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Downs Park Road Church in Clapton was registered by the Presbyterian Church of England in 1872. It was situated at the corner of Cricketfield Road. Attendance in 1886 was 111 in the morning and 60 in the evening. By 1903 attendance was 114 in the morning and 143 in the morning. The church was closed but reopened as Lower Clapton Congregational church in 1936, and was later used by the New Testament Church of God.

Source: 'Hackney: Protestant Nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 130-144.

Saint Mark's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1834, although a permanent church was not built until 1850. This was destroyed by enemy action in 1944. A new church was built in 1953 on Ashburnham Place, off South Street, Greenwich. The church entered into a partnership with the West Greenwich Methodist Church in 1969 and later merged with the Methodist, Congregationalist and Church of Christ churches in Greenwich to form the Greenwich United Church.

\qjThe Pilgrim Fathers' Memorial Church on Great Dover Street had a traditional origin in a congregation of Protestant Separatists who met in 1592 'in the house of Roger Rippon in Southwark.' It claimed with more likelihood descent from a congregation which existed in 1616, and from which some of the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated. The congregation moved to a chapel in the New Kent Road in 1863-1864, named the Southwark Park Congregational Church.

The Southwark Park Congregational Church was destroyed by enemy bombing during the Second World War. The Church was replaced by a new multi purpose building on Great Dover Street, the Pilgrim Church House.

The Pilgrim Fathers' Memorial Church on Great Dover Street had a traditional origin in a congregation of Protestant Separatists who met in 1592 'in the house of Roger Rippon in Southwark.' It claimed with more likelihood descent from a congregation which existed in 1616, and from which some of the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated. The congregation moved to a chapel in the New Kent Road in 1863-1864, named the Southwark Park Congregational Church.

The Southwark Park Congregational Church was destroyed by enemy bombing during the Second World War. The Church was replaced by a new multi purpose building on Great Dover Street, the Pilgrim Church House.

The Seven Sisters Road Congregational Church, Finsbury Park, was founded in 1864. It was replaced in 1885 by the Finsbury Park Congregational church at the corner of Seven Sisters and Palmerston (later Playford) roads. The church closed in 1939.

Junction Road Congregational Church registered a temporary building in 1865 on the north side of Junction Road, Upper Holloway. In 1866-1867 a new church was built nearby on the corner of Tremlett Grove. In 1972 it was renamed as Junction Road United Reform Church, but was closed in 1978.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 101-115.

In 1879, the Presbytery purchased and occupied church buildings (now called Saint Margaret) located in Putney Park Land, which had formed the private chapel of the Granard Estate. The Church was therefore initially known as the Granard Presbyterian Church. This remained the place of worship until 1897 when the church moved to buildings on the corner of Briar Walk and Upper Richmond Road.

In 1941 a bomb destroyed all the halls and a third of the church. Rebuilding of the church and new halls was completed in 1957. In 1946 the church amalgamated with Wandsworth Presbyterian Church, Merton Road and became known as Putney and Wandsworth Presbyterian Church. In 1968 the spire was removed and the tower was capped off. At the same time, the manse which had stood next to the church was sold and replaced by a house in Fairdale Gardens.

In 1972 the church became known as Putney United Reformed Church following the union of the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations. The last service to be held took place in February 1996.

A Presbyterian congregation was first established in Wandsworth in 1871, worshipping in hired assembly rooms until their church was constructed in 1872, at Merton Road.

In 1946 the church amalgamated with Putney Presbyterian Church, Briar Walk, and became known as Putney and Wandsworth Presbyterian Church. The joint congregations worshipped at Briar Walk. In 1968 the spire was removed and the tower was capped off. At the same time, the manse which had stood next to the church was sold and replaced by a house in Fairdale Gardens.

In 1972 the church became known as Putney United Reformed Church following the union of the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations. The last service to be held took place in February 1996.

Saint Peter's Presbyterian Church, Upper Tooting, was founded in 1685. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed Church.

