St Barnabas Bethnal Green
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St Barnabas Bethnal Green is a late 19th-century
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in Bow in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is an
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 ...
church in 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 ...
. The church is at the junction of Roman Road and Grove Road in the Bow West
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
of
London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...
.


History of the building

In 1865 there was an Anglican mission called St Luke's run by the nearby church of St Simon Zelotes, but the current St Barnabas building began life as the Baptist Union Church. It was built in 1865, to a design by William Wigginton, in a Gothic Revival style, 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 south west tower with a spire. The church was sold to the Church of England in 1868, and in 1870 consecrated for the
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, ...
by John Jackson 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 ...
, with a district assigned from the parishes of St James the Less and St Simon Zelotes. 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 Sion College, in London, is an institution founded by royal charter in 1630 as a college, guild of parochial clergy and almshouse, under the 1623 will of Thomas White (benefactor), Thomas White, vicar of St Dunstan's in the West. The clergy who ...
in 1887 and rural dean of Spitalfields 1898-1901. The church was badly damaged by bombing during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Following the end of the war the steeple was removed and the church rebuilt, retaining the tower and north and south walls. This remodelling was carried out by J Anthony Lewis of architects Michael Tapper & Lewis, who commissioned the sculptor
Don Potter Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher. Early life Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school ...
to create "The Four Evangelists" on the outside of the building (c.1957). Potter also created a font in Clipsham stone. In 1957 a two-manual electric Jennings organ was installed in the restored church. A plaque in the church states that the restored church was rededicated on 18 June 1957 by the Bishop of London. Before 1965 St Barnabas was in the
Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green Bethnal Green was a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney and t ...
. St Barnabas is part of the Bow Group of Anglican churches, together with Bow Church (St Mary and Holy Trinity);
St Paul's, Bow Common St Paul's Bow Common is a 20th-century Church (building), church in Bow Common, London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London. The church is at the junction of Burdett Road and St Paul's Way in the London Borough of Tower Ham ...
; St Paul's, Old Ford and All Hallows, Bow.


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.


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) *1902-1920 Alexander Bassell Winter. Later Winter was chaplain of St Ursula's Church, Bern, Switzerland *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 In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...
of Poplar (1965-1966), rural dean of Tower Hamlets (1968-76) and prebendary of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
London (1973-86) *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 has been affiliated to the
Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement OneBodyOneFaith, formerly the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), describes itself as "UK-based international Charity which challenges homophobia and transphobia, especially within the Church and faith based organisations". History The Gay ...
since 2006 and is only the second congregation to have affiliated as a body. 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 A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
, Father Brian Ralph.


References


External links

*
A Church Near You: St Barnabas Bethnal Green
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Barnabas Bethnal Green Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 19th-century Church of England church buildings Diocese of London Bow, London Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London