Holy Trinity, Paddington was established in 1846. In 1947, the parish of Saint Paul, Harrow Road (P87/PAU) was united with Holy Trinity, becoming known as Holy Trinity with Saint Paul's, Paddington. The parish church on Bishop's Bridge Road (formerly Bishop's Road) was closed in 1971 because it had become unsafe and was then demolished in the 1980's. Worship continued during that period in the community hall. Holy Trinity was amalgamated with Saint James, Sussex Gardens (P87/JS) in March 1981 to form the larger parish of Saint James, Paddington.
Holy Trinity was constructed in 1823-24 to designs by F. Bedford. The church was closed in 1960 and then gutted by fire in 1973. It was subsequently converted into use as a recording studio.
Holy Trinity was begun in 1834, financed partly by the Church Building Commissioners and partly by local residents. In 1836 money could not be found to complete the project and it was sold to the Metropolitan Church Building Fund, who finished the building. It was consecrated in 1839.
The parish of Holy Trinity was created from the parish of Saint Marylebone, Marylebone Road. Sir John Soane R.A. was the architect of this church, built in 1826-1827 in a Grecian architectural style. It was consecrated 31 May 1828. Having fallen into disuse by the 1930s it became a store in 1936 for Penguin Books. Penguin moved out in 1937 and the church was adapted as the headquarters of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge [SPCK] where they remained until 2006. The church stands on a traffic island with Marylebone Road to the front and Albany Street and Osnaburgh Street to the sides.
The parish of Holy Trinity, Latimer Road, was formed in 1882. Standing on land belonging to Hammersmith, the large broad-fronted red-brick church by Norman Shaw has one vast Decorated window, no tower, no aisles, and no transepts - it is just a very large hall with a painted wagon roof.
The church of Holy Trinity was constructed in 1839, designed by Edward Blore. The site of the church was formerly part of Lambeth Palace kitchen gardens. The interior of the church was renovated in 1915. THe building was badly damaged during the Second World War.
From: Survey of London: volume 23: Lambeth: South Bank and Vauxhall (1951), pp. 75-76.
The first church of the Holy Trinity in Holborn was situated on Little Queen Street, as Kingsway had not yet been constructed. It was built in 1829-1831, but was demolished in 1909 after work on the Piccadilly Line undermined the foundations. A new church was built between 1909 and 1911, designed by Belcher and Joass and modelled on the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome. This church was closed by 1991.
The church of Holy Trinity on Brondesbury Road was founded in 1867 by the minister of Saint Paul's, Kilburn. A district was assigned to it in the same year, taken from the parish of Saint Mary's. The building was brick with stone facings, seating 1,100. The church was destroyed by fire in 1950 and the ruins demolished in 1970.
Source of information: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 236-241.
The site of Holy Trinity church was donated by the Stonefields Charity Estate, and the building was constructed between 1826 and 1829 to designs by Sir Charles Barry. A parish was assigned in 1830, taken from the parish of Saint Mary's, Islington. Parts of the parish were later assigned to other churches: All Saints, Caledonian Road, in 1839; Saint Andrew, Thornhill Square, in 1854 and Saint Thomas, Barnsbury, in 1862. The parish was joined with Saint Andrew's, Thornhill Square, in 1980 and the church was sold to the Celestial Church of Christ.
From: 'Islington: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 88-99.
Holy Trinity was established in 1848 in Church Street (later renamed Trinity Street, then Shepherdess Walk). In 1953 Holy Trinity was united with Saint Mary, Hoxton (the church had been bombed during the Second World War) to form Holy Trinity with Saint Mary.
In 2005 Holy Trinity was in the Deanery of Hackney, under the Area Bishop of Stepney, in the Diocese of London.
The parish of Holy Trinity, Hounslow, was originally a chapel belonging to a friary at Hounslow. After the Reformation the ownership of the chapel passed to the manor-house but a living was endowed and permission was given for the chapel to be used by those parishioners of Isleworth and Heston who lived in Hounslow, which at that date was divided between those parishes rather than being a separate parish. The chapel itself was situated in Heston parish, and drew staff from both Isleworth and Heston parishes. By the 18th century a charity school was closely connected with the chapel, which was also used for baptisms and marriages of Hounslow residents.
