All Saints, Poplar
Encyclopedia
All Saints' Church, Poplar is a church in Newby Place, Poplar
, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
, and is the Church of England parish church
of Poplar. It was built in 1821-3 to serve the newly created parish.
The church was designated a Grade II listed building on 19 July 1950.
, and came to be known as one of the Tower Hamlets
in the parish of Stepney
. The settlements provided some of the labour-force for the expanding City of London, including the militiamen at the Tower, as well as crops and livestock from the newly drained marshland. By the time the land was sold off to private families under Henry VIII, the Blackwall area had also established a thriving shipbuilding and repairing industry.
was then the Parish Church, and baptismal records from the early 17th century show that just over half the fathers in Poplar were occupied in river or sea trades. In 1614 the spice traders of the East India Company set up their main shipyard at Blackwall
with their headquarters in Poplar, served by a company Chapel (now St Matthias Old Church
) built in 1652 on Poplar High Street.
Despite the ravages of plague, the population continued to grow, added to which there was an influx of Huguenot
refugees to the area in 1685 who specialised in silk manufacture and weaving, starting the continuing tradition of the cloth trade in the East End.
. In 1800 the West India Docks
were dug out manually across the northern reach of the Isle of Dogs
, principally by Irish immigrant labourers. The dock companies built the main road in 1803 (now Commercial Road
and East India Dock Road) between Aldgate
and Poplar and in 1806 the East India Docks
were opened. The new construction work destroyed many homes and impoverished the lives of the local inhabitants. Subsequent employment at the docks and wharves was always subject to the vagaries of the weather and of market forces. However by 1811 the population of Blackwall and Poplar was over 7,000 and in the next 50 years it increased to 43,000.
A new wealthy class of merchants began to move into the area and in 1817 Parliament enacted a law which made Poplar a parish in its own right. A book sealed in the reign of George III
, setting out the rights and responsibilities of the new parish, remains in the church archives. Among its pages is the remarkable statement “that the Rector retains the right to close off the East India Dock Road to prevent noise during the time of Divine Service.”
The Poplar Vestry set about acquiring a suitable plot of land on which to build a parish church with adjoining graveyard and rectory. The site eventually purchased consisted of a house, garden and field owned by Mrs Ann Newby, and in 1820 the Vestry invited designs for a building that would reflect Poplar’s new independence and prosperity. Of the 36 that were received, the design by Charles Hollis was chosen. He had recently been appointed architect of the new parish church of St. John The Baptist, Windsor
(a replacement building completed in 1822), which is in contrasting Gothic style. Hollis had worked as a clerk to a prominent parishioner in Poplar, London
, and he submitted his design under the pseudonym
'Felix'. Nevertheless, when his design was selected there were accusations of preferential treatment. The West India Dock Company wrote a letter of complaint to the Bishop of London
, supported by a report by John Rennie
in favour of another design, but in vain.
The architect’s original scale model is on display in the Church. Hollis also designed the Rectory
. A relatively expensive church for the period, All Saints was built from granite and Portland stone
by the engineer Thomas Morris (whose grave lies outside to the north of the Church door). The initial budget was £20,000 but the whole project cost just over £33,000, paid for out of the rates and with loans from two parishioners, John Stock and George Green, supplanted a year or so later by a loan on better terms from the West India Dock Company. The foundation stone was laid on 29 March 1821 by the Bishop of London.
The Church was consecrated on 3 July 1823, and a living established under the patronage of Brasenose College, Oxford
. This was sufficient for the first Rector, the Revd. Samuel Hoole, to be driven to Divine Service from the Rectory in a horse and carriage. His successor is buried immediately opposite the front door of the Church, and gave his name to Bazely Street (originally known as Bow Lane). The Ionic columns of the portico are surmounted by a façade of more Corinthian style rising to an elegant steeple about 160 feet high. The tower supports a peal
of ten bells, originally supplied at a cost of £1,060 and still rung by the church's bell ringers.
Inside the Church there were grand galleries on all sides, and a pulpit which could be cranked up and raised in height for the benefit of large congregations. Above the original organ (which had been installed at a cost of £675) there were additional galleries to accommodate the children of the Poor Law
Institute. One of the six Beadle
’s staffs which were used to keep the children in order is still on show in the Church. The status of All Saints as a Civic Church was marked by the royal coat of arms now to be seen on the organ gallery, but which was originally positioned on the capital over the altar. The small altar was made of cast iron and contained a chest for valuables; it is now to be found in the Sacrament Chapel on the north side of the sanctuary. The altar was embellished at a later date by Martin Travers
, who also designed the tabernacle for the reserved sacrament
. Behind the altar was a stained glass window, the design of which was criticised so much that it is said the artist committed suicide. It was soon covered by a curtain and eventually bricked up altogether in the 1890s, at which time under the influence of the Oxford Movement
the Church took on a High Church Catholic style
. Great steps were built up to the new carved high altar which was commissioned from Oberammergau
by the Rector, the Revd Arthur Chandler, later Bishop of Bloemfontein
.