Stratford Congregational Church originated in 1861, when the congregation of Brickfields Church started to plan a new church in the centre of Stratford to replace their own. Funds were raised and a site was bought in Grove Crescent Road, but in 1865 Brickfields Church withdrew from the scheme, thinking that the building committee was too ambitious. The committee continued under the leadership of William Settles, a City merchant living at Stork House, Ilford (now Romford) Road, and in 1866-1867 built a church seating 1,600 with ancillary rooms beneath. It cost £11,500, most of which was lent by Settles, interest free. His creation was nicknamed 'Settles' Folly', but at first it flourished. James Knaggs, the first minister (1869-1898), was a powerful figure, well-supported by prosperous local families like the Curwens and Boardmans. By the 1880s membership was about 600, with a Sunday school of 900, and new classrooms had been built. Missions were opened in Chapel Street (1885-1927) and Crownfield Road (1885-1891), and help was given to new churches elsewhere. At this period the church was keenly interested in politics, displaying Liberal sympathies yet opposing the growing Socialism of the East End. In the 1890s the membership began to decline, though for many years it remained among the highest in West Ham. By 1941, however, it had become so small that the main building was abandoned, all activities being transferred to the classrooms behind, approached from the Grove. In 1966 the membership was only 21. 'Settles' Folly' had been sold in 1948, became a furniture factory, was gutted by fire in 1952, and later demolished. It has been called a 'big monstrosity' of white and yellow brick with columned portico, a 115-ft. spire, and 'debased classical' detail. Inside were two galleries, one above the other.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.

Woodford Congregational Church was founded about 1790 at a site in Horn Lane. This Church established a Congregational mission in 1870 in a cottage in Victoria Road, near George Lane, and two years later a temporary iron church was erected at the corner of Daisy Road. The first pastor was appointed in 1876. Though the building was twice enlarged, a bigger one was soon needed. In 1879 land in George Lane was purchased, and in 1886 a new church was completed to the design of Thomas Arnold in the Early English style.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 352-358.

Wakefield Street church originated in 1886, when S. W. Patmore opened a mission in the Holme Road Assembly Room. In 1890 this work was taken over by the London Congregational Union, which erected an iron church in Stamford Road, with E. T. Egg as temporary pastor. In 1897 H. G. Brown became the first settled minister, and in 1901 a brick church, seating 800, was opened in Wakefield Street. In 1903 this was the strongest Congregational church in East Ham. A Sunday school was built in 1911, when the church membership was 215. In 1940 the church was destroyed by bombing, and from 1941 to 1945 the congregation worshipped in East Avenue Presbyterian church. The Sunday school, fronting on Myrtle Road, survived, and was later used for worship until 1957, when the church was rebuilt.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 31-38.

The Congregational Chapel Building Society purchased an extensive site in Milton Road, South Hornsey, in 1851 and 1855, which was sold to Harecourt chapel, Islington, in 1859. Services and Sunday school began in 1860. An iron chapel seating 560 opened south of the school in 1867. Membership increased from 14 (1861) to 114 (1867). The chapel was declared independent of it parent foundation, Harecourt chapel, in 1872. A permanent chapel of red brick with stone dressings in Gothic style by John Sulman opened on a new site at the junction of Milton Road with Albion Grove in 1880 and was registered as the Raleigh Memorial Chapel in 1881. The Chapel accommodated 1,000 and contained a lecture hall seating 600, Sunday schools, and a library. The Chapel was damaged during the Second World War, and reopened in 1954.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 211-215.

The Fulham Congregational Church, Dawes Road was opened in April 1887. It included a lecture room, school rooms and library.

