Rev. David Silk

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The Rev. David Silk

The Rev. David Silk died in Torquay in September 2023.

He arrived as curate at the Holy Redeemer Church, Days Lane in 1963 and one of his remits was to develop church life at the ‘tin hut’ in Blackfen Road, opposite Leechcroft Avenue. Regular Sunday services began and there was soon a congregation of 90, packed into the hall with music by a harmonium and piano. The Woodman pub (now the George Staples) played a significant part in church life with meetings and fundraising events held there. The Bishop of Tonbridge was so impressed when he visited that he set aside money to build a new dual-purpose hall and church. Opened in 1967, the choice of the name was left to the people of Blackfen. ‘The Good Shepherd’ was chosen, and The Rev. David Silk became Priest-in-Charge. Fundraising continued in events that involved the whole community.

The picture below left shows Rev. David Silk (right) at the marriage of my Uncle George and Auntie Marion in the grounds of Holy Redeemer in 1963. Below right is The Church of the Good Shepherd building in 2020, with a new housing development already encroaching.

The Rev. David Silk went on to become Bishop of Ballarat in Australia. He was a great help to me in 2014 when I was researching the history of Blackfen. He said: “A few years ago I was in conversation with the man charged with writing my obituary. He asked me, ‘which were the best years?’ I was able honestly to say, ‘Blackfen and Ballarat’. Blackfen was because that is where we had a sense of freedom from stuffiness, where we learned from the companionship of the people with whom we shared the adventure of forming the Church of the Good Shepherd, a church in both senses of the word – a community as well as a building; Ballarat was because it all happened again – the same sense of freedom, of purpose and of companionship.”

When I told him that the future of the Good Shepherd building was uncertain and there was a possibility of redevelopment, he said: “At the very least I hope that it will be for the provision of affordable housing for which there is a desperate need right across the country.”

The Rev. Mgr David Silk, 1936-2023.

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Who’s Who of Blackfen

On 18 March I’ll be giving a talk at Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre on ‘Who’s Who of Bexley’.

Talk advert

Of course I will be including some of the names from Blackfen who have been in Who’s Who.

Sir Vesey George Mackenzie Holt
Sir Charles Martel
Lt-Gen. Sir Giffard Martel
Mike Rann

Sir Vesey Holt, KBE, banker, lived at Queenswood, Blackfen from 1868 and later lived at Mount Mascal in North Cray. There is also Brig.-Gen. Sir Charles Martel and his son Lt-Gen. Sir Giffard Martel who both lived at Queenswood, Blackfen from 1910. Mike Rann lived in Blackfen as a child but emigrated to New Zealand and was Ambassador of Australia to the UK 2012-14. Audrey Slaughter lived in Blackfen as a child and became a writer and magazine editor. George Wallace, MP, later Lord Wallace of Coslany lived in Blackfen and it was his intervention that saved Queen Mary’s Hospital from closure in 1948. And Rev. David Silk who started his career in Blackfen went on to become Bishop of Ballarat in Australia.

To book a ticket and for more information about events at Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre, see http://www.bexley.gov.uk/archiveevents.