Thirty years earlier his predecessor, The Revd Thomas Nowell, had to respond to a different influence - the sudden collapse in 1866 of some major City investment banks which resulted in the swift demise of the local shipyard industry, followed by the great cholera
epidemic in the same year. The gentry began to vacate Poplar for the healthier climes east of London. An elegant brass plaque at the east end of the Church honours the Rector for his tireless work trying to improve the social condition of his increasingly poor parishioners. This tradition of local Church involvement and support continued over the period of great social change at the turn of the century with the growing political activism of working people.
The Church took a leading role in cementing the community of this targeted area of dockland during the Blitz
of the Second World War. Many of the finest edifices of Poplar were destroyed and bombs constantly damaged the Church building, although this did not dissuade hundreds of people from using the crypt
as an air-raid shelter. Late in the war, however, a V2 rocket devastated the building, destroying the east end and bringing down the roof. Post-war restoration in the 1950s saw the removal of the galleries and the placing of a new organ gallery at the west end, equipped with choir stalls and housing the large reconditioned organ brought from Clapham Congregational Church. Structurally, the roof had to be supported by a high steel grid, masked by four substantial pillars and the plaster-covered beams in the ceiling. The restored high altar was placed under a new and massive baldacchino, but more recently this canopy has been cut in half and the front section placed against the east wall to form a kind of reredos
. A restoration appeal in the 1980s was launched to carry out essential repair work to the tower and outside of the Church, whilst the redecoration of the inside took place in 1991 through the voluntary efforts of parishioners and by means of an anonymous donation of labour and scaffolding from a local builder. The Churchyard was re-landscaped and totally refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
in 1999.
In 1964 the Parish of Poplar was formally established as the first Team Ministry in the London Diocese, combining nine different parishes in an area now recognised as one of the poorest in terms of overcrowding, unemployment and multiple deprivation, all under the shadow of the Canary Wharf
development. A modern parish centre has been created out of the crypt space below the Church, from which bodies were removed in 1989 and re-interred in the Parish Guild Ground at the East London Cemetery
. In order to construct the new crypt centre the pews had to be temporarily removed and the Church floor broken up. This was replaced by a modern steel and concrete structure and a new floor incorporating a heating and air-conditioning system. The Crypt is also used for meetings and conferences.
In 1999 the decision was taken to re-open St Nicholas' Church on the Aberfeldy Estate, and a growing congregation now worships there.
Poplar, London
Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...
, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
, and is the Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Poplar. It was built in 1821-3 to serve the newly created parish.
The church was designated a Grade II listed building on 19 July 1950.
Early history
The true foundations had been laid 425 years earlier, when in 1396, the small village of ‘Popelar’ with Blackwall had been granted to the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of St Mary de Graces just by the Tower of LondonTower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, and came to be known as one of the Tower Hamlets
Tower division
The Tower Division was a liberty, a historical form of local government, in the ancient county of Middlesex, England. It was also known as the Tower Hamlets, and took its name from being under the special jurisdiction of the Constable of the Tower of London...
in the parish of Stepney
Stepney (parish)
Stepney was an ancient civil and ecclesiastical parish in the historic county of Middlesex to the east and north east of the City of London, England.-Origins:...
. The settlements provided some of the labour-force for the expanding City of London, including the militiamen at the Tower, as well as crops and livestock from the newly drained marshland. By the time the land was sold off to private families under Henry VIII, the Blackwall area had also established a thriving shipbuilding and repairing industry.
17th century
St Dunstan's, StepneySt Dunstan's, Stepney
St Dunstan's, Stepney is an Anglican Church which stands on a site which has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets.-History:...
was then the Parish Church, and baptismal records from the early 17th century show that just over half the fathers in Poplar were occupied in river or sea trades. In 1614 the spice traders of the East India Company set up their main shipyard at Blackwall
Blackwall, London
Blackwall is an area of the East End of London, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames.The district around Blackwall Stairs was known as Blackwall by at least the 14th century. This presumably derives from the colour of the river wall, constructed in...
with their headquarters in Poplar, served by a company Chapel (now St Matthias Old Church
St Matthias Old Church
St Matthias Old Church is the modern name given to the Poplar Chapel built by the East India Company in 1654, in Poplar, one of the "Tower Hamlets" in the East End of London.-History:...