Park Chapel, at the foot of Crouch Hill, was opened in 1855 and registered by Congregationalists in 1856. Alterations raised its seating to 1,017 in 1877 and 1,430 by 1894. After further extensions it had 816 worshippers in the morning and 671 in the evening on one Sunday in 1903, the largest Congregationalist attendances in Hornsey. The chapel and its halls formed a popular social centre, accommodating Hornsey British school until 1877 and later being described as a 'great church'. From 1973 Baptists from Ferme Park shared Park chapel, by then a United Reformed church and still seating circa 1,400.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 183-189.

The foundation stone of Blackheath Congregational Church was laid on 18 July 1883 and the church, which was designed by the architects Brandon and Ritchie of Greenwich, was opened for public worship on 11 July 1854.

The church was badly damaged during the Second World War. In February 1957 a new building, designed by Dannatt, was erected within the walls of the old church. The ecumenical developments of the 1960s led to the union of the Baptist and Congregationalist congregations in Blackheath, and in 1974 the Blackheath Congregational Church was closed.

The Deptford Congregational Church on Deptford High Street originated in a meeting house of 1702. This was rebuilt in 1756 and then was replaced by a large chapel in 1862. The church was closed in 1969.

Cricklewood Presbyterian Church on Rondu Road was registered in 1900. It appears to have closed by 1954.

Cricklewood Congregational Church, Chichele Road, was founded in 1885. It ran a mission hall on the Edgware Road between 1913 and 1933. In 1980 the church closed and became a mosque and Islamic centre.

Mitcham Congregational Church was founded in 1818 as the Zion [or Sion] Chapel. It was responsible for the local Sunday School which it converted into a British Day School in 1857.

George Whitefield (1714-1770), the famous evangelical preacher, obtained a lease of the site for his Chapel in Tottenham Court Road in 1756. Whitefield had been driven to seek a place where he would be free from the opposition encountered from the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields at the Long Acre Chapel where he had been a minister. The Chapel, built and probably designed by Matthew Pearce, was opened for public worship in 1756 and was enlarged in the winter of 1759 to 1760. Whitefield died in Boston, America in 1770 and his memorial sermon was preached in the Chapel by John Wesley.

When the original lease expired in 1827, the freehold was purchased by Trustees, who reconditioned the Chapel which was reopened for services in October 1831. In 1853 the burial ground which had been in use since 1756 with an interval of eight years, 1823-1831, was closed. There was a dispute when in 1856 the Reverend J.W. Richardson endeavoured to use part of it for building purposes, and owners of the graves applied for an injunction against the disturbance of the ground. However, in 1895 it was laid out and opened as a public garden.

In 1856 the Chapel was repaired, only to be almost wholly destroyed by fire in February 1857. The property was then bought up by the London Congregational Building Society who erected a new building designed by John Tarring. However, in 1889 the foundations began to give way, probably because of the numerous burials within the building which disturbed the filling to the pond underneath.

The Chapel was closed and services were carried out in a temporary iron structure until the new building was opened in November 1899. The new building included a chapel designed to seat 1,200 people, and beneath it Toplady Hall, named after the Reverend Augustus Toplady. On 25 March 1945 the Chapel was totally destroyed by bombing and was subsequently replaced by a new building which still remains on the site. The Whitefield Memorial Church is now the American Church in London. It is a non-denominational, evangelical church.

Plumstead Congregational Church was originally built as an iron and wood church in 1899 on freehold land at Viewland Road, Plumstead .

John Knox Presbyterian Church, on Stepney Way, Stepney, was founded in 1844. When the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church decided to amalgamate to form the new United Reformed Church in 1972, the John Knox Presbyterian Church merged with Stepney Meeting House which was also situated on Stepney Way. For a short while both buildings continued to be used for worship, but in 1976 the Stepney Meeting House building on the corner with Copley Street was sold to the John Cass Foundation for use as a school chapel.

Oaklands Congregational Church, Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush was founded in 1858.

The New Cross Congregational Church was founded in 1894.

