Stepney Churches: an historical account (Gordon Barnes 1967)
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Gordon Barnes (1915-1985) was born near Harrow and lived and worked in London until his retirement in Worcestershire. By 1965 he was one of the foremost authorities on Victorian churches in London. He was a first rate photographer, using large format photographic equipment to record churches and their fixtures and fittings to a professional standard. He was a member of the Ecclesiological Society, and its Chairman from 1964 to 1965, and also became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1983.
His 1967 Stepney Churches: an historical account is a valuable account of the Anglican presence in the East End of London. More content to follow. Images taken from Gordon Barnes' Stepney Churches: an historical account |
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE CHURCHES OF STEPNEY WITH YEAR OF CONSECRATION
CHURCH |
LOCATION |
CONSECRATED |
NOTE |
St Dunstans & All Saints |
Stepney Green |
13th & 15C |
The mediæval parish church of Stepney. Still standing and still functioning. Liberal anglo-catholic. It's website. |
Holy Trinity |
Minories |
14thC |
Converted from the chapel of a nunnery, Holy Trinity was in use as a church from the 16thC until the end of the 19thC. It survived as a parish hall until it was destroyed by bombing during World War II. Wiki entry. Image below. |
St Mary Matfelon |
Whitechapel |
13thC & 1877 |
Last rebuilt in the 19th century, firebombed during the Blitz, leading to its demolition in 1952. Its nave's stone footprint forms the basis of Altab Ali Park. |
St John at Wapping |
Wapping |
1617 & 1760 |
Built as a Chapel of Ease in 1615-17. The present remains date from 1756. Bombed during World War II. The tower remains. The tower was restored in 1964 by the London County Council and the remainder converted into flats in the 1990s. Wiki entry. Image below. |
St Paul |
Shadwell |
1670 & 1820 |
Built 1656. Originally known as the Church of Sea Captains (it is believed that 75 sea captains are buried here). Rebuilt in 1669 as the Parish Church of Shadwell. Then demolished in 1817 and the present building, a Waterloo church designed by John Walters, was erected in 1821. It became a 'church plant' in 2005 when a team from Holy Trinity Brompton was invited "to Shadwell to minister with the existing members of St. Paul's in serving the local area". Being an HTB Plant St Paul's now stands in the charismatic and evangelical Anglican tradition. Parish web. |
Christ Church |
Spitalfields |
1729 |
Built between 1714-1729 (Nicholas Hawksmoor). By 1960 derelict and unsafe. A local group staved off the threat of wholesale demolition of the empty building—proposed by the then Bishop of Stepney—and ensured that the roof was rebuilt with funds from the sale of the bombed out shell of St John's, Smith Square, now a concert hall. Christ Church part of the charismatic and evangelical Holy Trinity Brompton network. Parish web. |
St George in the East |
Cannon Street Road |
1729 |
Built between 1714 to 1729. Hit by a Second World War bomb in May 1941. The original interior was destroyed by the fire, but the walls and distinctive "pepper-pot" towers stayed up. In 1964 a modern church interior was constructed inside the existing walls. Liberal anglo-catholic. Parish website. |
St Anne |
Limehouse |
1730 |
To be added |
St Philip |
Newark Street |
1823 & 1892 |
The St Augustine with St Philip's Church is a Grade II* listed former Victorian church in Whitechapel, subsequently converted for use as a medical library for Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and known as the Whitechapel Library. Built in 1888–1892, located behind The London Hospital. It is on the site of an earlier chapel built in 1818-1821 dedicated to St Philip. After the Second World War it was combined with the parish of St Augustine's, Stepney, and made redundant in 1979. It was converted into a medical library in 1985-1988. The former London Hospital Museum was located in the crypt of St Philip's Church between c2000 and 2020. There are eight medically themed stained-glass windows designed by Johannes Schreiter. These represent the London Hospital, Gastroenterology, AIDS/HIV, Ethics, Medical Diagnosis, the Influenza Pandemic, Molecular Biology and the 'Elephant Man'. |
St James |
Ratcliff |
1838 |
Butcher Row, Ratcliff, built 1838; damaged in WW2. The Royal Foundation of St. Katherine moved to the site from Regent's Park, 1952, 1951 parish united to St. Paul, Shadwell. |
St Peter |
Cephas Street |
1838 |
To be added |
St Thomas |
Arbour Square |
1838 |
To be added |
Holy Trinity |
Tredegar Square |
1839 |
Built in 1835-9 as a proprietary chapel. The elaborate pinnacles to the octagonal buttresses and the tall pinnacles to the porches were removed in the 20thC. The church was damaged in WWII. The church became redundant in the late 1960s Artlcle with images by The Gentle Author. Now run as an arts centre. |
St Mark |
Goodman Fields |
1839 |
To be added |
All Saints |
Buxton Street |
1839 |
To be added |
Christ Church |
Watney Market |
1841 |
See image, below. |
St Mary (Wheler Chapel 1670) |
Spital Square |
1842 |
To be added |
St Paul |
Dock Street |
1847 |
To be added |
St Jude |
Whitechapel |
1848 |
To be added |
St Mary |
Cable Street |
1850 |
To be added |
St John the Evangelist |
Halley Street |
1853 |
To be added |
St Paul |
Bow Common |
1858 & 1960 |
Built in 1858 and largely destroyed in the WW2 and demolished in the 1950s. A new church was built in 1958–60. Its architects were Robert Maguire and Keith Murray. Fr Gresham Kirkby, a Christian anarchist, was the architects' engaged client, championing the Liturgical Movement principles and continuing as parish priest until 1994. St Paul's is one of the clearest and earliest centralised churches from this movement. “It is rated one of the best post-war buildings in Britain". In 2013 the church won the National Churches Trust Diamond Jubilee Award for best Modern Church built in the UK since 1953. The building was described by the judges as the ‘embodiment of the groundswell of ideas about Christian worship’ and a ‘hugely influential signpost for future Anglican liturgy’. Parish website. |
St Matthew |
Pell Street |
1859 |
To be added |
St Stephen |
Commercial Street |
1861 |
To be added |
St Peter |
London Dock |
1866 |
To be added |
St John the Evangelist |
Grove Street |
1869 |
To be added |
St Luke |
Burdett Road |
1869 |
To be added |
St Matthew |
Commercial Road |
1871 |
To be added |
St Benet |
Mile End Road |
1872 |
See image below. Bombed 1940. Replaced by St Benet's Chapel, Queen Mary College, University of London. |
St Olave |
Hanbury Street |
1875 |
To be added |
Christ Church |
Jamaica Street |
1877 |
To be added |
St Anthony |
Globe Road |
1879 |
The Parish of St Anthony was united with St Simon Zelotes, Bethnal Green in 1936 and the church was demolished |
St Augustine |
Settles Street |
1879 |
To be added |
St Faith |
Shandy Street |
1891 |
Originally a chapel of ease to St Dunstan, it became a parish in 1926. It was opened in 1898. The church was destroyed by bombing in 1940 and never rebuilt. |
The above table is taken from Gordon Barnes' 1967 book: he notes "A total of 34 churches of which only 12 remain". Today, even fewer remain. For some reason, All Saints' Poplar is not included.