) built in 1652 on Poplar High Street.
Despite the ravages of plague, the population continued to grow, added to which there was an influx of Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugees to the area in 1685 who specialised in silk manufacture and weaving, starting the continuing tradition of the cloth trade in the East End.
19th century
At the beginning of the 19th Century, to escape the heavy duties levied on cargoes discharged within the City itself, massive capital expenditure was risked in the building of docks eastward of the Pool of LondonPool of London
The Pool of London is a part of the Tideway of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Tower Bridge. It was the original part of the Port of London. The Pool of London is divided into two parts, the Upper Pool and Lower Pool...
. In 1800 the West India Docks
West India Docks
The West India Docks are a series of three docks on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first of which opened in 1802. The docks closed to commercial traffic in 1980 and the Canary Wharf development was built on the site.-History:...
were dug out manually across the northern reach of the Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
, principally by Irish immigrant labourers. The dock companies built the main road in 1803 (now Commercial Road
Commercial Road
Commercial Road , in length, is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. It runs from "Gardener's Corner" , through Stepney to the junction with Burdett Road , Limehouse from which point the route becomes the East India Dock Road...
and East India Dock Road) between Aldgate
Aldgate
Aldgate was the eastern most gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the east end of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City...
and Poplar and in 1806 the East India Docks
East India Docks
The East India Docks was a group of docks in Blackwall, east London, north-east of the Isle of Dogs. Today only the entrance basin remains.-History:...
were opened. The new construction work destroyed many homes and impoverished the lives of the local inhabitants. Subsequent employment at the docks and wharves was always subject to the vagaries of the weather and of market forces. However by 1811 the population of Blackwall and Poplar was over 7,000 and in the next 50 years it increased to 43,000.
A new wealthy class of merchants began to move into the area and in 1817 Parliament enacted a law which made Poplar a parish in its own right. A book sealed in the reign of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
, setting out the rights and responsibilities of the new parish, remains in the church archives. Among its pages is the remarkable statement “that the Rector retains the right to close off the East India Dock Road to prevent noise during the time of Divine Service.”
The Poplar Vestry set about acquiring a suitable plot of land on which to build a parish church with adjoining graveyard and rectory. The site eventually purchased consisted of a house, garden and field owned by Mrs Ann Newby, and in 1820 the Vestry invited designs for a building that would reflect Poplar’s new independence and prosperity. Of the 36 that were received, the design by Charles Hollis was chosen. He had recently been appointed architect of the new parish church of St. John The Baptist, Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
(a replacement building completed in 1822), which is in contrasting Gothic style. Hollis had worked as a clerk to a prominent parishioner in Poplar, London
Poplar, London
Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...
, and he submitted his design under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
'Felix'. Nevertheless, when his design was selected there were accusations of preferential treatment. The West India Dock Company wrote a letter of complaint to the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, supported by a report by John Rennie
John Rennie
-People:* John Rennie the Elder , engineer * Sir John Rennie the Younger , engineer * John Rennie , naval architect...
in favour of another design, but in vain.
The architect’s original scale model is on display in the Church. Hollis also designed the Rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
. A relatively expensive church for the period, All Saints was built from granite and Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
by the engineer Thomas Morris (whose grave lies outside to the north of the Church door). The initial budget was £20,000 but the whole project cost just over £33,000, paid for out of the rates and with loans from two parishioners, John Stock and George Green, supplanted a year or so later by a loan on better terms from the West India Dock Company. The foundation stone was laid on 29 March 1821 by the Bishop of London.
The Church was consecrated on 3 July 1823, and a living established under the patronage of Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
. This was sufficient for the first Rector, the Revd. Samuel Hoole, to be driven to Divine Service from the Rectory in a horse and carriage. His successor is buried immediately opposite the front door of the Church, and gave his name to Bazely Street (originally known as Bow Lane). The Ionic columns of the portico are surmounted by a façade of more Corinthian style rising to an elegant steeple about 160 feet high. The tower supports a peal
Peal
A peal is the name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing. The precise definition of a peal has changed considerably over the years...
of ten bells, originally supplied at a cost of £1,060 and still rung by the church's bell ringers.
