This film was made by the Halifax Cine Club, who had been making 16 mm films from as far back as 1929. Their films were usually collaborative efforts, often to a commission, as in this case. One of those involved in the production of this film, Ron Normanton, can be seen climbing onto a roof with his camera.  The YFA has a large collection of their films through to the late 1980s, with some others also on YFA Online, such as The Pace Egg (1961) – see also the Context for this film. In...

This film was made by the Halifax Cine Club, who had been making 16 mm films from as far back as 1929. Their films were usually collaborative efforts, often to a commission, as in this case. One of those involved in the production of this film, Ron Normanton, can be seen climbing onto a roof with his camera.  The YFA has a large collection of their films through to the late 1980s, with some others also on YFA Online, such as The Pace Egg (1961) – see also the Context for this film.

In December 1947 the first groups of Serbs settled in Yorkshire in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Halifax and Huddersfield. They had to accept a three-year agreement with the government to work in coal mining, textiles and agriculture, before they could settle permanently and seek other kinds of work.  The Serbian community decided in 1952 to purchase a church, and so it was that the following year the former Mount Carmel Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, in a somewhat dilapidated state, was acquired and renovated.   The Church is on the corner of Simpson Street and Claremount Road, Boothtown, Halifax, and was initially built by the Primitive Methodists in 1865, ceasing to be Methodist in 1951.

As the film shows, it was consecrated as a Christian Orthodox Church in 1954.  The Church moved to another Methodist Church, purchased in 1965, and later took up the name of the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist with the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity moving to another former Methodist Church in Bradford. This too was acquired and restored, and eventually consecrated in 1978. 

The Serbian community has developed and its second and third generations have integrated into British life whilst retaining their own culture and traditions. The Serbian Council of Great Britain estimates that over 70,000 Serbs, or people of Serbian origin, live in Britain today.

The Serbian Orthodox Church is part of the wider Eastern Orthodox Church, which is made up of a number of self-governing national Churches. The Serbian Church is one of those that has its own head (autocephalous); in this case a Patriarch. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian communion, after Roman Catholicism. The roots of the Eastern Orthodox Church lie in Constantinople, and its spread is largely due to the Byzantium and Ottoman Empires. The word 'Orthodox' comes from the Greek words orthos ('right') and doxa ('belief'): hence meaning correct belief or right thinking. The split with the West (Rome) is known as the Great Schism, which came to a head in 1054.

Serbia has had a very convoluted and troubled history; but a very brief summary of this will help provide a context for why many Serbians settled in Britain.  The Serbian people have a long history, but an independent Serbian State only dates from the 12th century. The introduction of Eastern Christianity via the Slavs encouraged the Serbians to try to emulate the example of the Byzantium Empire, fusing church and state.  The independent Serbian State that emerged lasted for 200 years until the Turks conquered it in 1371 and absorbed it into the Ottoman Empire.  Here it was to remain until the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878, which allowed Serbia to become independent again in 1878. The continual struggle against domination built up a strong sense of national identity, with religion a major part of this, especially as Christian leaders, the knez, were often resistance leaders. 

After World War One, Serbia joined with Croats and Slovenes to form a single nation, although conflict with the Croats led to the dictatorship of King Alexander and the change of name to Yugoslavia in 1929. The period between the wars was very difficult, involving a large scale expulsion of Muslims. In 1934 King Alexander was assassinated and replaced by a regency, headed by Prince Paul, the uncle of Peter II, the heir to the throne (who at the time was only 11). The invasion by Germany in April 1941 led to the King fleeing to Athens, and ending up in England in June. 

The response to the occupation was to divide Serbians into three groupings: those supporting the puppet regime of General Milan Nedic; those supporting the Royalist resistance, the Chetnik; and those supporting the communist Partisans. With the support of the Soviet Red Army it was the latter that were to emerge victorious after the war to rule a new Yugoslavia, a federation of six republics with Serbia as one. Although the Yugoslavian leader Tito tried to steer a course away from the Soviet bloc, the Monarchy was still abolished and those who supported it became outsiders. This is the situation that led many Serbians to settle abroad.

King Peter II, seen in the film, was the last king of Yugoslavia.  He was educated in England and had King George VI and Queeen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) as godparents.   The allies, however, gave their support to the Partisans at the end of the war, as opposed to the government in exile, based in London. King Peter II later moved to live in the US where he died and was buried in 1970. The Serbian Royal Family continues to claim their legitimacy.

References
Sima M. Cirkovic, The Serbs, trans. Vuk Tošic, Blackwell, Oxford, 2004. 

Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church, 2nd ed., Penguin, London, 1993.

Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity: Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration 1954-2004 booklet.

The Serbian Council of Great Britain

The Serbian Royal Family website

Serbian Orthodox Church in Halifax

The Serbian Community in the North of England