The Church of St Stephen and St Thomas is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

parish church in Shepherd's Bush, London. It was built circa 1849–50, designed by architect Anthony Salvin in the Gothic Revival style and is now Grade II listed. The church is located on the South side of

Uxbridge Road Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in West London. The route starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes, and Hillingdon. Uxbridge Road is a major r ...

on the corner of Coverdale Road, to the west of

Shepherd's Bush tube station Shepherd's Bush is a London Underground station in the district of Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The station is on the Central line, between and stations, and it lies in Travelcard Zone 2. The station o ...

. In the 1950s St Stephen's welcomed many members of the so-called "

Windrush Generation British African-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens whose ancestry originates from the Caribbean or they are nationals of the Caribbean who reside in the UK. There are some self-identified Afro-C ...

" from the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, and in 1962 the Barbadian-born Reverend Wilfred Wood became curate to St Stephen's, later becoming the Church of England's first black bishop. In 1966 the vicar John Asbridge, frustrated by the chronic shortage of local housing, set up the Shepherds Bush Housing Association. Today St Stephen's ministers to a diverse congregation, and serves a hot meal to up to 100 homeless people every Monday. The church is on Historic England's ''

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

'' and an appeal has been launched to raise funds to repair the roof.

History

19th Century Origins

The Church of St Stephen was built circa 1849–50, designed by architect

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country h ...

, and built in the Gothic Revival style with a tower.Melanie Barber, Gabriel Sewell & Stephen Taylor, p.401, ''From the Reformation to the Permissive Society: a Miscellany'', Lambeth palace Library
Retrieved January 2012 Much of the cost of building the church was borne by Bishop Blomfield. The site for the church was provided in part by James Gomme (d. 1855) who is commemorated in a stained-glass window. St Stephen's was built as a so-called '

Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplie ...

'; an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as a result of the Church Building Act 1818, and subsequent related

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

. Such churches have been given a number of titles, including "Commissioners' Churches", "Waterloo Churches" and "Million Act Churches". In some cases the Commissioners provided the full cost of the new church; in other cases they provided a grant and the balance was raised locally. St Stephen's was built of Kentish Ragstone with Bath stone dressings. It had a "very well developed chancel". The stained-glass windows were manufactured by

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

and were donated by members of the clergy and other well-wishers. The church was consecrated in 1850 and the whole of the parish north of

Goldhawk Road Goldhawk Road is a road in west London, which starts at Shepherd's Bush and travels west. There are numerous shops, restaurants and businesses lining the road, which forms the southern boundary of Shepherd's Bush Green. It is designated part of ...

was allocated to it. However, by 1870 the expanding population of Shepherd's Bush meant that the church was already overcrowded.Denny, p.58 On completion, the periodical ''

The Ecclesiologist The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...

'', which was strongly in favour of the Gothic Revival movement, commented that the new church: :"has a peculiar value, as indicating how far our diocesan is willing to take the peculiar responsibility of those various features of the arrangements and decoration, which from desuetude had become to a great extent novelties in England when we first advocated their revival". In 1850 William Cooke became priest in charge of St Stephen's. Cooke was a graduate of

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, and a noted hymn-writer and translator.

World Wars

91 parishioners of St Stephen's were killed during World War I; their names are recorded in the war memorial inside the church, mounted on the wall of the North aisle. A number were decorated for courage; these included Charles Carey, MM, L. W. Moberley, MC, and Captain Charles George Douglas Napier, MC, DCM (1892 – 15 May 1918). Napier was a flying ace credited with nine aerial victories, flying the

Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

, before being himself killed in action. When Napier was awarded his MC, it was noted in the London Gazette that he "displayed the greatest judgment, determination and daring". The church was hit by enemy bombing in around 1940 or 1941. The spire was damaged, apparently beyond repair. In the same raid the original stained-glass windows on the north aisle of the church were destroyed, as well as the great east and west windows.Byford, p2

Post-War era and the Windrush Generation

In 1949 scaffolding was erected to effect repairs to the spire, but it could not be saved, and was therefore taken down and replaced by the present structure, a low octagonal copper

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: *Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire *Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition *Flèche (fencing) The flèche is an aggressive offensive fencing technique used with foil and épée. Background ...

