St Dunstan's, Stepney, is an

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

which stands on a site that has been used for

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

History

In about AD 952,

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...

, the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

— who was also

Lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

— replaced the existing wooden structure with a stone church dedicated to All the Saints. In 1029, when

was canonised, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints, a dedication it has retained. Like many subsequent Bishops, Dunstan may have lived in the Manor of Stepney. The church is known as "The Mother Church of the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

" as the parish covered most of what would become inner

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, before population growth led to the creation of a large number of daughter parishes. This fission started in the fourteenth century or before. Some of the earliest other churches built in the parish were

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

and Bow; the former became an independent parish at an early date, while the latter was long a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

. The existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone mainly in the fifteenth century (although the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

dates from 200 years earlier). A porch and octagonal parish room were added in 1872 by Arthur Shean Newman and Arthur Billing. The church was restored extensively in 1899 by Cutts and Cutts, at a cost of £5,600. The vestries and some of the main building were destroyed by fire on 12 October 1901, including the organ which had carvings by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and othe ...

. The restoration (again by Cutts and Cutts) cost £7,084,The Morris Family of Philadelphia.'' Robert C. Moon. Vol. 4. pp. 17–23 and the church was re-opened in June 1902 by the

Bishop of Stepney The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of ...

(at that time Cosmo Gordon Lang). There was war-time damage, which was restored by Cyril Wontner-Smith. The church is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Bells

The ring of ten bells, the heaviest weighing 28¾

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...

, which hang in the belfry, were cast at the local

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells a ...

and are tuned to C#. The seven oldest bells were cast by Thomas Mears and Son, Whitechapel, in 1806. The bells were re-hung in 1899. Three were recast in 1952 when repairs were made to the tower. The bells are mentioned in the nursery rhyme ''

Oranges and Lemons "Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. The earlies ...

'': "When will that be, say the bells of Stepney."

Interior

A fine triple

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

(priests' stone seating) is found in the

. The

rood A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion ...

is late

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

. Of note amongst the plate is a cup and

paten A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Western liturgical denominations, the p ...

dated 1559 and a

beadle A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official of a church or synagogue who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties on the ...

's staff and

verger A verger (or virger, so called after the staff of the office, or wandsman (British)) is a person, usually a layperson, who assists in the ordering of religious services, particularly in Anglican churches. Etymology The title of ''verger'' ...

's wand of 1752. The organ was installed in 1971 by

Noel Mander Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...

Mander Organs Mander Organs Limited formerly N.P Mander Limited was an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher based in London. Although well known for many years in the organ building industry, they achieved wider notability in 2004 with the refurbishment ...

. It is an 1872

Father Willis Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in busin ...

instrument built for St Augustine's,

Haggerston Haggerston is a locale in East London, England, centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street (now renamed Queensbridge Road). It is within the London Borough of Hackney and is considered to be a part of London's East End. It is about 3.1 mi ...

, and rebuilt by R. Spurden Rutt & Co in 1926. It replaced a 1903

Norman and Beard Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916. History The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he we ...

organ, which is now located at St Edmund the King, Northwood Hills. In turn, that organ replaced the one destroyed in the 1901 fire, which was from 1678 and built by

Renatus Harris Renatus Harris (c. 1652 - 1724) was an English master organ maker in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. During the period of the Commonwealth, in the mid-seventeenth century, Puritans controlled the country and o ...

, and had been rebuilt by

Lewis & Co Lewis and Company was a firm of organ builders founded by Thomas Christopher Lewis (1833–1915), one of the leading organ builders of late 19th Century Britain. Born in London in 1833, the son of Thomas Archdeacon Lewis (1780–1862), a secret ...

in 1900.

Churchyard

The church is surrounded by a churchyard of nearly seven acres (28,000 m²). In 1658

William Greenhill William Greenhill (1591–1671) was an English nonconformist clergyman, independent minister, and member of the Westminster Assembly. Life He was born probably in Oxfordshire. At the age of thirteen he matriculated at the University of Oxford on ...

was appointed vicar whilst retaining his position as a preacher at Stepney Meeting House. He held this post for about seven years, till he was ejected immediately after the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

in 1660. Shortly after this, the churchyard was enlarged to cope with the massive number of deaths during the

Great Plague of London The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that origi ...

. In one eighteen-month period 6,583 died, with 154 being buried in one day in September 1665. The church has a long, traditional link with the sea and many sailors were buried here. It was once known as the 'Church of the High Seas'. The graveyard is also where

Roger Crab Roger Crab (1621 – 11 September 1680)Bowlt 2007, p. 101–102 was an English soldier, haberdasher, herbal doctor and writer who is best known for his ascetic lifestyle which included Christian vegetarianism. Crab fought in the Parliamentary ...

, the 17th-century hermit who lived on a diet solely of herbs, roots, leaves, grass and water, is buried. The churchyard closed to burials in 1854. Between 1885 and 1887 high ground around the church was dug away, and the

Metropolitan Public Gardens Association The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association (also known as the MPGA) is a charity in London for the purposes of the preservation of public parks and gardens, established in 1882. It facilitated the creation of new public open spaces, including f ...

converted it to a public garden, designed by the MPGA's landscape gardener

Fanny Wilkinson Fanny Wilkinson (1855–1951) was a British landscape designer. She was the first professional female landscape designer in Britain, and responsible for the design and the layout of more than 75 public gardens across London in the late 19th centu ...

. The MPGA bore the cost of conversion at £3,000. The garden was opened by the Duchess of Leeds in 1887. The railings, piers and gates to the churchyard are Grade II listed; the war memorial in the churchyard is also separately Grade II listed.

Current activities

The church continues to be open to visitors and worshippers from all over the world. There is an active congregation who help to continue the life of the church community. As well as the Arbour Centre (a St Dunstan's community project), there is a close connection with two schools: Stepney Greencoat Church of England Primary School and Stepney All Saints School. St Dunstan's also employs
Children and Community Worker
funded by th
Bishop of London's Mission Fund.

References

External links

St Dunstan and All Saints', Stepney

The Arbour

Sir John Cass and Redcoat Church of England Secondary School

Stepney Greencoat Church of England Primary School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Dunstan's, Stepney

Diocese of London Grade I listed churches in London Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Stepney