St Paul's, Bow Common

St Paul's Bow Common is a 20th-century church in Bow Common, London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London.[1] The church is at the junction of Burdett Road and St Paul's Way in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It replaced an earlier church that was designed by Rohde Hawkins in 1858 and financed by William Cotton of Leytonstone. Consecrated by Bishop Charles James Blomfield, this church was largely destroyed in the Second World War and demolished in the 1950s.[2]

St Paul's Bow Common
Church of St Paul's Bow Common
View of St Paul's Bow Common
Locationcorner of Burdett Road & St Paul's Way, Bow Common, Tower Hamlets, London E3 5AR
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
Websitewww.stpaulsbowcommon.org
Architecture
Architect(s)Robert Maguire and Keith Murray
Stylenew brutalism
Years built1958–60
Administration
DioceseLondon
The interior

Architecture

The modern church was built in 1958–60, and the building is listed Grade II*. Its architects were Robert Maguire and Keith Murray.[3][4] The Revd. Gresham Kirkby, a Christian anarchist, was the architects' engaged client, championing the Liturgical Movement principles and continuing as parish priest until 1994. St Paul's is one of the clearest and earliest centralised churches from this movement.[3][5] "It is rated one of the best post-war buildings in Britain".[6]

Artworks

The bold lettering wrapping around the porch reads 'Truly this is none other but the house of God. This is the Gate of Heaven' (Genesis 28:17), and was designed and cast in situ by Ralph Beyer. An 800-square-foot (74 m2) mosaic by Charles Lutyens in tesserae of coloured Murano glass (1963–68) is possibly the largest artist-created contemporary mosaic mural in Britain.[7] The church is currently home to Lutyens's 'Outraged Christ'.[8]

Artist Rose Finn-Kelcey's installation 'Angel' covered the church's 78 square metre facade from February to July 2004.[9] Commissioned by Art and Sacred Places,[10] it was the joint winner of the 2007/2008 ACE Award for ‘Art in a Religious Context’.[11]

Legacy

On 7 November 2013, the church won the National Churches Trust Diamond Jubilee Award for best Modern Church built in the UK since 1953.[12] The awards were judged by architecture critic Jonathan Glancey, director of the Twentieth Century Society Catherine Croft, president of the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association Sherry Bates, and trustee of the National Churches Trust Richard Carr-Archer.[13] The building was described by the judges as the ‘embodiment of the groundswell of ideas about Christian worship’ and a ‘hugely influential signpost for future Anglican liturgy’.[14]

Present day

The Revd. Gresham Kirkby was succeeded by Revd. Prebendary Duncan Ross, who retired in October 2013.[15] The current vicar is Mother Bernadette Hegarty.

References
  1. "St Paul Bow Common". Achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopaedia (reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 776.
  3. Elain Harwood, 'Liturgy and architecture: the development of the centralised eucharistic space', The Journal of the Twentieth Century Society | Twentieth Century Architecture 3: The Twentieth Century Church (The Twentieth Century Society, 1998) p.71-2 | St Paul's Bow Common is illustrated on the cover of the journal
  4. Gerald Adler, Robert Maguire and Keith Murray-Twentieth Century Architects, RIBA Publishing, London 2012, ISBN 978-185946-165-5
  5. "St Paul's, Bow Common – A Unique Anglican Church in East London". Archived from the original on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  6. Powell, Kenneth (22 February 1997). "'Heaven help the post-war church'". The Daily Telegraph.
  7. "Charles Lutyens Intro". Charleslutyens.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  8. "Charles Lutyens Introduction". Charleslutyens.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  9. "Behold, an angel in the east". Church Times. 2 November 2006. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  10. "Angel: a new work by Rose Finn-Kelcey" (PDF). Art and Sacred Places. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  11. "'Angel' at St Paul's Bow Common". Art+Christianity. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  12. "UK's Best Modern Church is St Paul's at Bow Common". 13 November 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  13. "Best Modern Churches winners announced — The Twentieth Century Society". C20society.org.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  14. Mark, Laura (7 November 2013). "In pictures: UK's best modern church revealed". Architects Journal. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  15. Trust, National Churches (6 November 2013). "The UK's Best Modern Churches: St Paul's Bow Common". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

51.5176°N 0.0295°W / 51.5176; -0.0295

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