The ecclesiastical history of Wembley is firmly linked to that of the principal parish in the locality, St Mary’s, Harrow on the Hill.  This parish, the largest in the Province of Canterbury eventually gave birth to no less than 23 daughter churches, of which three cover the Wembley Park area.  Harrow belonged to the Archbishops from the time of Gaenbhert 10th C, to the days of Cranmer who surrendered the lands to Henry VIII but the parish remained a part of the Diocese of Canterbury until 1845 when it was finally transferred to the Diocese of London.

St Mary’s remained the parish church throughout the middle ages, but the villagers of Wembley were able to worship locally at the chantry chapel of St Michael, Tokyngton, situated at the foot of Wembley Hill on the site of the present Wembley Stadium station, near the Triangle.  This chapel was closed in 1545 in the general spoliation of the chantries following the Reformation. So Wembley was deprived of spiritual provision until the 1840’s when St John’s was built to provide for the growing township. By 1900 Wembley was beginning to develop at an increasing rate and the Vicar (Fr Victor Silvester) encouraged the foundation of chapels around the parish to meet the needs of the new arrivals - these in time developed into St James Alperton, St Augustine’s Wembley Park, St Andrew’s Sudbury, St Michael’s Tokyngton, Ascension Preston, Annunciation South Kenton, St Cuthbert’s North Wembley - 7 parishes all derived from St John’s (in Wembley High Road, near the top of Ealing Road - a fine example of a small village church in the mid-Victorian Gothic revival style, well worth a visit!).

In the 1900’s, Wembley was still an area of farms and country houses set in extensive grounds but the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway and Sir William Watkin’s plans for a racecourse and pleasure park on the stadium site) attracted rapid development. Wembley Park quickly became a typical “Metro- land” suburb, and the church was in the forefront of these changes. A dynamic young priest, Fr George Day arrived in about 1909 and very soon a temporary church was built on the site of the old church hall. This was a small half-timbered structure with a bell-cote and pointed windows. It was dedicated in 1910 in honour of St Augustine of Canterbury and it served the parish as church hall until the 1970’s, when sadly it was destroyed by fire and replaced by the old church hall (now demolished).

Fr George Day was an ardent Anglo-catholic-catholic and was to be seen about the parish in cassock and biretta and the services in his mission chapel were of an “advanced” tradition - St Augustine’s was a “bells and smells” or “gongs and pongs” (!) church right from the start. This lead to some tension with the Vicar of St John’s, Fr Silvester, who was somewhat low church, but he was quick to recognise the good work Fr Day and his band of very active helpers and a blind eye was turned to incense and vestments. The churches of Wembley owe a great deal to Fr Silvester.

 
But for the Great War, a permanent church would have been ready by 1920. Matters were delayed for a few years but eventually amid much pomp the foundation stone of the church was laid by the Duke of Devonshire in the presence of many ecclesiastical and civic dignitaries (the Cavendish family owned land locally - Chatsworth Avenue near the Triangle is named after the ducal seat in Derbyshire). This stone can be seen at the foot of the tower. It carries an interesting inscription. Details of the ceremony can be found in the parish archives.

 
The church on the present site was of large proportions. Everything was planned on a large scale and had the works been completed you would now be standing in a most imposing edifice - but alas, that was not to be! Despite the Ducal Foundation the site chosen was, from a geological point of view, a poor and the ground was marshy with several springs and wells. The foundations were inadequate for so lofty a building. but the work continued and very soon the church was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of London, Dr Arthur Winnington Ingram, who was the driving force behind the schemes to provide the “new London” with over forty new churches for the growing suburbs like Wembley Park - no mergers or closures in those days!
St Augustine’s greatly benefited from the proceed of the sale of the site of St Mary’s Vincent Square, a redundant church in Westminster closed after the Great War. Apart from the money, St Augustine’s was given the church furniture - the altar in the Lady Chapel, the pulpit, the lectern and the choir stalls all came from St Mary’s. Other furniture came from the Basilica of St George built for the great Empire Exhibition at Wembley, and still standing near the Empire Pool (now known as the Wembley Arena). Sadly, most of this has been lost or stolen over the years. The small statue of St George survives.

Another source of funds was the Newman family, who were most generous in their benefactions to the parish. The new church was provided with some magnificent ornaments - the statues of St Augustine, our Lady and the rood figures, the colossal candlesticks and the reredos in the Lady Chapel were all designed for the church. Splendid vestments (purchased in Rome) and fine communion plate were all donated, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, no less blessed the silver, orthodox thurible, still used on occasions.

The sanctuary was clad and floored with inlaid marble and a vast marble high altar was erected, and the Bishop’s throne was furnished with a rich canopy (still with us). All these can be seen in the photographs in the Sacristy. The church was of great beauty and St Augustine’s was recognised as a significant parish. Fr Day and his people were rightly proud of their achievements.

Sadly the glory was not to last. During the 2nd World War, Wembley was heavily bombed and a landmine in Beechcroft Gardens damaged the already weak and unstable foundations. By 1950 concern about the safety of the church was being expressed and it had to be closed. Repairs were far too costly to contemplate and demolition was inevitable. One can only imagine the great sorrow of the Vicar and the congregation as they saw the fruits of 40 years hard work and so much devotion reduced to rubble; this was a blow from which, in some ways, the parish has never recovered.

In 1954 the foundation stone of the present church was laid by the Bishop of Willesden, Dr Gerald Ellison, later Bishop of London. (This stone is in the church vestibule). The building was intended to serve as a temporary church until a permanent edifice was built, when it would become the church hall. Much of the furniture was placed in the present building, where it is somewhat out of scale, but the marble altar and flooring was put into store.
By the late 1960’s plans for a new building were abandoned as impractical, and the then Vicar, Fr Baxter, had the sad task of selling off the marble. This did not endear him to the parishioners who still hoped for yet another grand church! In the 1970’s Fr Broadhurst set about improving the present church. Stained glass windows were installed and the tower and sacristy were added, to the design of one of the Churchwardens, Edward Heath. In recent years, under Canon Gore plans for redevelopment of the site was drawn up, and in 1996 the parish faced a new future.

 

Plans for redevelopment of the site with accommodation to be built above the new church hall was not very popular with the parishioners. This was abandoned in favour of just a new hall. The church hall was to be constructed adjoining the south side of the church. This would enable access for social events much easier, especially in bad weather and would also be rented out to the local community for functions, which would bring in much needed revenue.

 

Electrical repairs and rewiring were carried out to the church. Permission was granted by the Archdeacon of Northolt for an experimental re-ordering of the interior of the church after completion of the redecoration and repairs. This was later found to be impractical !

 

Building works started in January 2000. The new church hall was completed, and was opened and blessed on the 11^th June, 2000 by the Bishop of Willesden, Graham Dow. A plaque to mark the occasion is situated in the hall. A “millennium” Yew tree was scheduled to be planted as part of the landscaping of the grounds.