Parish of St Barnabas, Dulwich , Church of England

Until 1894 Dulwich Village was an outlying hamlet of the parish of Saint Giles, Camberwell. However, the chapel of Dulwich College, built in 1616 by Edward Alleyn as a Chapel of Ease to Saint Giles, had long since taken over responsibility for ministering to the village even though in name and law Saint Giles was the parish church.

But the college itself had, well before 1894, become unable to accommodate the growing size of the congregation. In 1891, therefore, under the direction of the Bishop of Rochester, within whose diocese Dulwich then lay, the Revd Howard Nixon was appointed Assistant Curate at Saint Giles and as such to be Curate-in-Charge of Dulwich Mission District, with a view to establishing it as a parish in its own right.

Following his appointment the Revd Nixon very soon called a meeting of the inhabitants, to be held on 13 May 1891, and at this it was decided to build a temporary iron church on a site offered by the Estates Governors and to appoint a Building Committee for the building of a permanent one. The first service at the temporary church took place on 5 September 1891. The service was attended by an Archdeacon as representative of the Bishop of Rochester. Henceforward Dulwich Village was ordered on a quasi-parochial basis, with the appointment of church officials and the holding of vestry meetings. The Revd Nixon came to be styled the Vicar-Designate. On 1 January, 1892 the church took over from the college chapel responsibility for various religious and benevolent activities carried on in the hamlet, known as the Dulwich Local Charities and including the Infants' School.

The permanent church was built on another site given by the Estates Governors, and consecrated on Saint Barnabas' Day, 11 June 1894. On 23 August 1894 the church was officially assigned a District Chapelry, but it clearly functioned as a fully developed parish. This status was officially acquired, and the Incumbent, the Revd Nixon, became officially a Vicar, in 1915 when the Revd F F Kelly vacated the benefice of St Giles, Camberwell, which he had held since 1880.

As various memorials attest, the parish of Saint Barnabas is a monument to the work of the Revd (from 1923 Canon) Nixon. His commitment, and that which he inspired in his parishioners, enabled the Church, an Institute, a Vicarage, and a Parish Hall to be built, largely from public donations. The villagers also contributed personal assistance, for example a woodwork group contributed furnishings to the church and a Ladies Needlework Guild made items to be sold to raise funds.