George Menzies Lambrick was born at Plymouth in 1860, the elder son of General George Lambrick of the Royal Marines and Matilda Anne Elizabeth Menzies, herself the daughter of a General. He was educated at Repton and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1879, taking his B.A. in 1882 and later his M.A. in 1885. Ordained deacon in 1883 and priest in 1884, he served an unusually long curacy at St Philip’s, Stepney, remaining there until 1894.
During his time in Stepney he experienced at first hand the extreme poverty of the East End. The vicar, Sidney Vatcher, and his wife were closely involved in schemes of mass emigration to the colonies and in charitable work such as the Children’s Dinner Table, which provided free hot meals several times a week. Vatcher also presented a new church to the parish at considerable cost, and Lambrick would have been deeply engaged in these pastoral and social activities.
In 1890 Lambrick married Maria Louisa Newnham of Blagdon Court at St Andrew’s Church, Blagdon, an event marked by much celebration in the village. His younger brother, Charles Menzies Lambrick, also entered the Church after education at Winchester and Cambridge, eventually becoming vicar of Holwell with Westwell in 1925.
In 1894 George Menzies Lambrick was appointed mission curate to Charterhouse on Mendip. This was an unusual appointment, as Charterhouse was not a parish in its own right but formed the western extremity of the parish of Witham Friary, some twenty miles away. Lambrick and his wife lived at nearby Cheddar, and services for the scattered community of about ninety people were held in Charterhouse Schoolroom. A little later he also conducted services in the Anglican chapel of the newly founded tuberculosis sanatorium at Nordrach.
In the early years of the twentieth century negotiations advanced towards securing a permanent place of worship at Charterhouse. These were concluded in 1908, the same year that Lambrick was appointed to the living of Blagdon, in the patronage of Lord Winterstoke, while retaining his responsibility for Charterhouse. In Blagdon he had the assistance of a curate, and in 1913 the two areas were united as the parish of Blagdon with Charterhouse-on-Mendip.
The number of services held each week under Lambrick’s care was remarkable by modern standards. By 1918 there were usually eight services every Sunday between St Andrew’s, Blagdon, St Hugh’s, Charterhouse, and the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at Nordrach Sanatorium, with a further ten services on weekdays. At festival times the total increased still further.
The construction of St Hugh’s Church at Charterhouse was undertaken at the same time as the rebuilding of most of St Andrew’s, Blagdon, and both were dedicated in 1909. St Hugh’s, however, took much longer to complete, and final completion was not achieved until 1926. Lambrick recorded in his parish magazine that it had taken eighteen years to finish, quoting a remark placed in the preachers’ book by Dr Hicks, Bishop of Lincoln: “Big St Hugh is very proud of little St Hugh.”
St Hugh’s Church stands as a lasting testament to Lambrick’s affection for the people of Charterhouse and his determination to provide them with a proper place of worship. His collaboration with the architect W. D. Caröe produced a small Arts and Crafts church of exceptional quality, and his long ministry linked the mining community of the Mendips with the wider parish life of Blagdon.