In 1816 the vicar of Heston bought the chapel and had it rebuilt on the same site. The new building was opened in 1829. In 1835 a parish was finally assigned to the chapel, comprising Hounslow and parts of Hounslow Heath. The Bishop of London became the patron of the living.
From: 'Heston and Isleworth: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 122-129. Available online.
Holy Trinity was built in 1850, largely through the initiative of the first incumbent, the Rev David Laing. A tablet to him in the south porch states that he devoted the whole of his stipend to in addition to gifts of £4,600 to the building of the church. Two other tablets commemorate members of the Laing and West families of Jamaica. The church was designed by Wyatt and Brandon in the style of the English Gothic of the fourteenth century.
Holy Trinity Church was built in 1871, to replace a temporary wooden church situated in Belsize Lane. The parish consisted of approximately five hundred acres, covering most of south west Hampstead. The foundation stone of the new church was laid in 1871 by the Victorian philanthropist and social reformer, the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury. The building was completed in less than a year, and consisted of a large nave and side aisles. A chancel was added in 1875, and an organ installed a few years later.
Holy Trinity was an expensive church, costing seventeen thousand pounds to build. The architect, Henry Legg, employed specially deepened concrete foundations under the steeple to guard against vibrations from trains when the Metropolitan railway line was extended beyond Swiss Cottage.
In 1874 a daughter church and school were founded at West End Village. This separated from Trinity parish to become Emmanuel parish in 1885.
In 1882 a mission church was built in the extreme west of the parish. This was replaced by a permanent building four years later, and the new parish of St Cuthberts was created.
Once the new Holy Trinity Church was in use, the temporary church in Belsize Lane was used as a parish school. This building was eventually demolished to make way for Fitzjohn's Avenue. A new school was built just south of Trinity Church on a site donated by local land owners the Maryon Wilsons. It was able to accommodate two hundred children. In the 1920s a portion of the grounds was sold for redevelopment, the proceeds of the sale being used to renovate and extend the school buildings. By the 1950's there were three infant and three junior classes, making a total of two hundred and fifty one children.
In 1968 a private parliamentary bill authorised the demolition of Holy Trinity Church and the redevelopment of the site. The church was vacated in 1974, when it was demolished and a smaller one built in its place.
The church of Holy Trinity on Grays Inn Road was designed by Sir James Pennethorne and erected in 1837. It seated 1500 people. Restored in 1880, it reopened in 1881. It was closed during the 1914-1918 war but was in use again by 1921; before finally closing in 1928. Holy Trinity parish was created from the parish of Saint Andrew, Holborn in 1839. The parish and benefice were united with Saint George the Martyr, Queen Square in 1931. Holy Trinity church was closed with the intention of demolishing the church and selling the site.
The church was built in 1837-38 as a chapel of ease to the parish of Saint Bride Fleet Street (P69/BRI), on a site donated by the Goldsmiths' Company, and was constituted as a district chapelry in 1842. The church building was altered in 1873 and demolished in circa 1905, when the benefice was united with Saint Bride Fleet Street.
The church of Holy Trinity, Church Lane, Finchley, was established in 1846 in order to combat 'godlessness' in this area, then a hamlet known as East End. A chapelry was assigned in 1846, and a vicarage created in 1872. The parish was reduced in size by the creation of new parishes at All Saints, East Finchley, and Saint Jude's, Hampstead Garden Suburb.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 82-86.
The first ecclesiastical building within the boundaries of this parish was a leper chapel of Saint Catherine. The first minsiter dates from 1623. A district was formed from the parishes of Saint Philip and Saint Mark in 1879. The patron was The Merchant Taylor's Company up to 1937. The building is of red brick in early English style by Ewan Christian and was built 1878/1879. It reopened after war damage, with the south transept reduced in height. The church was united with Saint Philip's, Dalston in 1953 to become the parish of Holy Trinity with Saint Philip, Dalston.
