St George-in-the-East 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 ...

dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and one of six

Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

churches in London, England. It was built from 1714 to 1729, with funding from the 1711 Act of Parliament. Its name has been used for two forms of

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

(areas of land) surrounding, one ecclesiastical which remains and one a

Civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

counterpart, a third tier of local government. The latter assisted public facilities in the late 19th century but ceded its dwindling purposes to the

Metropolitan Borough of Stepney The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formation and boundaries The borough was formed from thirteen civil parishes ...

so was abolished in 1927. The church was designated a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

in 1950. In the 1850s,

Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was bor ...

, then

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 ...

, appointed a Low Church lecturer, which was contrary to the High Church attitude of the rector and curate. As a protest, there were catcalls and horn blowing, and some male members of the congregation went into the church smoking their pipes, keeping their hats on, and leading barking dogs. Refuse was thrown onto the altar. The church was closed for a while in 1859, and the rector, owing to his poor health, was persuaded by the author Tom Hughes to hand over his duties to a locum. The church was hit by a bomb during the Second World War

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

on London's docklands 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, and a new flat built under each corner tower.

Ian Nairn Ian Douglas Nairn (24 August 1930 – 14 August 1983) was a British architectural critic who coined the word "Subtopia" to indicate drab suburbs that look identical through unimaginative town-planning. He published two strongly personalised criti ...

wrote of it in his 1966 guide to London: “A ruin among ruins, in the lost part of Stepney fter the Blitz, and before being blitzed by the Borough Council? ... The old life has gone ... the new has not yet come ... It makes no difference to Hawksmoor’s bizarre poetry. This is probably the hardest building to describe in London ... This is a stage somewhere beyond fantasy ... it is the more-than-real world of the drug addict’s dream.”Ian Nairn,

Nairn's London ''Nairn's London'' is a 1966 book about the architecture of London. It is authored by British writer Ian Nairn and this is the work for which he is the best known. Architecture critic Jonathan Meades has praised the work as an "imperious mongre ...

(Harmondsworth, Middlesex.: Penguin, 1966), pp.161-2 The church still has an active congregation. In May 2015, the parish entered into a partnership with the Centre for Theology and Community (CTC), an ecumenical charity which is based in its East Crypt. Anglican clergy working for CTC now serve the parish, and the second floor is the home to the Community of St George, a group of lay Christians who assist in the worship and mission of the church. St George-in-the-East is located on Cannon Street Road, between

The Highway A highway is a long road giving a relatively fast connection between two places. Highway may also refer to: Roads in England * The Highway (London) (previously Ratcliff Highway), a road in the East End of London * The Highway, a road in Br ...

and

Cable Street Cable Street is a road in the East End of London, England, with several historic landmarks nearby. It was made famous by the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Location Cable Street starts near the edge of London's financial district, the City ...

, in the

East End of London 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 ...

. Behind the church lies St George's Gardens, the original graveyard, which was passed to Stepney Council to maintain as a public park in mid-Victorian times. In 1836, the parish of St George in the East was constituted as a

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

parish under the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...

. It appeared in the 1980 film ''

The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Set in London, the storyline weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, ...

'' starring

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...

. It also appeared in S02E01 of ''

Killing Eve ''Killing Eve'' is a British spy thriller television series, produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence investigator tasked with capturi ...

''.

Gallery

References

External links

Parish website

The Centre for Theology and Community

Parish history website

by the Rev. Harry Jones. Published by Smith, Elder & Co., 1875

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George in the East Churches completed in 1729 Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 18th-century Church of England church buildings Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Nicholas Hawksmoor buildings English Baroque church buildings Grade I listed churches in London Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets George in the East Georgian architecture in London Diocese of London 1729 establishments in England Shadwell

Gallery

See also

References

External links