St Stephen's Church, Ealing
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St Stephen's Church is a Church of England church on
Castlebar Hill Castlebar Hill is a hill in Ealing which is high. In the 18th century, it was the location of Castle Beare, a grand mansion or country seat, for the area at this time was but a hamlet, not yet having been built up as part of the London conur ...
in
Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...
. It was founded in 1867 as a mission and is now established as a separate parish. The first church building was a temporary iron church which was then replaced in 1876 by a substantial Victorian Gothic stone building which is now
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 ...
.
Subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...
made that unsafe and it was
deconsecrated Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to b ...
in 1979. It has been converted to flats but still forms the landmark centrepiece of the St Stephen's Conservation Area. The
congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...
now holds services on the site of the church hall which has been redeveloped as the third church building and community centre.


History

The parish of Christ Church was created in Ealing in 1853 for the increased population in the area, following the opening of a railway station in 1838. The population continued to grow and the vicar, Stephen Hilliard, decided to establish a mission on Castlebar Hill, to the northwest, where
Henry de Bruno Austin Henry de Bruno Austin (bapt. 17 January 1791 – 21 December 1869) was an English property developer in Victorian London, who planned large housing estates in Ealing and Lancaster Gate but went bankrupt before they could be fully realised. He wa ...
was developing the area with large houses. The first church building was prefabricated from corrugated iron for rapid construction – an iron church. This opened as St Stephen's on Wednesday, 12 June 1867 with a sermon preached by the Bishop of Ripon, Robert Bickersteth. The second permanent church building was a substantial stone church, built of ragstone with
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
dressings and a slate roof. It cost £6,000 and was
consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
on 3 June 1876 by the Bishop of London. A tall steeple was added in 1891, designed by
Sir Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...
. The attendance by the end of the century was substantial — 570 worshippers being recorded for morning services in 1903 plus another 300 in the evening. In 1907, the vicar, Dr. Tupholme, founded a new mission church at the foot of the hill in
Pitshanger Pitshanger (sometimes referred to as Pitshanger Village) is a small but busy local suburb, centred on the shops in Pitshanger Lane, located about 1 mile north of Ealing Broadway in west London. First mentioned in 1493, possibly meaning an area o ...
. This was St Barnabas' Church, which was initially another iron church seating just 250 worshippers, and so a more substantial brick church was built nearby, seating a thousand. Plans for this were discussed in 1911 at a meeting chaired by Henry Vivian of the Brentham Garden Suburb and it was agreed that there would be restrictions on bell-ringing. After its large church building was completed in 1916, St Barnabas became a separate parish. The stone church built for St Stephen's still stands and is listed for preservation as
Grade II 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 ...
. It was deconsecrated in 1979 after
subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...
caused it to become unsafe and it was then converted into flats as St Stephen's Court. The St Stephen's congregation continued to meet in the church hall to the south east and that site was then redeveloped into the current church building, which was dedicated in 1987. This is a lower complex in modern red brick with slate roofs and is called St Stephen's Church Centre.


Bells

A set of eight bells were cast for the steeple by
Mears & Stainbank Mears or Meares may refer to: People *Ainslie Meares (1910–1986), Australian psychiatrist and authority on medical hypnotism * Anna Meares (born 1983), Australian cyclist *Ashley Mears (born 1980), American sociologist *Brian Mears (born 1932), B ...
at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. These were completed in 1911 and blessed for use in 1912. A team of bell ringers was soon established and their regular Sunday peal lasted 40 minutes. Visiting teams of bell ringers were also invited and, in 1921, the Ancient Society of College Youths rang a peal of 2 hours on a Saturday. This caused complaints – "Why do they have this tremendous bell ringing? ... what might almost be termed cruelty" – and the Reverend Maynard called a meeting which agreed that the bells should only be rung on alternate Sundays. Later, in 1979, when the building was declared unsafe, the bells were removed and stored in a Docklands warehouse as possible replacements for the swaying bells of
St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe, is the local Church of England parish church in Rotherhithe, formerly in Surrey and now part of south east London. The parish is now within the diocese of Southwark and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Fulham ...
. But instead, in 1987, the bells were restored by Eayre & Smith and then installed in
St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the c ...
in Aberdeen which is now one of the few churches in Scotland to have a set of bells designed for
change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...
.


Conservation area

The stone church building is on an island site at the head of ''The Avenue'' – a broad, straight road, lined with mature plane trees, which leads up the hill to the church in a grand, processional style. This avenue and its continuation of ''North Avenue'' form the spine of the St Stephen's
Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
. The housing of this area is subject to
planning control Development Management, formerly known as planning control, or development control, is the element of the United Kingdom's system of town and country planning through which local government or the Secretary of State, regulates land use and new bu ...
s to preserve its Edwardian appearance and character. The assessment commissioned by the borough council explains the importance of the church for this scene:


School

A
parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...
was opened by the church in 1867. This used a stable in Castlebar Mews off Pitshanger Lane. This was crowded and so a purpose-built schoolroom and house were built nearby on Albert Road and they opened in 1882. They too became crowded and, by 1910, the attendance was 209 pupils. In 1911, the girls and infants were transferred to North Ealing School, which was run by the council. The boys were transferred too in 1921 and the school buildings were leased to the council. They closed as a school in 1934 and were then sold privately in 1937.


Services

The church now holds daily services each weekday morning. On Sundays, there is a traditional
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 ...
service which follows the
Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movemen ...
liturgy and uses the
New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...
of the Bible. After a refreshment break, this is followed by a more informal service in which the music is performed in a contemporary style. There is also a Sunday evening service and special services for occasions in the church calendar including
Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...
, Easter and Christmas. Other programmes include the Alpha course, a summer
fête In Britain and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public festivals, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments. Village fêtes Village fà ...
, afternoon tea and a Shining Stars group for young children and their parents.


Gallery

File:Benjamin Seymour Tupholme.jpg, Reverend Benjamin Seymour Tupholme was the vicar from 1871 to 1912. File:St Stephen's consecration poster.jpg, Poster announcing the consecration of the permanent church on 3 June 1876 File:Old St Stephen's Church.JPG, The stone church in the 1880s after the
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 ...
was built but before the steeple was added File:St Stephen's steeple construction.jpg, Construction of the steeple around 1890 File:St Stephen's steeple.jpg,
Sir Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...
's steeple in 2017 File:Steve Newbold communion.jpg, Rev. Steve Newbold celebrating communion File:St Stephen's Church, Ealing.jpg, The stone church building from the south-west File:Fallen tree at St Stephen's.jpg, The stone church exposed after Storm Eunice blew down a tree


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephen's Church, Ealing Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Ealing Diocese of London 1867 establishments in England Churches completed in 1876 Churches completed in 1987 19th-century Church of England church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in London 20th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Ealing Grade II listed churches in London Organizations disestablished in 1979