.Porter, p3 In 1950 centenary celebrations were held, including a "great pageant" and a "centenary dinner", attended by

William Wand John William Charles Wand, (25 January 1885 – 16 August 1977) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia before returning to England to become the Bishop of Bath and Wells before becoming the Bishop of Lon ...

, the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. In the 1950s many immigrants from the West Indies settled in Shepherds Bush, with St Stephen's becoming known as a church that welcomed what would become known as the

. In 1962 the Barbadian-born

Wilfred Wood Wilfred Wood VC (2 February 1897 – 3 January 1982) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The VC ...

became curate to St Stephen's.Byford, p3 Wood was a lifelong champion of racial justice, who in 1985 became the Church of England's first black bishop. Bishop Wood's influence is still felt today as many West Indian families remain rooted in St Stephen's. In 1958 The pipe organ, originally made by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

in 1888, was moved to the church from St Andrew, Haverstock Hill, where it was "restored and rebuilt" by N. P. Mander Ltd. In 1960 the parish was amalgamated with that of St Thomas, forming the new parish of St Stephen's and St Thomas. The church has a memorial to PC David Wombwell, a police officer who was murdered in 1966 in what became known as the Shepherd's Bush murders.

Shepherds Bush Housing Association

In 1966 the Rev John Asbridge, vicar of St Stephen's, set up the Shepherds Bush Housing Association, in order to help solve the urgent need for housing for poor parishioners. The choir vestry at St Stephen's was used as an office, which was run by volunteers from the parish. In addition, help was given by a number of parishioners who gifted their own houses to the association for use by homeless people. Their first acquisition was a dilapidated house at 220 Hammersmith Grove, which was converted into flats. Asbridge ran the Association for 20 years, retiring in 1988. Today, the Shepherd's Bush Housing Association owns and manages more than 5,000 homes. In 1970 the church became a Listed Building.

St Stephen's today

Today St Stephen's continues to minister to the spiritual needs of the community. Services are held on Sundays at 10am. At 6.30 pm is evening prayer, a "quiet reflective service" held on the first Sunday of the month. On Thursday at 6.30pm there is a "Christian meditation". St Stephen's is listed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

in their "

Heritage at Risk An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for actio ...

" category, due to "roofs and rainwater goods ... in poor condition resulting in water ingress". St Stephen's launched an appeal to raise £200,000 to effect repairs.

School

St Stephen's is closely affiliated with the neighbouring primary school St Stephen's School (Shepherd's Bush). In 2008 Ofsted reported that it was "a good school with a number of outstanding features". In June 2011 St Stephen's was rated "outstanding" by Ofsted.St Stephen's at GetWestLondon
Retrieved 28 November 2018

Gallery

File:Pipe organ St Stephen's Church Shepherd's Bush.jpg, 1888 pipe organ by

File:PCDavidWombwellPlaque.jpg, PC David Wombwell memorial plaque File:StStephensStainedGlass.jpg, Victorian-era stained glass in West window File:StStephens SouthWindow.jpg, South window dedicated to the memory of Julia Ratliffe, who died on 26 September 1870 File:SatinedGlassWindowStStephens.jpg, Stained-glass window in memory of James Gomme, benefactor, died 2 January 1855 File:StainedGlassArthurHaggitd3nov1852.jpg, Stained glass in South aisle dedicated to Arthur Haggit, died 3 November 1852 File:St Stephen's Stained Glass.jpg, Stained glass in South aisle, 1856

Notes

References

*Byford, Juliet, ''History of St Stephen's Church Shepherd's Bush'', official pamphlet published by St Stephen's Church, July 2017 *Denny, Barbara, Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush Past, Historical Publications Ltd, London 1995 *Porter, Ronald, ''A History of St Stephen's Church Shepherd's Bush'', official pamphlet published by St Stephen's Church, c1960

External links

Official St Stephen's and St Thomas website
Retrieved September 2015
Official St Stephen's Roof Fund Website
Retrieved 20 July 2017

Retrieved 18 March 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephen's Church, Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush Commissioners' church buildings Diocese of London Gothic Revival church buildings in London Churches completed in 1850 19th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Shepherd's Bush