One thousand years of history: a church has stood on the site of Croydon Minster since at least the year AD 810 and the Anglo-Saxon era

UPDATE 5pm 17 SEPTEMBER: This guided tour is now FULLY BOOKED

Croydon Minster has been at the heart of the life of the town for more than a thousand years.

Heritage venue: our special iC tour offers you the chance to discover more about the history on your doorstep

And on Tuesday October 7, you will have a chance to discover a myriad of fascinating details of the connections between the parish church and the Archbishops of Canterbury over 12 centuries with a special, expert guided tour arranged exclusively for readers of the website.

Places on previous tours have been in high demand, so you are advised to book promptly. Inside Croydon subscribers receive priority booking for the tour.

David Morgan is the Minster’s official archivist, as well as the resident historian at Inside Croydon.

He has been delighting our readers with the many finely researched and detailed articles about the town, its people and the lives they have led in and around what used to be called the Parish Church.

Golden history: this coin provides a link to Croydon going back more than a thousand years

It was David’s work on the very beginnings of the church in Croydon that discovered that the town is probably at least 150 years older than anyone had previously thought, with its foundations going back to around 810 and the Anglo-Saxons.

Come along to hear about the various monuments that survived the “Great Fire of Croydon” the Victorian period and learn more about the role the church played in keeping Croydon safe from the fire bombs of the Luftwaffe in World War II, and a host of other fascinating stories.

There are two possible start times for the evening. Arrive just before 5.30pm to be delighted by the choral beauty of the singing of the Minster’s world-famous choir at that night’s Evensong.

Or arrive by 6.10pm for the tour of the Minster, due to start at 6.15pm. The tour should last around 45 minutes.

We are asking for donations of £8 per person for the tour.

All proceeds will go towards the upkeep of the Minster, an ancient piece of Croydon heritage.

• Places are very limited
• BOOK NOW: visit our Eventbrite page by clicking here

Some articles from our David Morgan history archive:

• Tudor vicar who stood with Thomas More against Henry VIII
• The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history

• David Morgan, pictured above right, is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster,

To read all his previous articles on the history of Croydon Minster and the people connected with it, click here

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