St Barnabas Bethnal Green

St Barnabas Bethnal Green is a late 19th-century church in Bow[1] in London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London.[2] The church is at the junction of Roman Road and Grove Road in the Bow West ward of London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Prior to 1965 it was in the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green.

St Barnabas Bethnal Green
Church of St Barnabas Bethnal Green
LocationGrove Road, Bow, Tower Hamlets, London E3 5TG
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
Websitewww.stbarnabasbethnalgreen.org
Administration
DioceseLondon
ArchdeaconryHackney
DeaneryTower Hamlets
Interior of the church
The Four Evangelists by Don Potter on St Barnabas Bethnal Green

History of the building

St Barnabas began as St Luke's mission and was run by the nearby church of St Simon Zelotes. A district was assigned in 1870, taken from the parishes of St James-the-Less, Bethnal Green and St Simon Zelotes.[3]

The building was initially built in 1865 as a Baptist chapel, to a design by William Wigginton, but was consecrated for the Church of England in 1870. A cornerstone states that the church was consecrated by John Jackson the Bishop of London on 2 July 1870. It was built in a Gothic Revival style, built in yellow brick, banded with red and black. The church building, which is not oriented, was built with a broad chancel, nave, west gallery and an octagonal north west tower with a spire.

In 1876 a large brick vicarage was built south of the Roman Road. It was first inhabited by George Barnes, vicar from 1870-1902, President of Sion College in 1887 and rural dean of Spitalfields 1898-1901.[4]

The church was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War.[5] Following the end of the war the steeple was removed and the church rebuilt, retaining the tower and north and south walls.[5] This remodelling was carried out by J Anthony Lewis of architects Michael Tapper & Lewis, who commissioned the sculptor Don Potter to create "The Four Evangelists" on the outside of the building (c.1957).[6] Potter also created a font in Clipsham stone.[7][8] In 1957 a two-manual electric Jennings organ was installed in the restored church.[9] A plaque in the church states that the restored church was rededicated on 18 June 1957 by the Bishop of London.

School

St Barnabas National School (formally St Luke's) was based in a Gothic building at the junction of Roman Road and Lanfranc Road. It was founded in 1866 and was also used as a mission church. It closed in 1905 and was converted into a church institute.[10]

Priests of the church

A notice within the church gives the following names and dates of priests of St Barnabas.

  • 1870-1902 George Barnes. Barnes was also president of Sion College (1887) and rural dean of Spitalfields (1898-1901)[11]
  • 1902-1920 Alexander Bassell Winter. Later Winter was chaplain of St Ursula's Church, Bern, Switzerland[12]
  • 1920-1941 Thomas Felix
  • 1942-1945 William Charles Smith
  • 1945-1949 William George Hossack Redmond Parr
  • 1950-1960 George William Saunders
  • 1961-1967 Christopher Dudley Johnson
  • 1967-1972 John Whitmore Griffiths
  • 1973-1975 Arthur Robert Royall. Royall was also rural dean of Poplar (1965-1966), rural dean of Tower Hamlets (1968-76) and prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral London (1973-86)[13]
  • 1975-1976 Michael Harold Champneys
  • 1976-1992 Fredrick Mark Rollinson
  • 1992-1996 John David Marshall Peton
  • 1997-2000 John Arthur Webber
  • 2001–present Brian Charles Ralph

Activities

The PCC of St Barnabas Bethnal Green supports the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and is only the second congregation to have affiliated as a body.[14]

From 2003 to 2012, the church played a key role in St Barnabas Community Fete (also known as Bowstock), whose director was the church's vicar, Father Brian Ralph.[15]

References
  1. "Roman Road Bow". www.towerhamlets.gov.uk.
  2. "St Barnabas Bethnal Green, Bow". The Church of England. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  3. "Bethnal Green: List of Churches". British History Online. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. "Bethnal Green: List of Churches". British History Online. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  5. "Bethnal Green: List of Churches". A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green. 1998. pp. 217–26.
  6. Light, Vivienne (2002). Don Potter: an inspiring century. Brook, New Forest, Hampshire: Canterton Books. p. 166, note 9: 'Don received several London commissions from the architect, Anthony Lewis.'. ISBN 0-9541627-1-4.
  7. Light (2002), p.166
  8. Lewis and Don Potter also worked on St Matthew Bethnal Green.
  9. "Jennings Organs, 1957". Vox AC30. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  10. "Bethnal Green: Education". British History Online. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  11. "Bethnal Green: List of Churches". British History Online. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  12. "list of chaplains". St Ursula's Church, Berne. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  13. "Church Times: Deaths". Church Times. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  14. "Saint Barnabas, Bethnal Green". Changing Attitude England. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  15. "Living Britain: How Britain's towns and cities are undergoing cultural revival" (PDF). Zurich. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
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