St Mark's Church, Silvertown or St Mark's Church, Victoria Docks is a former church building in

Silvertown Silvertown is a district of West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, Becontree Hundred, hund ...

in east London, located on North Woolwich Road. It takes one of its names from the nearby

Royal Docks Royal Docks is an area in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England. The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are more corre ...

. It was listed as Grade II* in 1971 and now houses the Brick Lane Music Hall.

History

Construction

The church was founded as a joint church and school, housed in an iron building and opened in 1857.

Samuel Sanders Teulon Samuel Sanders Teulon (2 March 1812 – 2 May 1873) was an English Gothic Revival architect, noted for his use of polychrome brickwork and the complex planning of his buildings. Family Teulon was born in 1812 in Greenwich, Kent, the son of a ...

was taken on as the designer of a permanent church, which opened in 1862 and was promoted to a separate parish two years later, taking parts of

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

(centred on St Mary Magdalene Woolwich on the opposite bank of the Thames) and

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a ...

. The docks' manager Charles Capper was allowed to nominate the first vicar, but after that the

bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

(or after 1884 the Corporation of the City of London) was made the parish's patron. St Mark's also founded mission churches at St Matthew's, Custom House in 1860, which was later transferred to St Luke's Church, Canning Town before becoming a parish of its own in 1920. St Luke's itself was originally a mission church of St Mark's before being made a parish of its own on its permanent church's completion in 1875. St Mark's also opened the mission churches of St John's, North Woolwich in 1872 (which took the

part of St Mark's parish in 1877 to become a parish church of its own) and St Barnabas' Church, West Silvertown in 1882 (which became a parish of its own in 1926).

Redundancy

The building survived the war but the decline of the London docks in the 1960s led to a sharp drop in local population and major

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

s in the area. The church was declared redundant in 1974 and its parish merged with those of two of its former mission churches, St Barnabas' and St John's – St Barnabas was also declared redundant, with St John's becoming the sole church for the resulting parish of North Woolwich with Silvertown. The church building was bought in 1979 by

Newham Council Newham London Borough Council also known as Newham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority co ...

, with the intention of turning it into a museum. A major fire in 1981 largely destroyed the roof, which was replaced between 1984 and 1989.

Brick Lane Music Hall

After the fire the Brick Lane Music Hall took on the building, converting it to its present use in 2003 to host traditional music hall and variety shows. Brick Lane Music Hall had opened in 1992 in the former

Truman's Brewery Truman's Brewery was a large East London brewery and one of the largest brewers in the world at the end of the 19th century. Founded around 1666, the Black Eagle Brewery was established on a plot of land next to what is now Brick Lane in London, E1 ...

building in

Brick Lane Brick Lane () is a street in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, mo ...

, before moving to

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

and then its present building. It was established by Vincent Hayes, who had previously run and performed in Music Hall shows at the Lord Hood pub, where he was landlord during the 1980s. The church's exterior was left largely unchanged, whilst a stage, bar, kitchen and lighting and sound equipment were added to the interior, with offices housed in the church's former vestry. In 2004 a mural was painted on the wall behind the church's exterior war memorial, whilst a new lighting and sound rig was installed in October 2006. Audiences are seated at tables in a cabaret-style arrangement and food is served during the interval at matinees and before the show in the evenings. Brick Lane Music Hall is licensed for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies as well as being involved in workshops for schools, as well as taking shows to community centres, care homes and hospices throughout the East End.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marks Church Silvertown 19th-century Church of England church buildings

Mark's Mark's (known as La Ouérasse and L'Équipeur since 1990 in Quebec) is a Canadian clothing and footwear retailer specializing in casual and industrial wear. Beginning in 1977 as Mark's Work Wearhouse in Calgary, Alberta, it evolved from an i ...

Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Newham Silvertown