The Church of the Ascension, West Ham, or Church of the Ascension, Victoria Docks, is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church on Baxter Road in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

, east London. It was first built in 1887 as a mission hall for St Luke's Church, later put under the charge of the Felsted School Mission, which prior to that had been working in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

. Between 1903 and 1907 a new church was built, with a separate parish split from St Luke's in 1905. The new parish opened a mission house for women workers in 1909. From about 1924 writer Mabel Knowles led the St Luke's Mission Church in London's Victoria Docks. Knowles wrote more than 300 books during her life. She continued for leading the mission for 25 years, dying while preparing a mission service for women on 29 November 1949. During the Second World War clergy from the Church of the Ascension also served Sandon parish near

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, since its rector Eric Leicester Andrews had been captured by the Japanese during the

fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

in 1942. In 1961 the Church of the Ascension took on the area covered by the parish of

St Matthew's Church, Custom House St Matthew's Church, Custom House, was a Church of England church on Ethel Road in the Victoria Docks area of West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. ...

, which had been closed and deconsecrated the previous year.

References

1887 establishments in England Ascension {{London-church-stub