Inside the Church there were grand galleries on all sides, and a pulpit which could be cranked up and raised in height for the benefit of large congregations. Above the original organ (which had been installed at a cost of £675) there were additional galleries to accommodate the children of the Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
Institute. One of the six Beadle
Beadle
Beadle, sometimes spelled "bedel," is a lay official of a church or synagogue who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties....
’s staffs which were used to keep the children in order is still on show in the Church. The status of All Saints as a Civic Church was marked by the royal coat of arms now to be seen on the organ gallery, but which was originally positioned on the capital over the altar. The small altar was made of cast iron and contained a chest for valuables; it is now to be found in the Sacrament Chapel on the north side of the sanctuary. The altar was embellished at a later date by Martin Travers
Martin Travers
Martin Travers was an English church artist and designer, whose name is often connected with the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Church of England, especially that part of the movement which favoured a return to the Baroque style of church furnishing...
, who also designed the tabernacle for the reserved sacrament
Reserved sacrament
During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second part of the Mass, the elements of bread and wine are considered, in some branches of Christian practice, to have been transubstantiated into the veritable Body and Blood of Jesus Christ...
. Behind the altar was a stained glass window, the design of which was criticised so much that it is said the artist committed suicide. It was soon covered by a curtain and eventually bricked up altogether in the 1890s, at which time under the influence of the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
the Church took on a High Church Catholic style
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
. Great steps were built up to the new carved high altar which was commissioned from Oberammergau
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...
by the Rector, the Revd Arthur Chandler, later Bishop of Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
.
Thirty years earlier his predecessor, The Revd Thomas Nowell, had to respond to a different influence - the sudden collapse in 1866 of some major City investment banks which resulted in the swift demise of the local shipyard industry, followed by the great cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic in the same year. The gentry began to vacate Poplar for the healthier climes east of London. An elegant brass plaque at the east end of the Church honours the Rector for his tireless work trying to improve the social condition of his increasingly poor parishioners. This tradition of local Church involvement and support continued over the period of great social change at the turn of the century with the growing political activism of working people.
20th century
In the recession years of the 1920s, which particularly affected the docks, All Saints Church reflected the times again by simplifying its ritual and decoration; the interior was painted white and the old adjustable pulpit was removed.The Church took a leading role in cementing the community of this targeted area of dockland during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
of the Second World War. Many of the finest edifices of Poplar were destroyed and bombs constantly damaged the Church building, although this did not dissuade hundreds of people from using the crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
as an air-raid shelter. Late in the war, however, a V2 rocket devastated the building, destroying the east end and bringing down the roof. Post-war restoration in the 1950s saw the removal of the galleries and the placing of a new organ gallery at the west end, equipped with choir stalls and housing the large reconditioned organ brought from Clapham Congregational Church. Structurally, the roof had to be supported by a high steel grid, masked by four substantial pillars and the plaster-covered beams in the ceiling. The restored high altar was placed under a new and massive baldacchino, but more recently this canopy has been cut in half and the front section placed against the east wall to form a kind of reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
. A restoration appeal in the 1980s was launched to carry out essential repair work to the tower and outside of the Church, whilst the redecoration of the inside took place in 1991 through the voluntary efforts of parishioners and by means of an anonymous donation of labour and scaffolding from a local builder. The Churchyard was re-landscaped and totally refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
in 1999.
In 1964 the Parish of Poplar was formally established as the first Team Ministry in the London Diocese, combining nine different parishes in an area now recognised as one of the poorest in terms of overcrowding, unemployment and multiple deprivation, all under the shadow of the Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
development. A modern parish centre has been created out of the crypt space below the Church, from which bodies were removed in 1989 and re-interred in the Parish Guild Ground at the East London Cemetery
East London Cemetery
The East London Cemetery and Crematorium are located in Plaistow in the London Borough of Newham. It is owned and operated by the East London Cemetery Company.-History:...
. In order to construct the new crypt centre the pews had to be temporarily removed and the Church floor broken up. This was replaced by a modern steel and concrete structure and a new floor incorporating a heating and air-conditioning system. The Crypt is also used for meetings and conferences.
In 1999 the decision was taken to re-open St Nicholas' Church on the Aberfeldy Estate, and a growing congregation now worships there.
See also
- All Saints DLR stationAll Saints DLR stationAll Saints DLR station is a station on the Docklands Light Railway in east London. It is named after the nearby All Saints, Poplar, a church dating from 1821-3. The station entrance is on the East India Dock Road, opposite Chrisp Street Market....
which takes its name from the church - List of churches and cathedrals of London