Holy Trinity was the Ancient parish of Clapham; and an earlier church of that name stood on the site now occupied by Saint Paul's, Rectory Grove. With the increase in population in this area the original church was not considered large enough. The new Holy Trinity was built in 1774-1779 on the common. The architect was Kenton Couse who was also responsible for 10 Downing Street. Consecration took place in June 1776. The burial ground around the old church, later known as Saint Paul's Churchyard, remained in use until 1855 as no burials took place in the churchyard around the present Holy Trinity. In 1812 the portico was added by Francis Hurlbatt. The church was considerably altered in 1875 to A. Blomfield's designs.
Holy Trinity was well known as the church of The Clapham Sect which included Zachary Macaulay, Granville Sharp, William Wilberforce and Henry Thornton. The Sect are commemorated by a plaque.
The church suffered damage during the Second World War when the Lady Chapel was burnt out by incendiary bombs. Restoration and repairs were carried out under the direction of Thomas Ford. Friday 6 June 1952 saw the Rededication of the church following completion of the works.
The church of Holy Trinity in Sloane Street was constructed between 1828 and 1830 as a chapel of ease to Saint Luke's, then parish church of Chelsea. The area of Upper Chelsea was assigned to Holy Trinity as a separate parish in 1832. The parish merged with that of Saint Jude's Church in 1892. In 1888 the church was demolished as it was too small and was rebuilt by 1907 to seat 1,800. It was designed by J.D. Seddings and included decoration by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. The church is considered to be an excellent example of the Arts and Crafts movement; there was outcry in the 1970s when it was threatened with destruction and Sir John Betjeman contributed a poem to the campaign to save it. In 1997 the living was suspended as the church was so poorly attended.
Source of information: 'Religious history: Church extension', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12: Chelsea (2004), pp. 250-258.
The church was built between 1826 and 1829 on a site of three and a half acres just west of Brompton Square, including its burial ground, which was previously the burial site for Saint George's Hospital. It was designed by T.L. Donaldson and extended between 1879 and 1882 by Arthur Bromfield. The design consisted of a 5-bay clerestoried nave with two aisles, a sanctuary flanked by vestries and a west tower with lobbies on either side containing stairs to galleries. The windows were lancets (without tracery until 1843). The materials consist of stock bricks with Suffolk facings and Bath stone dressings. The roofs were of Bangor slates hidden behind coping stones. There was much criticism immediately; the church wardens wanted architectural ornaments and many were subsequently added.
It was consecrated in 1829 and that year a large district was assigned to it - west as far as Kensington Canal and north to Kensington Turnpike. In 1977 Saint Paul's Onslow Square was united with Holy Trinity.
The parish of Holy Trinity, Blackheath Hill, was formed in 1849 from part of the parish of Saint Alphege, Greenwich. The church was constructed in 1839 but has now been demolished.
The parish of Holy Trinity was formed in 1866 from parts of the parishes of Saint Philip, Bethnal Green, and Saint Leonard, Shoreditch. The parish was situated in the border between Bethnal Green and Shoreditch, in an area noted for serious poverty. There was no church building and services were held in a hay loft above a stable. Arthur Osborne Montgomery Jay took the living, and raised enough money to purchase a site on Old Nichol Street and construct a complex of classrooms, club room, hall, and gymnasium, with a church above. Later a lodging house was added. Jay provided the inspiration for Father Sturt in Arthur Morrison's novel "Child of the Jago". In the 1930s the parish united with Saint Leonard's. The church was used as a hostel until it was bombed during the Second World War.
From: 'Bethnal Green: List of Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 217-226.
Holy Trinity the Less was situated on Knightrider Street. It is first mentioned in 1258. The church was rebuilt in 1607-08 at the expense of the Merchant Taylor's and Vintner's Companies. It was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the site was purchased by merchants, who built a German church. The parish was united with Saint Michael Queenhithe in 1670 (P69/MIC6). After the demolition of Saint Michael Queenhithe in 1875 the parish was united with Saint James Garlickhythe (P69/JS2).