The Congregational Church in Kentish Town was first founded in 1807 in Kentish Town Road. Membership grew rapidly and by the 1840s it was necessary to construct a larger building. The foundation stone of a new building on Kelly Street was laid in November 1847. The new chapel was opened on August 15th 1848. The first chapel was converted into a day school and Sunday School. The Church did not join the United Reformed Church in 1972 when the Congregational Church merged with the Presbyterian Church and remains the Kelly Street Congregational Church.

HMS Exmouth was loaned to the Metropolitan Asylums Board by the Admiralty for use as a training ship for poor boys in 1876. The cadets were often from families that had been placed in workhouses, having fallen on hard times.

The Exmouth replaced the previous training ship at Grays, HMS Goliath. This was destroyed by fire in 1875, killing 19 cadets. Exmouth's first commander, Staff Commander Bouchier, survived the blaze.

The first Exmouth, built in 1840, saw more than 30 years service in the Navy. She had accommodation for 750 boys and staff, who were usually former members of the Royal Navy. The ship was run along naval lines with regular inspections. But by 1903, Exmouth was felt to be too old for service and she was replaced by a new, purpose-built vessel.

This ship remained in service until the outbreak of war in 1939. The boys were moved inland, while the Exmouth was taken over by the Admiralty for use as a depot ship.

Source: http://www.portcities.org.uk.

Shortly after the foundation of Methodism by John Wesley, he concluded that he needed a permanent base from which to preach and convert. He founded a chapel to the east of the City of London, but this soon fell in to disrepair. In 1778 he built a new and more permanent chapel on the City Road, which still stands today. Wesley's Chapel has been altered in some ways but was restored after a major fund raising campaign in the 1970s, and re-opened in 1978 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Wesley's House was built by Wesley in 1779. It was Wesley's winter home and also provided a home for the preachers of the Chapel, their families and servants. The house is now open to visitors and contains many of John Wesley's belongings and furniture, including his electrical machine, his study chair and his small Prayer Room.

The Museum of Methodism was opened in 1984 in the Crypt of Wesley's Chapel. It tells the history of Methodism from John Wesley to the present day.

Epworth Hall is located in Helston, Cornwall. It was constructed in 1798 as a Wesleyan Methodist meeting hall and was named 'Epworth' after Wesley's birthplace in Lincolnshire.

The municipal borough of West Ham, formed in 1886, was divided into four wards, with a council comprising 36 councillors and 12 aldermen. It became a county borough in 1889 under the Local Government Act, 1888. The number of wards was increased to 12 in 1899, and to 16 in 1922, when the council was also enlarged to 48 councillors and 16 aldermen. Of the chief officers taken over by the borough council from the local board in 1886 only the engineer, Lewis Angell, was serving full-time. His department included his nephew John Morley, and John Angell, probably his son. When Lewis Angell was dismissed in 1899, as described below, John Angell left also, but Morley succeeded his uncle, and served until 1924.

In 1888 the council carried out several building projects, having obtained powers to widen several main streets and to issue loan stock. A new public hall, opened in 1894, was built at Canning Town. The West Ham Corporation Act, 1893, provided at last for the town's sewage to be admitted to the northern outfall sewer. The necessary scheme was carried out in 1897-1901. By 1898 the council had also built two public libraries and a technical institute, had started building mental and smallpox hospitals, opened two recreation grounds, put in hand an electricity and tramway undertaking, and was planning public baths, council houses, and an isolation hospital.

In 1897 the Socialists and some of the Progressives on the council formed a Labour group with a policy including, among other things, the establishment of a works department. At the election of 1898 this group, with 29 seats, won control. The new council proceeded vigorously with the schemes for the baths, council houses, hospitals, the electricity undertaking, tramways, and sewage disposal already started or planned. Its most controversial measure was to set up an independent works department, which brought it into collision with the aged borough engineer, Lewis Angell, who had held office for 32 years. He had already fought one successful battle against an independent works department. That had been set up in 1894, but its manager proved ineffective, and in 1896 Angell forced his resignation and annexed his department. In 1899, when the Labour council decided to re-establish the works department, Angell bitterly resisted the proposal and was dismissed. The works department, under a new manager, was given the task of building, by direct labour, the new isolation hospital at Plaistow.

