I agree, it is an outrage that a marginal church is set to gain from what was donated as a community asset by John Innes and with such a cynical design; I quote from the John Innes Society web site:"ArchitectureThe many domestic buildings erected in John Innes time and shortly after his death are of significant architectural merit - they are mainly two-storey detached and semi-detached houses, but with several rows of charming terraced cottages, all in a variety of styles. John Innes, and those that succeeded him in the Merton Park Estate Company, deliberately used one principal architect to give character to the area by providing individual designs to the houses whilst having regard to the need for harmony. The first such architect of major importance appointed by John Innes was Henry Goodall Quartermain, who lived in Merton Park, and was largely responsible for the houses designed between 1873 and 1903. Much of his work was in the "Queen Anne" and "Domestic Revival" styles. Typical features are tile hanging, half timbering, canted and multi-storey bays, gables and bargeboards. Not long after the death of John Innes, and six months after the death of Quartermain, the Merton Park Estate appointed John Sydney Brocklesby as principal architect, and he continued to pursue John Innes' vision. He also lived in Merton Park, and was largely responsible for houses designed between 1905 and 1914, and continued to design some houses in the area up to 1926. He was much influenced by the "Arts and Crafts" movement, designing cottage-style houses, with steeply-pitched roofs, oriel and angled bays, and circular or semi-circular windows. Those parts of Merton Park outside the Conservation Areas also have good examples of domestic architecture, although from a later time (e.g. 1920s and 30s), with large semi-detached houses in the typical style of the period, the architects being influenced to some extent by the fine designs of earlier houses in Merton Park. Not only the domestic architecture, but also the other buildings designed in John Innes' time or soon after by Quartermain (e.g. the public buildings in Kingston Road) and by Brocklesby (e.g. those in John Innes Park) have considerable architectural merit.Public BuildingsThe Manor Club and Institute still thrives as a Working Men's Club in the original building at 76 Kingston Road, 114 years after being founded by John Innes in 1890. The adjoining Masonic Hall, 80 Kingston Road - another surviving fine building designed by Quartermain and founded by John Innes - is now Merton Public Hall."[SOurce: http://www.johninnessociety.org.uk/merton-park]
Mike Strange ● 2473d