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
Holy Trinity Minories was situated in Haydon Square. The church originated as the chapel of a convent of the Order of Saint Clare, which was closed during the Dissolution in 1539. The convent chapel was given to the parish and given the name Saint Trinities. In 1893 the parish was merged with Saint Botolph Aldgate (P69/BOT2). The church building was used as a parish room until it was destroyed during the Second World War.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
The local parishes appear to have agreed in 1927 to work together for the formation of a new parish in Streatham Vale from sections of the parishes of Immanuel Streatham, Saint Andrew, Lower Streatham, Saint Mark, Mitcham, and Saint Barnabus Mitcham. A diocesan missioner, C.P. Turton, was appointed in July 1928 and services were held in what was to be the parish hall of the new parish, which had been erected in Churchmore Road, in the parish of Saint Andrew. For a time, the projected new parish was known unofficially as Saint Luke, Streatham Vale, but in May 1930, it was formally constituted as the parish of the Holy Redeemer, Streatham Vale. The church was consecrated on 5 March 1932.
The church of the Holy Redeemer, Exmouth Market was built on the site of the Spa Fields chapel in 1888, in a Romanesque style that was much praised by critics. The parish was united with Saint Philip, Granville Square, Clerkenwell in 1936.
The ancient parish church of Kingsbury was dedicated to Saint Andrew. In 1884 a new church, dedicated to Holy Innocents, was built and became the parish church for Kingsbury. All the endowments, emoluments and records of the old church were transferred to the new {see DRO/045/A/03/001}. The records described below therefore relate to the old St Andrew's church before 1884 as well as to Holy Innocents. In 1885 the Consolidated Chapelry of Neasden-cum-Kingsbury was established and assigned to the old church of St Andrew {see DRO/045/A/03/003}. In 1933 the Victorian church of St Andrew, Wells Street, Marylebone, was re-erected in Kingsbury, next to the ancient church, and became the parish church for a new parish of St. Andrew Kingsbury. Records for this new parish and for the chapelry that it replaced have already been deposited in the LMA (see list DRO/028).
The church dates back to 1876.
Holy Cross, Greenford is an ancient parish in the Ealing West Deanery which is within the Willesden Area of the Diocese of London. Due to population increases in the 1930s, three mission churches were opened in the parish: All Hallows in North Greenford; Christ the Redeemer, Windmill Lane and St Edward the Confessor in Perivale Park. All Hallows became a parish in its own right in 1949, as did Christ the Redeemer in 1964. The connection between Holy Cross and its mission churches is evident in the Parochial Church Council minutes.
In spite of the increased provision of places of worship within the parish the church at Holy Cross was proving far too small for the population by the end of the 1930s. Professor Sir Albert Richardson designed the New Church which was built in 1939-1940. It is situated a few yards to the west of the Old Church.
Due to its state of repair the Old Church was closed in 1951. After restoration it was reconsecrated in 1956. Currently services take place in both churches.
Originally, tithes were payments in kind (crops, wool, milk, eggs and so on) comprising an agreed proportion of the yearly profits from farming, and made by parishioners for the support of their parish church and its clergy. From early times money payments began to be substituted for payments in kind, a tendency further stimulated by enclosures, particularly the Parliamentary enclosures of the late 18th century. Enclosures were often made in order to improve the land and its yield, and had they proceeded without some arrangements respecting tithes, the rectors, vicars and lay owners of the tithes would have received an automatically increased income, as indeed they did when cultivation was improved without preliminary enclosure. One object of the Enclosure Acts was to get rid of the obligation to pay tithes. This could be done in one of two ways: by the allotment of land in lieu of tithes, or by the substitution either of a fixed money payment or of one which varied with the price of corn (hence the name corn rents applied to payments in lieu of tithes). The limits of the land allotted, or of the land charged with a money payment, were generally shown on a map attached to the Enclosure Award.
