St Matthew's, Bethnal Green, is an 18th-century

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is an

Anglican 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 th ...

church in the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

History of the building

The church was built 1743–46, to a Classical design by

George Dance the Elder George Dance the Elder (1695 – 8 February 1768) was a British architect. He was the City of London surveyor and architect from 1735 until his death. Life Originally a mason, George Dance was appointed Clerk of the city works to the City of ...

. There is a tower, to the centre of the west end, rising above a pedimented, slightly advanced central section. Dance's design was not the first:

Nicholas 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 ...

had produced a plan for the 1711

Commission for Building Fifty New Churches The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building fifty new church ...

, but, like most of the ambitious target, it failed to come to fruition. A fire in 1859 destroyed the interior of the church, although the registers and the church plate were saved. It was rebuilt (including a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

being added to the tower) in 1861 to a design by

Thomas Knightley Thomas Edward Knightley (1824–1905) was a British architect responsible for designing the Queen's Hall and St Paul's Church, Isle of Dogs in London. Knightley was sometimes considered eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Ecc ...

. The roof and interior were destroyed by enemy action in 1940. A temporary church was created within the shell in 1954 by A Wontner Smith and Harold Jones. The old church was rebuilt from 1958 to 1961 (without the side galleries) by Anthony Lewis of Michael Tapper & Lewis, with what the list entry describes as a 'bold post-war interior'. That post-war interior includes works by a roll-call of eminent 20th-century ecclesiastical artists: an upper-level

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

at the east end with panelling carrying the apostles by

Peter Snow Peter John Snow (born 20 April 1938) is a British radio and television presenter and historian. Between 1969 and 2005, he was an analyst of general election results, first on ITV and later for the BBC. He presented ''Newsnight'' from its laun ...

; a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

depicting the war between Heaven and Hell and St Michael and the angels doing battle with the devil by Kim James; wall paintings by Barry Robinson; sand-blasted glass doors by Heather Child; sculptured panels on the altar by Robert Dawson; a vesica-shaped marble font by Anthony Lewis; and fired ceramic

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

by Donald Potter. The church was reconsecrated by

Henry Montgomery Campbell Henry Colville Montgomery Campbell (11 October 1887 – 26 December 1970) was a Church of England bishop. He was ordained in 1910 and served as vicar or rector in a number of London parishes before being consecrated as a bishop in 1940, ...

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 ...

, in 1961. The earliest organ of which the

National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

has details was an instrument which was installed in 1772 from a church in Newbury and rebuilt by Byfield and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

. That organ was destroyed in the 1859 fire. It was replaced by a Henry Jones organ dating from 1861. The Jones organ was destroyed in the war-time bombing. Services were held in the ruins, and an Estey reed organ was played.

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 ...

installed and slightly modified an 1877

Eustace Ingram Eustace Ingram (6 August 1839 – 10 December 1924) was a British organ builder based in London.Organa Britannica. Organs in Great Britain 1660 - 1860. James Boeringer. Bucknell University Press. 1989. Early life and work He was born in 1839 an ...

organ in the temporary church in 1954. The National Pipe Organ Register states that this organ came from the Bethnal Green Lutheran Church, but Maxim states that it was from the former church of St Matthias, Bethnal Green, and refers to the evidence of plaques on the organ. Mander then reinstalled the Ingram organ in the rebuilt church in 1961. The church has a ring of eight bells, all cast in 1861 (after the 1859 fire) by George Mears of the

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 ...

. The church itself is Grade II* listed; it is the Classical exterior that is the primary reason for the high level of listing. The railings, wall and gate piers to the churchyard are separately listed Grade II, as is the parish watch house, which dates from 1826.

History of the parish

Until the time of Joseph King (Rector, 1809–61), the Rectors held the advowson in plurality and in absence: there is no record of William Loxham, Rector for 43 years, of ever having even visited the parish. Day-to-day pastoral work was left to poorly-paid curates. It was King who sought, initially with some success but ultimately unsuccessfully, to counter the corrupt regime of the churchwarden

Joseph Merceron Joseph Merceron (1764–1839) was a British businessman, property developer, parochial politician and magistrate notorious for his corrupt practices. Early life and family Joseph Merceron was born and raised in Brick Lane, Bethnal Green in the E ...

. In 1823 King moved to a wealthier and less populous parish which he had inherited in 1821. Septimus Hansard (Rector, 1864–95) was a

Christian Socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

and a friend of

F. D. Maurice John Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War, interest in Maurice has expanded."Fre ...

; he and

Edward Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement. Early years ...

were active in assisting cholera victims in 1866. Hansard introduced a daily

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

and reservation of the sacrament. It was during Hansard's incumbency that St Matthew's had its most notable curate: the Christian Socialist

Stewart Headlam Stewart Duckworth Headlam (1847–1924) was an English Anglican priest who was involved in frequent controversy in the final decades of the nineteenth century. Headlam was a pioneer and publicist of Christian socialism, on which he wrote a pamphl ...

(Curate, 1873–78) who established the

Guild of St Matthew The Guild of St Matthew was an English high-church Christian socialist association led by Stewart Headlam from its establishment in Bethnal Green on 29 June 1877 when Headlam was Curate at St Matthew's to its dissolution in 1909. While the guild ...

in the parish in 1877. Headlam's socialist views were so extreme that he was never offered an incumbency, and, for 14 years, was even refused a licence to officiate. Hansard's successor was

Arthur Winnington-Ingram Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939. Early life and career He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Ch ...

(Rector, 1895–97) who had been head of the

Oxford House The term Oxford House refers to any house operating under the "Oxford House Model", a community-based approach to addiction recovery, which provides an independent, supportive, and sober living environment. Today there are nearly 3,000 Oxford House ...

settlement since 1888. The funerals of the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...

were both held at St Matthew's.

Churchyard

The churchyard closed to burials in the 1850s. The 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 ...

, for 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 in 1896. Wilkinson removed all but two of the tombs, one of which is Merceron's.

Rectors

*1743-48 John Brookbank *1748-66 Edward Davenport *1766-1809 William Loxham *1809-61 Joshua King *1861-64 Timothy Gibson *1864-95 Septimus Cox Holmes Hansard. *1895-97

Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939. Early life and career He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Ch ...

. Winnington-Ingram was subsequently

. *? *War-time? Fr Francis *1949-? Alfred Arthur Gorbold *1958-68 Charles Geoffrey How *1968-74 Cyril Ashton Rowe *1974-79

Kenneth Leech Kenneth Leech (15 June 1939 – 12 September 2015), also known as Ken Leech, was an English Anglican priest and Christian socialist in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Life and career Leech was born into a secular working-class family in Ashton-und ...

*1981-96 Christopher John Charles Bedford *1997-99 David Thomas Peebles *2000-18 Kevin John Scully *2019–present Erin Marie Clark

References

External links

* {{Churches in Tower Hamlets

18th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II* listed churches in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Diocese of London Bethnal Green