On 6th June 1945 shortly after an evening service had ended a passer-by noticed the church was alight. No one is certain how or where the fire actually started. A party for about 90 returned prisoners-of-war was being held in the church hall, at which the Mayor and Mayoress were guests. All the men present rushed to the church and managed to save some items from what was now a serious blaze. It was made worse when flames melted the gas meter and burning gas added to the chaos. Despite the efforts of the National Fire Service who used seven appliances and a turntable ladder, the main nave roof was destroyed and much of the remaining building damaged by heat and smoke. Temporarily services were held in the south aisle, the arches separating the aisle and nave having been walled off.
Whether or not to repair the church after the fire was never in doubt. There was debate as to whether a temporary or permanent repair would be best. Eventually it was decided that it would be better to do the job only once and that restoring the original roof would be impractical. Therefore the current much simpler roof was installed and repairs made to the chancel. The architects for the rebuilding were Wheeler, Humphrys & Hurst and the main contractors were The New Stone Restoration Company. The complete repair (including the organ) totalled £25,000. The Bishop of Barking consecrated the repaired building on 31stJanuary 1950, although the organ was not completed until March.
Changing liturgical fashions during the 1970s saw a move towards a number of churches experimenting with bringing the altar forward from its traditional eastern position. At St. Saviour’s the original altar was left in its original position, but the chancel was stripped of the choir stalls, the 1950 chancel screen removed and a carpet put down over the fine original mosaic floor and a modern altar introduced much closer to the congregation. The new altar was created by using parts of the displaced choir stalls and the new arrangements were the repaired chancel on 31 January 1950, completed in 1988. At the same time the baptistery, original font and 16 pews were removed from the back of church and a meeting area created to the designs of John Burton.
The repaired chancel on 31 January 1950
Very unusually for an Anglican church a small relic of St Martin de Porres Velazquez was sealed into the new altar with considerable ceremony. As the patron saint of all those engaged in social care and for those working for racial harmony the relic is perhaps a helpful reminder for our diverse local community.
The sketch (below) by John Burton shows very much how this part of the church looked following re-ordering with the exception of the font which proved too large and heavy for use. Instead a font from Chignall St. James in Essex was obtained and can be seen today.
In 2012 Canon Steven Saxby re-instated the choir stalls to the chancel area and restored the primacy of the main altar. The altar containing the relic of St. Martin was placed in the north aisle and together with his statue from a discrete chapel in that area.
The former main altar as it is now in the north aisle
