Parish of Holy Trinity, Bethnal Green , Church of England

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.