Statutory enclosure was a purely local affair, prompted by local landowners. Although much of the country was covered, in 1836 tithes were still payable in the majority of parishes in England and Wales. In 1836, the government decided to commute tithes (that is, to substitute money payments for payments in kind) throughout the country. The Bill received Royal Assent on 13 August 1836; three Tithe Commissioners were appointed, and the process of commutation began. Although the Tithe Act 1836 is a long and complicated piece of legislation, the underlying principle was the simple one of substituting for the payment of tithes in kind corn rents of the same sort as were already payable in many parishes under the authority of a local Enclosure Act. These new corn rents, known as tithe rentcharges, were not subject to local variation, but varied according to the price of corn calculated on a septennial average for the whole country. Existing corn rents were left unaffected: they continued to be paid according to the varied provisions of the local Acts which created them. The initial process in the commutation of tithes in a parish was an agreement between the tithe-owners and landowners or, in default of agreement, an award by the Tithe Commissioners. Generally the next stage was the apportionment of payments, and the substance of the preceding agreement or award was then recited in the preamble of the instrument of apportionment.
In most cases, the principal record of the commutation of tithes in a parish under the Tithe Act 1836 is the Tithe Apportionment. Most apportionments follow the general pattern set out in the instructions which were issued at the time. The standard form of apportionment contains columns for the name(s) of the landowner(s) and occupier(s) (because until the passing of the Tithe Act 1891 the payment of tithe rentcharge was the owner's liability); the number, acreage, name or description, and state of cultivation of each tithe area; the amount of rentcharge payable, and the name(s) of the tithe-owner(s). The apportionment opens with a preamble reciting the names of the tithe-owners, the circumstances in which they owned the tithes, and whether the amount of rentcharge to be apportioned was the subject of an agreement between the landowners and the tithe-owners or of a compulsory award made by the Tithe Commissioners. The preamble usually contains, too, statistics as to the area and state of cultivation of the lands in the tithe district; the extent of the land subject to tithes and of lands, if any, exempt on various grounds from payment of tithes; and the area covered by commons, roads and so on. It concludes with a statement showing the respective numbers of bushels of wheat, barley and oats which would have been obtained if one-third of the aggregate amount of rentcharge had been invested in the purchase of each of those commodities at the prices prescribed by the Tithe Act 1837. The detailed apportionment of the aggregate tithe rentcharge then follows. A rentcharge is set out against each unit of charge, termed a tithe area. The amount of the charge is the par value, not the amount actually paid, which varied from year to year. The annual value of tithe rentcharge was ascertained and published yearly, and tables were issued from 1837 onwards which enabled the precise payment due to be calculated for the par value of any amount of rentcharge.
Source: The National Archives Domestic Information Research Guide Number 41: Tithe Records (available online).
The parish of Emmanuel, West Dulwich was formed from part of the parish of Saint Luke's West Norwood and from part of the parish of Saint Stephen's, College Road, in the late nineteenth century. A temporary iron church was opened in September 1872 under licence from the Bishop of Winchester. A permanent church was consecrated in 1877 under the Bishop of Rochester. From around 1923/4 it was in the diocese of Southwark. In 1966 Emmanuel was joined with All Saints, West Dulwich becoming a Conventional District of that parish. A new church was built in 1967 after the demolition of the older one.
Emmanuel parish was formed out of parts of the parishes of Saint Peter, Elgin Avenue, Westminster (P87/PET) and Saint Jude, Lancefield Street, Kensal Green (P87/JUD). The church was built in 1885-86, designed by John Thomas Lee.
The church of Emmanuel, Church Road, Northwood, was founded in 1896 by the Vicar of Holy Trinity, Northwood. Initially it was an iron church, but a permanent building was constructed in 1904, designed by Sir Frank Elgood.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 142-144.