In the period 1919-1940 the Council erected some 1,200 dwellings, mainly under slum clearance schemes, in which its record was second only to that of Bermondsey among the boroughs in Greater London. Two major engineering works were undertaken. Silvertown Way, by a viaduct and bridge, carried a new arterial road from Canning Town to the docks over railways and the dock entrance. In the north of the borough a joint scheme was carried out for widening High Street from Bow Bridge to Stratford Broadway, and, with the Lee conservancy board, for the improvement and flood relief of the river and its branches. Large indoor baths were built in Romford Road, open air baths at Canning Town, and a number of new schools.

The West Ham area was heavily bombed during the Second World War. This damage made it possible to undertake large-scale redevelopment, especially in the south of the borough, and between 1945 and 1965 the council built over 9,500 dwellings, of which 8,000 were permanent. Public buildings completed since 1945 included a new fire station, new municipal offices in the Grove, Stratford (1960), two libraries, a health centre, a junior training centre, and a youth centre, as well as several schools. Under the London Government Act, 1963, West Ham became part of the London borough of Newham.

From: 'West Ham: Local government and public services', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 96-112 (available online).

The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod. The London North East District of the Methodist Church includes various missions, chapels and circuits in London and surrounding counties, including Whitechapel, Poplar, Bow, Hackney, Stoke Newington, East Ham, Finsbury Park and Southgate, Tottenham, Enfield, Waltham Abbey and Hertford, Wanstead and South Woodford, Walthamstow and Chingford, Leytonstone and Forest Gate, Ilford, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Romford, Grays, Southend-on-Sea, Leigh-on-Sea, Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, Manningtree and Harwich, and Clacton-on-Sea. Institutions belonging to this District include Wesley's Chapel, City Road; Wesley House; The Leys School, Cambridge; Queen Victoria's Seamen's Rest and the National Children's Home.

In 1890 the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act placed a duty on beer and spirits, the proceeds of which were given to county borough councils for technical education. In 1893 the London County Council set up a Technical Education Board which helped to create eighteen new technical institutes by 1904.

The Wandsworth Technical Institute was founded in 1895. It was constructed on Wandsworth High Street on the site of an ice rink. In 1926 new buildings were completed at the High Street site, these are now Grade II listed. During the Second World War the students were evacuated to Stoke Park in Guildford and the college buildings used to train radar operators. In 1974 the Institute merged with the Putney College of Further Education and was renamed South Thames College.

The London and South East Region (LASER) Advisory Council for Education and Training was founded in 1945 as the Regional Advisory Council for Technical Education (London and Home Counties). Its role was to provide quality assurance for existing vocational for technical courses, to organise conferences and training and to assist with curriculum development. It became free of local government control in 1989 but was unable to compete in the open market and was forced to close in 1995.

Hampton Hill Spiritualist Church was first established in October 1919 as the Hampton Hill Spiritualist Society. The Society was located at No. 3 High Street in Hampton Hill. Some time between 1921 and 1928, the church moved to a building at No 12 Windmill Road known as the Old Church. This building was originally built as a Congregational chapel and used for this purpose between 1838 and 1870, after which it had a wide variety of uses including a glove factory. The church was affiliated to the Spiritualists' National Union in 1929 and was formally registered as a spiritualist church in May 1937. The church building and land were later purchased in March 1957 and put into trust with the Spiritualists' National Union. By the 1990s, the Old Church was in a poor state and in need of major repair work. The Church negotiated a land swap with a local developer and the current church was constructed on land to the rear of the Old Church with the original plot at the front being used for residential housing. The New Church was opened in August 2000.

Source: http://www.hamptonhillspiritualists.webeden.co.uk

The German Evangelical Church, later the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church, was built 1882-1883. The foundation stone was laid on 13 July 1882 in Dacres Road, Sydenham and the church was finally dedicated on 17 March 1883.

