IT’S 60 years since the foundation stone for St Martin’s Church in Basildon was laid.

The VIP ceremony to mark the first chapter in the church’s physical history took place on October 15, 1960 in Pagel Mead (what we know today as St Martin’s Square) and was led by the Chairman of Basildon Development Corporation, Sir Humfrey Gale.

It would be another two years after that before the finished St Martin’s of Tours Church would be ready to welcome in worshippers.

Today the church is an integral part of the town.

Te place where remembrance and other annual services are held and where community groups gather, but building the place of worship was something of a holy headache back in the day.

Letters and plans held at the Essex Records Office in Chelmsford reveal the toing and froing between the Basildon Development Corporation (BDC) and the church authorities over the scheme.

They bickered about a number of issues- from the aesthetic design of the church to who was going to foot the bill when the costs began to spiral.

The church was designed by Billericay architect Trena Cotton and her husband Kenneth Cotton, who was also a Basildon council architect.

The early design of the church did not please everyone, especially church leaders, as one letter held at the ERO shows.

In 1954 chief architect of the Basildon Development Corporation, Noel Tweddell, wrote to Mr Cotton citing problems with the design of the belltower that had been raised by church leaders.

It is clear from his letter that still no firm site for the church building had been decided upon at this time.

“It is most unlikely that a firm site can be established for the town centre church until late September or early October of this year,” he wrote.

“As the church authorities have taken exemption to the design of the bell tower you should send them some preliminary ideas for alternative.

After all you may wish to redesign the building entirely when the site is finally agreed.

The louves (slats fitted to belltowers) on your first design struck me as being a little over powering and it might be that a minor reBy EMMA PALMER emma.palmer@newsquest.co.uk finement in this detail might be all that is required.”

The church was originally set to cost £40,000 and was to be paid for by church authorities.

But by 1959 the cost had soared to £50,000 - and this did not even include the belltower, something the corporation was vehemently in favour of.

General manager of the Basildon Development Corporation Charles Boniface seemed to think the lack of a belltower was a deal-breaker.

In a letter to a colleague about the ongoing church saga in 1959 he writes: “The church have recently agreed to increase the figure to £50,000 but now say thy cannot pay anything more and have suggested to the Corporation that they must leave out the belltower, for a few years at least.

“The corporation are dismayed at this decision because they regard the tower as an integral part of the design of the church and without it the church- which is to be the most important one in the town -will look very poor indeed”

At the time the Basildon Development Corporation was in no position to pay for the tower itself but Mr Boniface personally wrote to the seven largest companies in Basildon, asking if they could donate £1,000 to the belltower project.

He did not get a positive response and so the belltower was indeed put on hold.

In 1968 the church unveiled a new south porch and a 10ft high Christ sculpture designed by Chelmsford based artist T. B.

Huxley-Jones, famed for his statue of Helios at BBC Television Centre and the Joy of Life Fountain in Hyde Park.

But even the statue had caused its fair share of stress.

Letters show there was some delay in approving planning permission for the sculpture.

In November 1967 Mr Boniface received a letter urging the Basildon Development Corporation to approve plans as soon as possible.

Not only did Mr Huxley-Jones need to spend three months in the USA the following year and was eager to get started on the project, but the porch and sculpture needed to be installed by September 1968 or the grant to pay for the scheme would be forfeit.

It appears the Basildon Development Corporation did as they were asked.

Although it would take some time St Martin’s eventually did get its belltower in 1999- and an iconic one at that.

It is said to be the world’s first and only freestanding glass belltower.