Emmanuel Church was built as a proprietary chapel, known as Christ Chapel, in 1833-1834 by Lieutenant Colonel the Honorable James Stewart and Frederick Madan. It was consecrated in 1876 as Emmanuel Church and became a separate parish. The church was damaged by bombing in 1940. Under the scheme for the parochial reorganisation of St Marylebone, confirmed in 1952, Emmanuel Church was closed and the parish was divided between Saint Paul, Lisson Grove (P89/PAU2), Saint Mark, Hamilton Terrace (P89/MRK2), and St John's Wood Church (P89/JN1).
The parish of Lambeth Emmanuel was formed in 1869. Emmanuel Church is a small building of brick with stone dressings; the west end is directly on the street face (Distin Street) and contains the principal doorway below a large window. The other sides are closed in by houses.
From: 'Lambeth: The parish', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 50-64.
A mission church was founded in Hornsey Road in 1881. In 1884 this was replaced with a permanent church building in the Early English Style, designed by Farrow and Harris. A parish was assigned in 1886, taken from parts of the parishes of Saint Mark, Tollington Park; Saint Paul, Upper Holloway and Saint Luke, West Holloway.
From: 'Islington: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 88-99.
In the 1840s the Hampstead parish church, Saint Paul's, began to hold services in the West End National School. In 1875 these services became part of Trinity Parish Mission Church, later called Emmanuel Church. A district was assigned to the church in 1885. Increased attendance led to the construction of a permanent church in 1897, designed by J.A.Thomas.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 145-152.
Emmanuel Church was formed in 1842 following the destruction by fire of Saint Giles's church. It was built at a cost of £4899. It consisted of a chancel, two eastern towers, an aisleless nave with galleries and an eastern vestry. It was constructed of white brick. The church served a large population on the western edge of Camberwell parish, mostly of working-class background. The parish was united with the parish of Saint Michael and All Angels with All Souls, Camberwell in circa 1965. Emmanuel Church was closed.
Ealing vestry met from two to four times a year between 1704 and 1715, with from 5 to 19 attenders. In the early 19th century it was thinly attended, except on special occasions, and met at the Cross House, north of Ealing church, possibly the former church house. A new Cross House, often called simply the vestry room, was built in St. Mary's churchyard in 1840 and replaced in 1880 by the vestry hall in Ranelagh Road.
Churchwardens and overseers were recorded in 1599 and two surveyors of the highways in 1654. There were separate overseers for Upper Side (Ealing) and Lower Side (Old Brentford) by 1675, one churchwarden and one overseer being elected for each from 1798 and two overseers for each from 1834. An assistant overseer was employed in 1812. Highway trustees, under an Act of 1767, were elected by the vestry, with which they were often at variance. The office of vestry clerk, filled by Thomas Jullion from 1796 until 1834, lapsed in 1836 but may have existed in an honorary capacity until its revival shortly before Ealing adopted the Vestry Clerk's Act in 1869. There was a beadle by 1797, whose duties were defined in 1808 and 1833, and a parish clerk in 1654, whose office in 1802 was combined with that of sexton.
The poor of each ward were relieved by its overseer until 1814, when they were administered jointly by the assistant overseer. Paupers increased greatly during the 18th century, as did the poor rates, which stood at 4 or 5 shillings in the pound in the 1790s and even higher later. A workhouse and stock for the poor to work on were to be provided in 1698, whereupon a house for 8 poor was acquired in 1701. After abortive plans for its extension, a new workhouse was built west of St. Mary's Lane in 1728. The inmates were employed at spinning and later at casual labour, but their work was never profitable: tools were lacking, men were outnumbered by women, and women by children. In 1797 the workhouse was badly overcrowded. In 1803, when there were 150 inmates for 55 beds, the parish vainly promoted a Bill to take over 14 acres of common at Ealing Dean for a workhouse, and in 1812 the existing workhouse was enlarged. Its state was found acceptable in 1820 and again in 1836, when it could accommodate 360 and had only 84 inmates.