The origin of the Sydenham congregation preceeds the building of the church. On Good Friday 1875, the first service was conducted by Pastor Elias Schrenk in Park Hall Congregational Church, The Grove, Sydenham. On 14 April of the same year, the first church committee was formed.

The church suffered greatly during the two World Wars. From Easter 1916 until October 1921, the church was forced to close because of hostility towards the German community. In December 1940, incendiary bombs set fire to the church. The damage was such that the building was finally demolished in August 1950. Negotiations with the War Damage Commision raised $34,000 in funds for the rebuilding of the church.

The foundation stone for the new church was laid on 20 July 1958, and the church was dedicated 21 June 1959. The new church was renamed the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church, a suggestion made by Professor Franz Hildebradt. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was pastor of the German Evangelical Church in Sydenham and the German Reformed Church of St Paul's, Whitechapel between 1933-1935. He led his congregations to join the Confessing Church in Germany, and in the early years of the Nazi regime, German refugees recieved help from the two congregations. He was a prominent member of the German Resistance Movement and was involved in a plot to assasinate Hitler. On 9 April 1945, he was hanged by the Nazis in Flossenburg concentration camp.

Other pastors who served at the church (until 1953) are as follows:-

1876-1890 Wagner, C (Budapest) 1890-1894 Meister, M (Berlin-Brandenburg)

1895-1902 Diettrich, Dr (Berlin)

1902-1911 Wollschlager (Westphalia)

1912-1918 Goehling, O (Berlin-Brandenburg)

1922-1933 Singer, F (Wurttemberg)

1933-1935 Bonhoeffer, D (Berlin)

1935-1939 Bockheler, M (Wurtemberg)

1953 - Bethge, E (Berlin)

The Paddington Chapel was a Congregational Chapel built in 1813. The building of the church was funded by businessman Thomas Wilson, who supported the building of several churches across the United Kingdom. The church was situated in Saint Marylebone. In 1815 a Sunday School was opened. The Sunday School began to include Writing Classes which developed into a full time Day School, which was open between 1828 and 1874. An attempt was made in 1919 to change the name of the church to "Saint Marylebone Congregational Church" to clear up misunderstandings that it was situated in Paddington, but the decision was made to retain the old name. In 1941 the church was hit by an incendiary bomb but it sustained little damage. The church was closed in the late 1970s and the building was demolished in 1981.

In 1880 the church opened the Earl Street Mission in Lission Grove. By 1907 the Mission was so successful that another hall was purchased in Carlisle Street, although this had to be demolished in 1920. The Mission ran various evangelical and social welfare activities including a Sunday School, Mother's Meetings, Burial Club, Men's Meeting, club for the unemployed and Youth Centre. The Hall was destroyed in an air raid in 1940 and subsequently closed in 1953.

The United Reformed Church formed in 1972 following the union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales. The United Reformed Church is a part of the historic Reformed tradition, whose member denominations make up one of the largest single strands of Protestantism with more than 70 million members world-wide. The Re-formed Churches of Christ joined the union in 1981, followed by the Congregational Union of Scotland in April 2000. The United Reformed Church also has over 400 local churches united with other denominations. The United Reformed Church is divided into 13 Synods and throughout England, Scotland and Wales there are around 1750 United Reformed Church congregations served by some 1100 ministers, both women and men. The Church is governed through democratic Councils.

The Presbyterian Church is composed of presbyters (elders), all of equal status, and deacons and trustees who manage temporal affairs. The presiding ministers and elders make up the 'session' or 'consistory', the first in the hierarchy of courts. Since both the minister and ruling elders are elected by the congregation, the Presbyterian polity is ultimately determined by the people. Appeal from the session may be made to the 'presbytery' or 'colloquy', the next highest court. The presbytery includes equal numbers of ministers and lay elders, and holds jurisdiction over church properties and ministers. The next court in the hierarchy is the 'synod' which exercises limited supervisory authority over both presbyteries and congregations. Finally there is the 'general assembly' which meets annually to supervise the interests of the entire denomination.

