St Matthew's, Bethnal Green

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Catholicism and, for a time, held both Roman Catholic and Anglican services within the historically Church of England church. When he eventually departed, two thirds of parishioners followed him to Roman Catholicism. Those who remained worked with three priests-in-charge to stabilise the church before appointing Kevin Scully as the new, long-term, rector in 2002. Following his departure in 2018, and an irreconcilable dispute between the new incumbent and parish council, many of those who had remained following Christopher Bedford’s departure in the 1990s, resigned from their duties in 2021.

235:. The roof and interior were destroyed by enemy action in 1940. A temporary church was created within the shell in 1954 by A Wontner Smith and Harold Jones. The old church was rebuilt from 1958 to 1961 (without the side galleries) by Anthony Lewis of Michael Tapper & Lewis, with what the list entry describes as a 'bold post-war interior'. That post-war interior includes works by a roll-call of eminent 20th-century ecclesiastical artists: an upper-level 420: 298:

organ in the temporary church in 1954. The National Pipe Organ Register states that this organ came from the Bethnal Green Lutheran Church, but Maxim states that it was from the former church of St Matthias, Bethnal Green, and refers to the evidence of plaques on the organ. Mander then reinstalled

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The church, bombed on the first night of the Blitz, continued to serve the community during World War II with a temporary church erected within its bombed-out shell. During the 1990s following the 1993 ruling to ordain women as priests, the then incumbent, Christopher Bedford, converted to

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The church itself is Grade II* listed; it is the classical exterior that is the primary reason for the high level of listing. The railings, wall and gate piers to the churchyard are separately listed Grade II, as is the parish watch house, which dates from 1826.

2141: 2171: 2156: 1544: 1493: 1463: 1433: 1373: 1322: 1271: 2049: 282:. That organ was destroyed in the 1859 fire. It was replaced by a Henry Jones organ dating from 1861. The Jones organ was destroyed in the war-time bombing. Services were held in the ruins, and an 365:

in the parish in 1877. Headlam's socialist views were so extreme that he was never offered an incumbency, and, for 14 years, was even refused a licence to officiate. Hansard's successor was

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in plurality and in absence: there is no record of William Loxham, rector for 43 years, of ever having even visited the parish. Day-to-day pastoral work was left to poorly-paid

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depicting the war between Heaven and Hell and St Michael and the angels doing battle with the devil by Kim James; wall paintings by Barry Robinson; sand-blasted glass doors by

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A fire in 1859 destroyed the interior of the church, although the registers and the church plate were saved. It was rebuilt (including a

2094: 330:. It was King who sought, initially with some success but ultimately unsuccessfully, to counter the corrupt regime of the churchwarden 2069: 2039: 1789: 2084: 1316: 777: 1265: 2079: 1367: 1940: 1891: 1427: 1813: 1537: 58: 2059: 598: 1456: 427: 2034: 1486: 2011: 1868: 1960: 1886: 588: 279: 271: 2064: 1982: 2089: 2074: 1833: 1654: 1533: 1482: 1452: 1422: 1362: 1311: 1290: 1260: 2016: 1987: 1965: 1612: 1341: 2161: 2099: 1992: 1935: 400:, converted it to a public garden in 1896. Wilkinson removed all but two of the tombs, one of which is Merceron's. 251:; sculptured panels on the altar by Robert Dawson; a vesica-shaped marble font by Anthony Lewis; and fired ceramic 1930: 1315: 409: 370: 260: 209: 1945: 1264: 470: 366: 303: 1950: 1843: 1366: 1426: 357:. It was during Hansard's incumbency that St Matthew's had its most notable curate: the Christian Socialist 319: 2166: 1955: 1901: 1838: 1675: 213: 135: 78: 1848: 1169: 252: 1696: 992: 971: 950: 747: 726: 684: 642: 621: 302:

The church has a ring of eight bells, all cast in 1861 (after the 1859 fire) by George Mears of the

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were active in assisting cholera victims in 1866. Hansard introduced a daily

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1997-2001 David Thomas Peebles, David Patent, Jon Scott (Priests-in-Charge)

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has details was an instrument which was installed in 1772 from a church in

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Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

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Anglo-Catholic church buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

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The churchyard closed to burials in the 1850s. The landscape gardener

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