St Mary Matfelon
Encyclopedia
The St Mary Matfelon church, popularly known as St Mary's, Whitechapel, was an Anglican church in Whitechapel
, London
. It was situated on Whitechapel Road
.
. It was created as a chapel-of-ease for the local area and was built in the 14th century in 1329. In 1673, the parish of Stepney was divided into nine separate parishes, one of them being the newly formed parish of St. Mary's, Whitechapel. A third church was built on the site in the 19th century, it was opened and re-consecrated on the 2nd of February 1877.
The church was beset by tragedy throughout its later existence. Three years after it had been opened on the 26th of August 1880, it was destroyed by a fire which left only its tower, vestry and church rooms intact. It was rebuilt and opened once more on the first of December 1882, this time with a capacity for 1600 worshippers and included an external pulpit for sermons.
During the World War 2 blitz, on the 29th of December 1940, enemy fire raid destroyed the Church. It was left in disrepair after this till it was finally demolished in 1952.
The site of the church now houses a public park called Altab Ali Park
, an outline of the footprint of the church is now all that remains.
and James Elmes
published in June 1929 :
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was situated on Whitechapel Road
Whitechapel Road
Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in the East End of London, England. It connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east and forms part of the A11 road. It is a main shopping street in the Whitechapel area of Tower Hamlets and has a street market...
.
History
For over 600 years a Christian church stood on the site of Adler Street, White Church Lane and Whitechapel High Street, London E1. The original church known as the Whitechapel Church, St Mary Matfelon was the second oldest church in Stepney after St Dunstan's ChurchSt 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:...
. It was created as a chapel-of-ease for the local area and was built in the 14th century in 1329. In 1673, the parish of Stepney was divided into nine separate parishes, one of them being the newly formed parish of St. Mary's, Whitechapel. A third church was built on the site in the 19th century, it was opened and re-consecrated on the 2nd of February 1877.
The church was beset by tragedy throughout its later existence. Three years after it had been opened on the 26th of August 1880, it was destroyed by a fire which left only its tower, vestry and church rooms intact. It was rebuilt and opened once more on the first of December 1882, this time with a capacity for 1600 worshippers and included an external pulpit for sermons.
During the World War 2 blitz, on the 29th of December 1940, enemy fire raid destroyed the Church. It was left in disrepair after this till it was finally demolished in 1952.
The site of the church now houses a public park called Altab Ali Park
Altab Ali Park
Altab Ali Park is a small park on Adler Street, White Church Lane and Whitechapel High Street, London E1; formerly known as St. Mary's Park it is the site of the old 14th Century white chapel, St. Mary Matfelon, from which the area of Whitechapel gets its name. Having been destroyed in The Blitz...
, an outline of the footprint of the church is now all that remains.
St Mary's the 'White Chapel'
Whitewash made of lime and chalk was used as a paint on the outside of the original church in the Middle Ages which gave it a bright white finish, prompting the locals to call it the 'white chapel'. The church's prominent position on the westerly junction of Whitechapel Road made it a landmark of the area and eventually became the name of the area.Architecture
The following description of St Mary's church appeared in the book London and Its Environs in the 19th Century by Thomas ShepherdThomas H. Shepherd
Thomas Hosmer Shepherd was a watercolor artist well known for his architectural works. Brother of topographical artist George "Sidney" Shepherd, Thomas was employed to illustrate architecture in London, and later Edinburgh, Bath and Bristol...
and James Elmes
James Elmes
James Elmes was an English architect, civil engineer, and writer on the arts.-Biography:...
published in June 1929 :
This church is of some antiquity, as appears by Hugh de Fulbourn being rector thereof in the year 1329. It was originally a chapel of ease to the church of St. Dunstan, Stepney, and is supposed to have obtained the epithet of White from having been white-washed or plastered on the outside.
The first church erected on the spot after it ceased to be a chapel of ease of Stepney parish, was dedicated to St. Mary Matfelon; a name which has given birth to many conjectures respecting its signification, but which is probably derived from the Hebrew word Matfel, which signifies both a woman lately delivered of a son, and a woman carrying her infant son; either of which significations is applicable to the Virgin Mary and her holy babe.
