All Hallows Church, Poplar |
| The origin of this church
were in a mission curacy established by Winchester College in 1876 within the parish of St
Michael & All Angels. This was part of the ancient parish of Bromley St Leonard's that
had greatly increased it's population in the last 10 years or so - mostly due to the house
building activities of David McIntosh and John Abbott nearby. It was a totally working
class area - 'seafaring men, dock labourers, gas makers' - and included some 2,000 of 'the
poorest classes, living from day to day as best they can'. The site of the church was noticeably sunken below the level of the roadway. So the building, designed by the architect, Ewan Christian (1814-95), was thus placed well back from the road to give better light and less noise, but encountered problems with the foundations, which were 'the worst description of Thames mud' and which he described as the 'old foreshore'. The church had two entrances at the west end, north and south, that from East India Dock Road giving access to the south aisle through the base of the tower, and that from Dunkeld Street directly to the nave. The parish room and mission room eastward of the building were built in 1884-5, but the vicarage was built west of the church only in 1911. The church was badly damaged during the Second World War and was demolished in 1952. A short length of iron railings and the steps down from East India Dock Road have survived. It was thereafter represented by the church of St Nicholas and All Hallows in Aberfeldy Street, opened in 1955 and closed in 1968. It was re-opened in 1998 and rededicated by the Bishop of
Stepney on December 6th 2000. There is now a regular Sunday congregation. Further
information can be obtained by contacting: Tel. & Fax: 0207 515 8405 |
