubercular coughs, clomping boots and loud laughter from 150 years ago.

 

Nothing clings to atmospheres like children’s laughter, and this permeates the still discernable strict discipline of the period, dead or not, the overwhelming impression is just to grab hold and cuddle the misty shapes of these unloved children from long ago.

Maybe I can suggest a sponsored “ghost night” to help these kids trapped in time,

 These usually raise a little money for charity, and are an updated version of the “psychic sleepover” where a few spiritually aware people in sleeping bags stop over night in the haunted building and record their impressions for posterity.

 

The organised spiritualist associations in the area around the school house were believed to originate from 1905, and in 1919  a year before the establishment proper of the S.N.U meetings, certain Mr. Chris Chambers was barred from the church for conducting a fraudulent séance ! So the frauds are nothing new, and even today’s experts are sometimes fooled. My weekly postbag contains many stories of psychic fraudsters.

 

This wonderful old building, is one of the few surviving spiritualist churches from the period, and is a wonderful place to go meet like minded people, the T V programmes on the psychic arts have brought in many new faces who are hungry to learn more from the world of spirit, and there is something on every night of the week for those to come and chat and learn more, I have often criticised churches in the past that they are not “student friendly” not this church, one sees equal numbers with the bereaved, both old, and young.

 

It was after the first world war that Spiritualism came into its own, it was said that the war took someone from every family in the land, and contact with spirit could offer much comfort, and many families attended, including the film maker Alfred Hitchcock who lived nearby in Leyton.

This photograph dates from this period 1920, and looks rather like an old factory, the stern exterior is misleading inasmuch as this church in particular is renowned for its warm welcoming feel inside.

 

Over the years the big names of Spiritualism have all appeared here, including Winston Churchill’s favourite medium Joe Benjamin, Joe a Jewish East Londoner

with his humour and ability was always able to cheer up old Winston, and would recount the tale of how old Winston came to the little church service in deep depression as he was about to push Britain into another war.

 

A Surprising number of past mediums here have been Jewish, yet it was the Jewish escapologist Houdini, who used Old Testament teachings to attack Spiritualism,

And duplicated its phenomena with tricks and slight of hand, that did major harm to the movement, yet as revealed by Conan Doyle, Houdini had been involved in questionable magical practises himself.

 

This led in 1937 to the Church of England’s occult advisor Archbishop Lang

to conduct a lengthy and secret investigation into Spiritualism, the verdict from the Church committee was shelved with the commencement of W.W.II 

But I have Cannon Glendenning’s own copy, and the verdict was entirely favourable.

I visit spiritualist venues all over the country, and have often wanted to write a

“Michelin guide” and give stars for good practise.

 

I feel this is my home as in my teens my first experiences were here 40 years ago.

Charlie Chaplin the London comedian according to his massive F.B.I files visited spiritualist meetings in this area just before leaving for the safety of America in 1913, I have often wondered if he came to the spiritualist meetings held in the local parlours.

Charlie, who became famous for stealing Stan Laurels tramp figure, was said to be a secret member of the communist cell that ruled Hollywood in the fifties, and was exposed by senator McCarthy, and spent his last years exiled in Switzerland.

Spiritualism today faces many difficulties, as Christianity declines, many wish to break the ties and become a separate body, the two factions of spiritualism those who embrace the Christian aspects and those who favour independence look as far apart as ever, the rise of the interest in the whole area of psychic sciences presents as many challenges as opportunities, for me whose interest straddles all areas including divinatory counselling and astrology, I feel we are on the verge of making great headway,

 

The advances given by E.V.P and television have given us credibility in areas previously denied to us.

A philosopher once said: “an optimist sees opportunity in adversity, A pessimist sees adversity in opportunity “

We must build on our success’s, the American pharmaceutical manufacturers who would ban herbal, vitamin and mineral supplements, have for some time been making rumblings to outlaw all spirit readings, which they claim are

 “ misleading and unwholesome”

 

Scientific studies on Spiritualism since the 1850s have come to various conclusions

Depending on who was paying for the study, some claim to have proved that the temporal lobes cover the psychic faculties, others like some schools of psychology say there is no such thing as psychics and life after death, and even talk of these things should be discouraged.

 

This stifling free speech is commonplace just now, we must make our voices heard,

Get the postal and computer span psychic trash stopped, and bring in compulsory certification for mediums healers and psychic practitioners,

with a proper code of practise. This would reassure the public who are very afraid of being conned, and it would stop the critics from tarring us all with the brush of fraud.

Look up on the net, Vestry Rd Spiritualist church, and make sure you visit this charming old building in Walthamstow Village.

This article was given to us with kind permission by Mr T Stokes, author, lecturer, broadcaster, paranormalist, and remains the property of the author.

T.Stokes is an English Lecturer in paranormal studies and a world wide known consultant palmist. He is available for palm readings by post or email: palmist@fsmail.net

 

 

 

 

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