St Stephen's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church on Castlebar Hill in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

. It was founded in 1867 as a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

and is now established as a separate

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. The first church building was a temporary iron church which was then replaced in 1876 by a substantial

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

stone building which is now

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 mov ...

made that unsafe and it was

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also referred to as decommissioning or ''secularization'' (a term also used for the external confiscation of church property), is the removal of a religious sanction and blessing from something that had been previously consec ...

in 1979. It has been converted to flats but still forms the landmark centrepiece of the St Stephen's

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

. The

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

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 Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 was developing the area with large houses. The first church building was prefabricated from

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...

for rapid construction – an iron church. This opened as St Stephen's on Wednesday, 12 June 1867 with a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

preached by the

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight o ...

, Robert Bickersteth. The second permanent church building was a substantial stone church, built of

ragstone Rag-stone is a name given by some architectural writers to work done with stones that are quarried in thin pieces, such as Horsham Stone, sandstone, Yorkshire stone, and the slate stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. Near Londo ...

with

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

dressings and a slate roof. It cost £6,000 and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 3 June 1876 by 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 ...

. A tall

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

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. 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 is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. 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 mov ...

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 * Bob Mears (born 1933), A ...

at 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 ...

. These were completed in 1911 and blessed for use in 1912. A team of bell ringers was soon established and their regular Sunday

peal In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality. The definition of a peal has changed considerably ...

lasted 40 minutes. Visiting teams of bell ringers were also invited and, in 1921, the

Ancient Society of College Youths The Ancient Society of College Youths (ASCY) is a change ringing society, founded in 1637 and based in the City of London. The society played a leading role in the early development of change ringing, and today, it provides ringers for important ...

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. But instead, in 1987, the bells were restored by Eayre & Smith and then installed in

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral is a Church of Scotland church (building), church in Aberdeen, Scotland, located to the north of the city centre, in the former burgh of Old Aberdeen. Technically, St Machar's is no longer a cathedral but rather a Kirk ...

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 tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), 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 ...

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 tree ''Platanus'' ( ) is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. The type ...

s, 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

. The housing of this area is subject to planning controls to preserve its

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

appearance and character. The assessment commissioned by the borough council explains the importance of the church for this scene:

School

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

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, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 M ...

liturgy and uses the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

of the Bible. After a refreshment break, this is followed by a more informal service in which the music is performed in a

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

style. There is also a Sunday evening service and special services for occasions in the church calendar including

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. Other programmes include the Alpha course, a summer

fête In the United Kingdom and some of its former colonies, a fête or fete is a public festival organised to raise money for a charity, typically held outdoors. It generally includes entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments. Fetes are ty ...

, 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 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 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,

'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 Storm Eunice () (known as Storm Zeynep in Germany and Storm Nora in Denmark) was an extremely powerful extratropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds that was part of the 2021–2022 European windstorm season. Storm Eunice was named by the U ...

blew down a tree

References

External links

* {{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

Organizations disestablished in 1979