St Stephen's Church, Gloucester Road, is a
Grade II* 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 ...
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 located on the corner of
Gloucester Road and Southwell Gardens in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London, England.
History
With the population of South Kensington expanding in the mid-Victorian period and the opening of
Gloucester Road tube station
Gloucester Road is a London Underground station in Kensington, west London. The station entrance is located close to the junction of Gloucester Road and Cromwell Road. Close by are the Cromwell Hospital and Baden-Powell House.
The station is ...
in 1865, the Rev.
John Sinclair, Vicar of Kensington and
Archdeacon of Middlesex
The Archdeacon of Middlesex is a senior cleric in the Church of England, co-responsible for the Archdeaconry of "Middlesex", which mirrors the "Kensington" episcopal area of the Diocese of London — the other person responsible being the Bish ...
, arranged for the purchase of land from the Alexander estate to establish several new churches, including St Stephen's.
[Saint Stephen's, Gloucester Road, ''Learn about our building'']
Retrieved 6 April 2022.[''Survey of London: Volume 42, Kensington Square To Earl's Court'']
ed. Hermione Hobhouse (London, 1986). Retrieved 6 April 2022.
A temporary iron church was erected on the east side of Gloucester Road in 1865 while designs were sought for a permanent building. St Stephen's was built in 1866–1867 to designs by the architect
Joseph Peacock, though construction ended before a tower could be added.
The new building was consecrated on 10 January 1867.
Although the first vicar, the Rev. J. A. Aston, was considered an Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
, his successors, the Rev. J. P. Waldo and the Rev. G. Sutton Flack, had steered the parish to a more High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
stance by the late nineteenth century. In 1887 the architect Hugh Roumieu Gough
Hugh Roumieu Gough FRIBA (1843–1904) was an English architect who practised mainly in the London area.
Family
Born in Islington, London, he was the son of the architect Alexander Dick Gough (who at the time was working in partnership with Rob ...
added a distinctive octagonal vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
and 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 ...
. Stained glass windows designed by Nathaniel Westlake
Nathaniel Hubert John Westlake FSA (1833–1921) was a 19th-century British artist specialising in stained glass.
Career
Nathaniel Westlake was born in Romsey in 1833. He began to design for the firm of Lavers & Barraud, Ecclesiastical Design ...
were installed in the 1890s. Further changes were introduced following the installation of the Rev. Lord Victor Seymour as vicar in 1900: the architects George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...
and Walter Tapper
Sir Walter John Tapper (21 April 1861 – 21 September 1935) was an English architect known for his work in the Gothic Revival style and a number of church buildings. He worked with some leading ecclesiastical architects of his day and was Presi ...
erected the reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
in gilded wood behind the high altar, as well as galleries for the choir and organ. Alterations continued to be made during the twentieth century, particularly in the 1930s.[
]
Present
St Stephen's offers a number of Sunday and weekday Masses, with music sung by a professional choir. The organ, built in 1905 by 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 wen ...
, was enlarged in 2001 by T. W. Fearn & Son.
As a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish which rejects the ordination of women
The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...
to the priesthood and as bishops, St Stephen's receives alternative episcopal oversight
A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...
from the Bishop of Fulham
The Bishop of Fulham is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London in the Church of England. The bishopric is named after Fulham, an area of south-west London; the see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council dated ...
, currently the Rt. Rev. Jonathan Baker. The parish is a member of Forward in Faith
Forward in Faith (FiF) is an organisation operating in the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. It represents a traditionalist strand of Anglo-Catholicism and is characterised by its opposition to the ordination of women to the pr ...
.
Notable connections
The church is noted for its connection with the poet T. S. Eliot. Following the traumatic breakdown of his marriage to Vivienne Haigh-Wood
Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, also spelt Vivien (28 May 1888 – 22 January 1947), was the first wife of American-British poet T. S. Eliot, whom she married in 1915, less than three months after their introduction by mutual friends, when Vivienne ...
, Eliot sought spiritual refuge at St Stephen's. Between 1933 and 1940 he lived in the church's vicarage
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically own ...
, first at 9 Grenville Place (1934–1937), then at 11 Emperor's Gate (1937–1940). St Stephen's played a prominent role in the development of his Christian faith
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global populat ...
as he explored the traditions and disciplines of Anglo-Catholic worship and devotional practices. For 25 years he served as a churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...
of St Stephen's, and a memorial to him was erected in the church after he died.Saint Stephen's, Gloucester Road, ''T. S. Eliot''
Retrieved 6 April 2022.
Vicars of St Stephen's
The following priests have served as vicar of St Stephen's since 1867:
* 1867–1871: The Rev. John Astbury Aston
* 1871–1894: The Rev. Joseph Peter Waldo
* 1894–1900: The Rev. George Sutton Flack
* 1900–1929: The Rev. Lord Victor Alexander Seymour
* 1929–1956: The Rev. Eric Samuel Cheetham
* –2016: The Rev. Reginald Bushau
* 2017–present: Te Rev. Philip Barnes
References
External links
*
Official website
St Stephen's at A Church Near You website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephens Gloucester Road
Churches completed in 1867
19th-century Church of England church buildings
Gloucester Road
1867 establishments in the United Kingdom
Gloucester Road
Gloucester Road