Time Capsule from 1913

Conservators working on the restoration of the spire and weathervane have discovered the 'time capsule' placed in the spire in 1913 at its dedication.

We knew of its existence from Henrietta Barnett's The Story of the Growth of the Hampstead Garden Suburb 1907 - 1928 (reprinted by the Hampstead Garden Suburb Archives Trust in 2006) which describes it as " a hermetically sealed copper cylinder", and records that "with prayer and thanksgiving" by the first vicar, the Reverend Basil Bourchier, it was placed in the pummel of the spire.

The capsule contains a message ("engrossed on vellum")  from Canon Samuel Barnett on the state of the world in 1913 (“the last thing that Canon Barnett wrote”), and a 'photogravure" of a portrait of the Barnetts by Hubert Herkomer (1849 – 1914) from Toynbee Hall.  There was no record of Henrietta's accompanying text until the disovery of the capsule.

The conservation team also found (on the removal of lead from the orb) a number of signatures on the timber, which are presumably those of the plumber and lead workers.

We hope, after conservation, to add a contemporary note and, again with prayer and thanksgiving, to restore the capsule to the restored spire.

Another, unofficial, capsule was discovered in 2017

Message in a bottle

A whisky bottle containing notes and other items left by the builders to mark the completion of the spire on 24 April 1913.  The bottle was discovered in the summer of 2017 during repair work.

Work on the spire

Removing the 'ball' from the church spire. Photos by David White

Steeplejack on the Spire 16 May 2017

The bells

Photograph by Michael Eleftheriades

St Jude's has two bells acquired in August 1932 from the demolished church of All Hallows the Great, Upper Thames Street although only one is used. It was forged in 1670 from the metal of the medieval bells melted during the Great Fire of London in 1666.