The old church being in a very ruinous condition, it was taken down in 1673, and the present edifice was soon after erected in its stead. This is a coarse and very irregular building; the body, which is formed of brick, and ornamented with stone rustic work at the corners, is ninety-three feet in length, sixty-three feet in breadth; and the height of the tower and turret is eighty feet. The principal door is ornamented with a kind of rustic pilasters, with cherubs’ heads by way of capitals, and a pediment above. The body is enlightened with a great number of windows, which are of various forms, and different sizes, a sort of Venetian, oval and square. The square windows have ill-proportioned circular pediments; and the oval, or more properly elliptic windows, some of which stand upright and others cross-ways, are surrounded with thick festoons. The steeple, which is of stone, rises above the principal door, and is crowned with a plain square battlement. It was sometime since thoroughly repaired.
Description of a Sunday service at St Mary's
The following description of a Sunday service at St Mary's church appeared in East London Sketches of Christian Work and Workers by Henry Walker, published by the Religious Tract Society in 1896.The church of St. Mary Matfelon - to give it the old historic name - is itself a message of beauty and graciousness in such a quarter. Its noble spire rises two hundred feet in height, far above the houses of the populous and struggling district around, a striking and commanding feature visible far and wide. The beautifully-toned bells are filling the air with their inviting peal. Through the crowded streets of loungers, well-to-do church-goers of the middle classes are wending their way to morning service. We enter with them, and find ourselves in a large, spacious, impressive, and richly-decorated building. The church, it should be said, is the grateful and lavish gift of a former parishioner: the lofty roof, richly-coloured walls, and the sculptures and stained-glass windows betoken alike the costliness of the offering and the giver's conception of a great church for East London. As St. Mary's, Whitechapel, is one of the foremost in popularity and equipment for parish work, and one of the best attended of the great East End churches, everything that may account for its reputation will well deserve attention.
The church seats thirteen hundred people. The services are fully choral; the Psalms are chanted both morning and evening, the congregation being led by the surpliced choir. The musical service, though keeping pace with the increasing capacities of present-day congregations, is always well within congregational lines. The growing delight in singing as an act of common worship which now characterises all Christian denominations, and which is a great feature of all East London places of worship is indeed amply provided for at St. Mary's, and that, too, in a way which shows how Evangelicalism is able without compromise to take full share of the latitude which is now so commonly assigned to congregational utterance in church.
Sunday evening at St. Mary's is a still larger and more notable demonstration of church-going, and the scene is one of the most encouraging sights which East London can show. The church is filled with at least a thousand persons of the working and poorer classes of Whitechapel. The beautiful and impressive service is an experience not to be forgotten. The sermon, too, is redolent of the place and the people. In the evening the vicar applies himself to the actual circumstances and difficulties of the congregation he knows so well. Here it may be mentioned that the population of the parish is twenty thousand, and that every family of this large number, Jew and Gentile alike, is regularly visited by the rector and his assistant clergy. Mr. Sanders can accordingly put his hand at once on the ills amidst which his people live.
Mr. Sanders' picture of the underpaid industries of Whitechapel and the results in bodies and souls of the unfortunate workers contributes important data for a view of the problem from the Christian standpoint, and seldom have the responsililities of society in this matter been stated with greater power and wiser sympathy. ...
Sunday afternoon is also an occasion for meetings in church for closer dealings with the industrial classes. The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon movement, in its higher aspects, has been commenced with much success. A gospel address from one of the clergy, the services of an excellent orchestra, reinforced by the fine organ of the church, with popular hymns and sacred solos, attract a class who seldom otherwise see the interior of a beautiful church, or hear sacred music in which they can join, or get into close personal touch with the clergy. The imprimatur which the rector of such a parish has freely given to this new development of the Sunday afternoon service is naturally felt in East London to be a great encouragement. Certainly in no part of London could crowded streets give a better mandate for these social gatherings as conducted at St. Mary's.