Lyndhurst Road Congregational Church, Rosslyn Hill, Hampstead, originated in services held in an iron building on Willoughby Road in 1876. A church with around 60 members was formed in 1880. By 1883 membership had risen to 220 and the iron church often held 600 in a space designed for 440. 4 members of the church bought land on Rosslyn Grove estate, keeping part of the land to build a new church and selling on the remaining land to finance the construction. Theologian Robert F. Horton became the full time minister in 1884, remaining until 1930. He was an influential writer and preacher, whose Sunday night lectures drew many working men. The new church, seating 1,500, was opened in 1884. A lecture hall and school were added later. Membership was 1,276 in 1913 but fell to 1,000 during the First World War and to 613 in 1939. In 1972 the church became United Reformed when the Presbyterian and Congregational churches merged. The church was closed in 1978.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 153-158.

Saint Peter's Presbyterian Church, Upper Tooting, was founded in 1685. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed Church. It is now closed.

Plumstead Congregational Church was originally built as an iron and wood church in 1899 on freehold land at Viewland Road, Plumstead.

Westbourne Grove Presbyterian Church was situated at the north end of Westbourne Grove Terrace. It was registered by the United Presbyterian Church in 1863 and, as Saint Paul's Church by the Presbyterian Church of England, 1877. In 1919 the church united with Trinity Church, Kensington Park Road, Kensington, and registered as "Bayswater Presbyterian Church (Trinity and St. Paul's)" . The Church was called Bayswater United Reformed Church from 1972.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 260-264.

Cricklewood Presbyterian Church on Rondu Road was registered in 1900. It appears to have closed by the 1970s as there is no listing for a Presbyterian church in Cricklewood in the 'Official Handbook of the Presbyterian Church of England 1971-1972'. From 1973 a Cricklewood United Reformed Church is listed in the Congregational Church Year Book.

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Leytonstone Road, Maryland Point, was founded in 1863 by Andrew Black, of the United Presbyterian Church, who became the first minister (1863-1875). A hall was built in 1864 and the church itself in 1870. It was a brick and stone building in the Gothic style, with a spired angle tower. After early difficulties Trinity flourished under Alexander Jeffrey (1888-1906), the building debt being cleared and communicants numbering over 400, including many seamen. The leading layman at this period was an engine-driver, Alexander Keir. From 1906 the church was declining, and in 1941 it was closed, the members joining East Avenue church, Manor Park, which then took the name Trinity. The Leytonstone Road building, later used as a factory, was destroyed by fire in 1953. The church hall still survived, as a factory, in 1966.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.

East Ham Presbyterian Church, later Trinity Presbyterian Church, East Avenue, Manor Park, originated in the 1890s, when Alexander Thompson, a Scotsman who had previously worshipped at Plashet Park Congregational church, began to hold Presbyterian meetings at his house in Victoria Avenue. With help from the Presbytery of London North a site was bought in East Avenue, and in 1900 an iron church, given by Dr. J. A. Voelker, was erected there. There were early disagreements between the local congregation, which favoured a conventional organization, and the Presbytery, which advocated mission work of the 'central hall' type. These were settled by a compromise; in 1902 Thomas G. Murray became the first minister, in 1903 a permanent church was built, and in 1905 halls were added. By 1909 the membership was 424, and during the brilliant ministry of I. Gwessin Jenkins (1910-1928) it rose to 600. Under Jenkins's successor there was a sharp decline, but the church revived after the coming in 1935 of W. Harding Jones. In 1941 the church was joined by the congregation of Trinity Presbyterian church, Maryland Point (West Ham), from which it took over the name Trinity. From 1941 to 1945 it also accommodated the members of Wakefield Street Congregational church, whose own building had been bombed.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 31-38.