Both Ealing and New Brentford were included in Brentford poor law union in 1836. Agitation for a local board of health was repeatedly frustrated by Old Brentford, with the result that in 1863 the highway trustees were superseded by a local board only in part of Ealing. Northern Ealing, being rural, was not included until 1873, when the board's membership was raised from 9 to 12.
In 1894 Ealing became an Urban District Council and in 1901 the first municipal borough in Middlesex, with 6 aldermen and 18 councillors representing 6 wards: Drayton, Castlebar, and Mount Park north of Uxbridge Road, Lammas, Manor, and Grange to the south. Ealing absorbed Hanwell Urban District and Greenford Urban District, which included Perivale and West Twyford, in 1926, and Northolt in 1928. A Bill to achieve county borough status was defeated in 1952 and Ealing, Acton, and Southall boroughs united in 1965 to form Ealing London Borough.
From: 'Ealing and Brentford: Local government', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 144-147 (available online).
Becontree Heath was the meeting place of the Becontree Hundred, which was a court that governed on local matters until 1465. The Lord of the Manor had some jurisdiction also and Manorial Courts for the Dagenham Manors were held regularly here or in the Leet House at Barking. The Poor Law Act of 1601 set up the 'Vestry', the first unit of Local Authority. The members of the Vestry, later known as the Parish Council, were responsible for a number of local affairs put principally the care of the poor.
Ecclesiastical and secular affairs came under the same body, and were carried on in this war for two hundred years. There were also other special bodies, such as Trustees of the Turnpike Roads and the Commissioners for the Levels. In 1836 the union of Parishes was enforced for the care of the poor and Dagenham elected members to the Romford Board of Guardians and ceased to keep a village workhouse. The poor rate was collected by the Vestry, and the earliest surviving rate book dates back to 1839.
In 1840, the parish became part of the Metropolitan Police Area. The Local Board of Health was established in 1851. This body was responsible for local sanitary matters. Dagenham School Board was founded and five schools erected under the new compulsory Education Act of 1872. In 1902 the School Board was abolished and the management of schools in Dagenham was taken over by Essex County Council. During the same year a drainage scheme was undertaken, and then enlarged in 1910.
The parish remained mainly rural until 1921, when the London County Council started to build the great Becontree Estate. Modern industries, notably the Ford Motor Works, soon followed the new population. Dagenham became an urban district in 1926 and a borough in 1938.
Christ Church in West Green has its origins in services held in Willow Walk School from 1882, to spare residents the difficult journey to Saint Ann's Church on Hanger Lane (now St Ann's Road). In 1884 a temporary church was erected until 1888 when the permanent church building was consecrated. A parish hall was opened in 1893.
From: 'Tottenham: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 348-355. Available online.
The parish of Christ Church, Turnham Green, was created in 1845 from the parish of Chiswick. The patron was the Bishop of London. The church was built on former common land in 1843, with extensions added in 1887. A mission was established based in the National School on High Road.
From: 'Chiswick: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 90-93. Available online.
The parish of Christ Church was formed from the ancient parish of Saint Leonard Streatham (P95/LEN), the first of her 13 daughter churches. The architect was James William Wild and the style Italian basilican with different coloured bricks being used to create patterns in the external brickwork. The foundation stone was laid on the 11 August 1840. Consecration by the Lord Bishop of Winchester took place on Friday 19 November 1841. The church suffered war damage on 10 September 1940 when nearly all the stained glass windows were broken and the brick and stonework of the church and boundary walls were damaged by bomb splinters, the vicarage was made uninhabitable.
Under the Union of Beneficiaries Act of 1860, the City church of St Martin Outwich (P69/MTN3) was closed, demolished and the site sold. From the proceeds, three new churches were built, including Christ Church. All were designed by Ewan Christian. The church was consecrated on 3rd January 1877. During the Second World War the church was damaged and closed. The remains were later cleared away. The parish was divided between Saint Augustine with Saint Philip (P93/AUG) and Saint Dunstan and All Saints with Saint Thomas and Saint Faith (P93/DUN).
