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Ernest Skuse served Purley at a time when its church struck rock bottom. For the first time the full impact of the move from real property to cash was felt in the parish. Hitherto the living of Purley had been sufficient to maintain the rector in some style. Now the parish had to come to terms with its rector being poorer than most of his parishioners. The Second World War brought even more profound changes than the First. The age of the bureaucrats and technocrats had dawned and there was little room left for scholars or saints, particularly if the happened to be the rector.
The post-war period was continued austerity and rationing. The Beveridge Report, from which the Welfare State grew, convinced the majority of the population that the church no longer had a role in social affairs and although the population of Purley was rising steadily, congregations decreased almost to nothing. The fabric of the congregation changed. Before Ernest came the church's affairs were dominated by the well to do and established families. By the time he died they had almost vanished from the scene to be replaced by newcomers, professional and working class, few of whom actually worked in the village.
Ernest Edwin Skuse became rector on
He was born in 1876 in Bantry,
He obtained a post as curate of St. Saviour's at Stoke near
Just after he arrived he wrote a Missionary Pageant which
was performed at the Greek Theatre in
In 1933 he started the Parish Magazine which lasted a few years before becoming defunct in 1938. He used to sell it from door to door around the parish.
During the 1930s there were a number of bishops who visited
Purley. In 1933 the former bishop of
Edward Oliver Farrer died on
The new oil-fired heating system was installed by Messrs Goodman and replaced a somewhat primitive coal fired system. There had been a fire box with a flue leading under the main aisle to a chimney in the vestry. A grating in the nave had to be raised to stoke the fire which was apt to send fumes billowing through the church.
Also in 1934 there was an appeal for funds to repair the north wall of the church which had deteriorated and was badly pitted. Improved drainage was also required. The Wessex Electricity Company was asked to lay a cable to the church but this was not done until well after the Second World War.
Car parking had become a problem and Mr Farmiloe was approached to see whether he would let the church have some additional land. He refused and Mr Saunders was approached,but nothing came of it.
It was decided to apply for a faculty to level all unknown graves and Mr Keen of Pangbourne was asked to prepare a plan to record the positions of graves.
Cecil Aldin died in 1935 and a memorial tablet was installed below that of his son on the south wall of the nave. It was paid for by a collection among his friends and after the cost of £20 had been met there was £19-10-0 left over which the churchwardens invested in War Savings Certificates.
The new rectory was badly in need of repair in 1935 and a mortgage of £110 was taken out to pay for them.
The Rural Dean made an inspection of the church and suggested many items for attention. Of particular concern was the floor which was suffering badly from damp and decay. Offensive odours were noted after the church had been closed for a while. A contract was given to Messrs Collier and Catley in October 1936 and work was completed by the end of March 1937 at a cost of £115. The PCC tried to get a grant from the Incorporated Church Building Society but the Bishop had refused
on the grounds that grants could not be made where a faculty had not been obtained beforehand. Despite an appeal from the PCC for a change of heart he remained adamant.
In 1937 Ernest Skuse's income was reported as being £423 gross, made up of £272 from Queen Anne's Bounty, £142 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, £3 from fees and £6 from the Easter offerings.
One Sunday no one turned up to the evening service so the rector wrote a letter to the local paper asking what should be done with his empty church. For some weeks later a representative of the press was present to see if it happened again, but to no avail.
The ivy which had graced the tower for many years was removed by the Sexton, Mr Rawlins in early 1938.
The return of Neville Chamberlain from
When war broke out there was pressure from ratepayers to build a shelter at the school; but Mr Skuse vigorously opposed the demand on the grounds that the village had been designated as a reception area and was therefore to be presumed safe from air raids; and that anyway the experts had examined the school and had found that the arrangements already made were satisfactory. As things turned out he was proved right and the nearest Purley came to being bombed was when some incendiary bombs were dropped over Pangbourne.
Proposals for a new rectory were made in 1941 but did not come to fruition until 1971.
The lead covering on the tower had been severely damaged when the trapdoor had been wrenched away. A new sheet of lead 3 ft by 4ft was ordered. Around the same time in 1942 damage was reported to the coat of arms on the tower.
In April 1942 the bishop of
Mr Price died in 1942 and left a bequest of £25 to the church. It was agreed that the money should go towards the provision of electric lighting; but there was a bitter dispute as to whether the churchwardens or the Parochial Church Council should be responsible for the money until it was spent. It was eventually agreed that the PCC would invest it in Savings Certificates. In 1949 the decision was taken to go ahead and an electricity supply was requested, but the Ministry of Fuel and Power refused to allow the Southern Electricity Board to install it. As a result new Calor Gas lamps were installed by Messrs Callas, Sons and May at a cost of £82-5-0.
Ernest Skuse served briefly on the Parish Council from March 1946 until April 1947, serving as chairman until he resigned. He seemed to have fallen out with the Parish Council as in 1953 he demanded that they stop meeting at the school which had been their venue since founding in 1927. The Parish Council flatly refused and the dispute dragged on until the Memorial Hall was used as the meeting place in February 1955.
Soon after the war a former bishop of
In 1947 there was a review of salaries and the remuneration of the cleaners was raised from £7-15-0 to £10-0-0, that of the organist from £26 to £35 and the Sexton from £38 to £40.
The sanctuary carpet was stolen in 1948 and a new one was purchased using the £25 compensation received.
Also in 1948 the church tried to purchase some of the land in what is now the Moorings as an extension to the churchyard, but in the end the former owner decided to sell it to a third party.
Towards the end of his ministry in Purley Ernest Skuse suffered from poor health which was not assisted by a drinking problem. He had a very bad splutter caused partly by a false eye tooth which did not stay in position. Many words were impossible for him to pronounce and many people were quite incapable of understanding what he was saying.
He refused to live in the rectory as he could not afford the cost of upkeep so he lodged in Tilehurst. During and after the war the congregations had dwindled to almost nothing.
He could not afford to retire and he died in 1956. His wife had died earlier but he left three children, Jean, Ernest Noel (b 1910) and Christopher. Jean appeared on the scene again many years later when she came to talk to Project Purley.
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