St Matthias' Church, Stoke Newington

St Matthias Church

St Matthias Church is an Anglican church in Stoke Newington, north London, England, and was once one of London’s foremost High Churches.

Formation

St Matthias, once one of London’s foremost High Churches, was built from 1849–53, partly with money from a rich doctor named Robert Brett,[1] who thought that the Dissenting chapels such as the nearby Newington Green Unitarian Church were attracting so many worshippers in part because the Anglican pews were full.[2] The church was consecrated in June 1853. It is dedicated to St Matthias.

St Faith with St Matthias and All Saints

In 1873 two new parishes of Stoke Newington, All Saints and Stoke Newington, St Faith were carved out of the parishes of St Mary and St Matthias. All Saints church was in Aden Grove, replacing an earlier iron structure, in 1876. It was demolished in 1956. St Faith's church was built on Londesborough Road in 1873, badly damaged by bombing in 1944, and finally abandoned and demolished in 1949. In 2010 a photograph of St Faith's, showing bomb damage in 1944, was featured in Gavin Stamp's study of Lost Victorian Architecture and reproduced in Country Life.[3]

Many churches were severely damaged by bombs during World War II. Although St Matthias was restored, the extent of the damage, combined with a decrease in the population of the area led to a number of parishes being combined in the 20th century. For instance, in 1951 St Faith and St Matthias parishes were merged. In 1956 they were again merged with All Saints to form Stoke Newington, St Faith with St Matthias and All Saints In 1974 the name of the combined parish was shortened to Stoke Newington, St Matthias.

Father David Lambert became the parish priest in July 2006.

References

  1. ↑ Allardyce, p33.
  2. ↑ 'Stoke Newington: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 204-211. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=4732 Date accessed: 29 May 2009.
  3. ↑ Aurum Press, 2010; Country Life, 1 December 2010

Further reading

  • T. Francis Bumpus (1913) An Historical London Church - A Record of Sixty-Five Years' Life and Work in the Church and Parish of S Matthias, Stoke Newington
  • Alex Allardyce (2008) The Village that Changed the World: a history of Newington Green London N16. Newington Green Action Group
    • Chapter titles: Beginnings, Kings and Treason; Dissenters, Academies and Castaways; The Chaste Old Bachelor of Newington Green; Enlightenment, Revolutions and Poets; Development, Destruction and Renewal.

Coordinates: 51°33′9″N 0°4′46″W / 51.55250°N 0.07944°W / 51.55250; -0.07944

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