Between 1197 and the sixteenth century the site of Spital Square was occupied by the Priory of Saint Mary, Spittle, which included a hospice providing lodgings for travellers and an outdoor pulpit from which sermons were preached. By the end of the seventeenth century the population of the area had increased, with the influx of refugee Huguenot silk weavers to Spitalfields. In 1711 the "Act for the building of Fifty New Churches in the Cities of London and Westminster or the Suburbs thereof" was passed, to be paid for by a tax levied on coal entering the City of London. Under the Act, Nicholas Hawksmoor was asked to design a church to serve this large new community. Building began in 1715 but the building was not completed until 1729.
The decline of the area and increasing poverty meant that by 1958 the building had to be closed because it was in a state of poor repair and was becoming dangerous. The church community moved into a combined church and hall on nearby 22 Hanbury Street. A church hall was also situated on Buxton Street. From 1965 onwards restorations took place under the management of the Friends of Christ Church Spitalfields to repair what is described as one of Hawksmoor's masterpieces. The restoration has been highly praised. A company, Christ Church Spitalfields Venue (CCCV) was created by the Friends to administer the restored church as a venue for conferences, events and filming. Money raised goes towards continuing the restoration and maintaining the building.
The parish has been united with Saint Mary's, Spital Square (P93/MRY2), Saint Stephen's, Commercial Street (P93/STE) and All Saints, Buxton Street with Saint Olave's Stepney (P93/ALL1).
From 1965 the Spitalfields Crypt Trust ran a shelter for homeless alcoholic men based in the Crypt of Christ Church (which was still considered safe to use despite the poor repair of the church above). The Trust developed a programme of counselling and rehabilitation for residents, and provided drop-in services for others. For men who had completed the recovery programme two second stage houses were opened, Bridge House in Bow and Downham Lodge in Stoke Newington. In the late 1990s the Trust, prompted by the ongoing renovations of the church, decided to work on a custom built facility which would have more modern conditions than possible in the Crypt. In 2000 Acorn House was opened in Shoreditch and continues to work with the homeless and those addicted to alcohol and drugs.
In 1627 John Marshall, a gentleman of Axe Yard, Southwark, left property in trust for various charities, including the erection of a new church, to be called Christ Church, in Saint Saviour's Parish in which the population had increased significantly. No action was taken until 1663 when the trustees began to consider the bequest. William Angell, lord of the manor of Paris Garden, donated some land, and in 1671 the church was constructed and a new parish was formed from the manor. It was necessary to rebuild the church in 1738-1741 as the marshy ground was damaging the foundations. Further restorations took place in 1870 and 1890. In 1941 the church was gutted by an incendiary bomb; and in 1956 the parish was amalgamated with that of the church of Saint James. A new church was constructed in 1959.
Information from 'Christ Church', Survey of London: volume 22: Bankside (the parishes of St. Saviour and Christchurch Southwark) (1950), pp. 101-107.
In 1615 Sir John Weld of Southgate erected a small chapel on his own land for the use of his family and local people. It was consecrated in 1615 on condition that all users took Easter communion at All Saints church and that the vicar of Edmonton should consent to baptisms and marriages there. The chapel was assigned a district chapelry in Southgate in 1851. The chapel was demolished in 1862 and replaced in 1863 by Christ Church, Southgate. The new church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Decorated style and contains stained glass windows designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones.
Christ Church was consecrated on 19th June 1939. The parish was united with Saint John of Jerusalem, South Hackney in 1953.
In 1865 Saint Pancras Station was constructed, which necessitated the destruction of the church of Saint Luke, Euston Road. Christ Church was built in 1868 as a replacement. Architects Newman and Billing adopted a Gothic style with iron columns. The church was bombed in 1940 (when it is thought the marriage register for 1923-40 was destroyed) and in 1954 the parish was united with Saint Pancras, Euston Road (P90/PAN1).
Christ Church was constructed between 1855 and 1856 to the designs of architects Tress and Chambers. It is part of the Eltham and Mottingham Deanery and the Woolwich Episcopal Area.