In 1891 the Presbyterian Church of England acquired land at the corner of Ballards Lane and Redbourne Avenue, where a hall was opened in 1893 and registered in 1894. The church was registered in 1895. Called Saint Margaret's from 1932, the church joined with Church End Congregational Church, Victoria Avenue, in 1969 to form Union Church, Finchley Central; after the formation of the United Reformed church in 1972, it was known as Saint Margaret's United Reformed Church. The old Presbyterian church hall was still used by the united congregation in 1976 but was demolished in 1977.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 87-91.

Saint George's Presbyterian Church, Hainault Road, Leytonstone, originated in 1888, when the Reverend G. Drysdale, a retired minister living in the district, built an iron church in Wallwood Road. In 1891 the Presbytery of North London recognized this as a sanctioned charge and in 1893 a permanent building designed by William Wallace was opened in Hainault Road. It is a red-brick building with stone dressings, in the Gothic style, consisting of nave and transepts. Under William Kidd (1895-1919) a debt of £6,000 was paid off, a hall built, and membership raised from 36 to nearly 200. During the 1920s, however, the church began to decline rapidly, and in 1939 it was closed and sold to the Essex county council, which used it as a civil defence depot.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 223-233.

The Vine Congregational church, formerly known as Ilford High Road church, was founded in 1892 by the Metropolitan District Committee of the London Congregational Union. Services were held in the Thompson Rooms and later in a house in Oakfield Road. Edward T. Egg, a veteran minister, became temporary leader at Ilford, and in 1894 opened an iron church in High Road. In 1895 a large hall was opened, with A. G. Spears as minister. He was succeeded in 1897 by Charles H. Vine, who remained until his death in 1930.

Under Vine's leadership High Road became one of the strongest churches in Essex. Soon after his arrival the hall was enlarged, and in 1901 a new church was opened, with seats for 1,400. In 1910 an adjoining site was purchased and additional buildings erected. One of Vine's most important enterprises was the Men's Meeting, founded in 1901 and rising to a membership of 2,000. This organization undertook social work of many kinds. As early as 1904 it had a labour exchange for its members, and it also ran a sick benefit society, a holiday savings club, a hospital savings group, a horticultural society, a benevolent fund, and clubs for swimming and tennis.

From the first Vine was active in fostering new churches in the Ilford area. After his death the High Road church incorporated his name in its title, being known as the Vine Memorial church and later as the Vine church. During his ministry church membership rose from 110 in 1897 to a peak of 979 in 1927. During and after the Second World War membership declined.

In 1960 the High Road part of the site, including the church of 1901, was sold for redevelopment. A new, smaller church in a simple mid-20th-century style was built in 1961, facing Richmond Road, and the church hall, facing Grosvenor Road, was renovated.

The church is now part of the Vine United Reformed Church on Riches Road.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 249-266.

Saint Stephen's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1896 by the Church of Scotland. It was transferred to the Presbyterian Church of England in 1921. It is possible that it merged with the local Congregational Church to form the Saint Thomas' United Reform Church, Watford.

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Canonbury was situated on Church Road (later North Church Road), off Southgate Road. It originated as the Old Scots Church Meeting at Founders' Hall from 1672 and London Wall from 1764. The church moved to Islington in 1857 on the expiry of the London Wall lease. The Church and manse opened in 1858; a lecture hall was added in the 1880s. Numbers declined in the 1890s to almost nothing; although John Kerr Craig's ministry in 1899 to 1910 increased membership again. The church was closed between 1934 and 1942.

From: 'Islington: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 101-115.

Christ Church Presbyterian Church, Dulwich is now part of the Christ Church United Reformed Church and Methodist Church, Barry Road, Dulwich.

Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1900. The church was built in 1902 on Shaw's Corner, Redhill. In 1972 when the Presbyterian and Congregational churches merged Saint Paul's became a United Reformed Church.