The Church of St Paul the Apostle, Wightman Road, Harringay, London, N4, serves the parish of Harringay in north London. In ecclesiastical terms the parish is part of the Edmonton Episcopal Area of 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, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

. In political terms the parish is in the

London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey ( , same as Harringay) is a London boroughs, London borough in north London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation ...

. In 1984 the nineteenth-century church building was destroyed by fire, and the present iconic building was opened in 1993, designed by London architects Peter Inskip and Peter Jenkins. In September 2018, the church was revitalised with the support of Christ Church Mayfair. There are two services on Sundays: Holy Communion at 9:30am and an Informal service at 11:00am. The parish of

Harringay Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett's ...

is situated at one corner of what was formerly part of

Hornsey Hornsey () is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexand ...

parish, adjacent to

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

parish.

1883: the first parish church

In 1883, the Reverend Joshua Greaves was appointed vicar, and found at Harringay a fast-growing housing estate rapidly covering open spaces and fields, but no church building. A temporary tin hut mission church was opened for worship on 23 December when there were six communicants and a collection of 14s 3d. The temporary church stood in Burgoyne Road.T F T Baker, C R Elrington (Editors), A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks, R B Pugh (Eds), (1980) 'Hornsey, including Highgate: Churches', ''A History of the County of Middlesex''
(Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate), 172-182, accessed 1 May 2009
/ref> The digging of the ground preparatory to building the first permanent church began on Tuesday, 20 May 1890, and the foundation stone was laid by Lady Louisa Wolseley (1843–1920) on Saturday, 31 May 1890. The church was consecrated on 1 October 1891 by Dr. Frederick Temple, 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 ...

. On 28 June 1892 the ecclesiastical Parish of St. Paul's Harringay was formed out of Holy Trinity

Stroud Green Stroud Green is a suburb and Ward (subnational entity), electoral ward in north London, England, split between the London boroughs of London Borough of Haringey, Haringey and London Borough of Islington, Islington. On its south-western side, St ...

, St. Anne's

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

, and St. Mary's

. The living was £387 net per year, with benefice.

The building described

The new church was designed by the London architect George Michael Silley (b. 1834), and was built of red brick with Carsham-stone dressing, topped with a

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: * Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire * Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition * Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique * Flèche (fortification), a defensive work *, ships of ...

. The building was in the style of 13th-century

English Gothic architecture English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and churches, cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture, Got ...

. It was constructed of Peterborough red brick with Bracknell stone dressings, with a chancel, south-east chapel and bell-cot, north vestries, and an aisled and clerestoried nave of six bays with north-west and south-west porches. When built the church seated 700. (NB The chancel and Lady Chapel, both in a later Decorated English Gothic style, were not completed until 1903). At the entrance to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

was an open, oak screen, and in the chancel itself were the choir stalls arranged collegiate fashion, leading up to an altar. A magnificent organ was made by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, and was latterly maintained by Hill, Norman and Beard Ltd., of Hornsey. The church's stained glass windows were designed by John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919). The total length of nave and chancel when completed was ; the width was . The height from floor level was . The building held 900 people. A church hall was built in Cavendish Road, N4, and in 1903 a new

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or Minister (Christianity), ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of n ...

was built next to the church. Joshua Greaves remained the Vicar for 40 years, until 1923. The incumbents succeeding him were, in chronological order: Appleton, Warren, Brassel, Cowen, Bond, Barraclough, Lloyd, Seeley, and Martin. In 1932 were installed a new marble altar, marble font, and marble

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

with a statue of Christ and other stone figures, all designed by Nugent Cachemaille Day (1896–1976). (The font was a war memorial to the fallen of the 1914–1918 war). On 7 March 1983, the church's roof caught fire, caused by workmen then repairing a hole in the roof. The fire spread, and the church was destroyed.

1993: the current building

The interior of the church has been described as evoking "a numinous presence". In furnishing the new church there has been a significant investment in late twentieth-century British artworks, with the commissioning of pieces from four British artists who were working at the time of the building's creation, namely: the sculptors Danny Clahane, Stephen Cox, and Anton Wagner, and the furniture maker

John Makepeace John Makepeace OBE FCSD (born John Makepeace Smith; 6 July 1939) is a British furniture designer and maker. Makepeace was born in Solihull, Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial cou ...

. Cox has provided the great shield-shaped

on the east wall, made from enamelled metal and stone; the monumental altar table, and font (each made from Egyptian Imperial porphyry);Diane Smith, (Ed), (!994), 'Spiritual Elevation', ''Brick Bulletin'' 18-20, 19. and several porphyry candle holders, from the same source. Some of these are used on the altar, while others stand next to each of the three statues contained in the church. The simple and restrained stone statues of

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and of St. Anthony are by Danny Clahane, while the traditional

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Expl ...

-style, painted wooden figure of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

is by Anton Wagner. John Makepeace has contributed a one-metre-high alms box, carved from a single piece of solid oak with distinctive deep-ridged ziggurat patterns on all four sides. The mechanical-action organ was designed and built by Richard Bower, to fit within the organ case designed by the church's architects.See details at the National Pipe Organ register
link was live 1 May 2009 File:St Paul's Church Harringay interior 2.jpg, Interior of the new church, looking west. File:St Paul's Church Harringay interior 1.jpg, Interior of the new church, looking east. File:St Paul's, Harringay (Paul, by Danny Clahane).jpg, Statue of St. Paul, by Danny Clahane (carved stone, c. 1994). File:St Paul's, Harringay (Mary, by Anton Wagner).JPG, Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Anton Wagner (carved and painted wood, c. 1994).

External links

*Harringay Online'
Harringay Timeline
*

Harringay Online Harringay Online is a hyperlocal social network based in the neighbourhood of Harringay, north London. History Started on 1 July 2007, Harringay Online was one of the first neighbourhood websites to be set up using social media technology. It ...

br>video of interior of St Paul's on YouTube

''Prelude in G minor'' (BWV 535) by J. S. Bach (1675-1750)
played on the 1993 Richard Bower organ at St Paul's Church, Harringay by Andrew Pink in May 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls Church Harringay History of the London Borough of Haringey Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Haringey Building and structure fires in London 1983 fires 1980s fires in the United Kingdom Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom Churches completed in 1993 20th-century Church of England church buildings Anglo-Catholic church buildings in the London Borough of Haringey Diocese of London

Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Haringey Harringay