The Church of St Michael and All Angels was a church in Poplar, London. The Grade II listed 19th-century brick-built church was converted into flats in the 1980's, and is now known as St Michael's Court.
History edit
Originally, the site was occupied by a mission chapel run by Winchester College, built in 1861.[1][2] The church as it stands today was originally built in 1864–1865 by Reverend W. Morris. It was converted into flats in the 1970s.[2]
In 1876, a communication was sent from the headmaster of Winchester College asking whether Rev. William Donne, M.A., of Brasenose College, Oxford, would be a suitable man to be appointed to the charge of the Winchester College mission in St Michael and All Angels.[1] He was chosen to head the mission, and did so for five years, during which he built the church of All Hallows, at East India Docks.[1]
The Revd Richard Enraght, religious controversialist, was the Curate of the church from 1884 to 1888.[3]
War memorial edit
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The church has an adjacent war memorial, made from Cornish granite and sculpted by Mr A. R. Adams. The Imperial War Museum's archive describes the memorial as a "Figure of Christ with one hand raised in blessing and the other holding a wreath above the head of a kneeling warrior in the armour of a crusader. Names inscribed on the panels on the pedestal which is on three steps. Memorial is surrounded by low railings."[4] The memorial was erected a short time after the First World War, and was unveiled by the future George VI (then Duke of York) on 4 December 1920, and dedicated in the same ceremony by Henry Mosley, Bishop of Stepney. Prior to this it was an open space, used for local community meetings.[4] Occasionally, it was also host to fighting: the vicar's daughter in the late 1800s, Eileen Baillie, used to watch fights "in that convenient open space before the vicarage gates".[5]
Money for the memorial – £900 – was raised via "an appeal, a football match and tickets for a special matinee performance at the queen's theatre, high street on Saturday 24 April 1920". [4]
References edit
- ^ a b c Josselyn, Edward (1907). Memorials to Serve for a History of the Parish of St. Mary, Rotherhithe in the County of Surrey and in the Administrative Country of London isbn. Cambridge University Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 9781148978000.
- ^ a b "River Lea/Bow Creek – Poplar". Edith's Streets. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- ^ Rev R.W. Enraght BA My Prosecution (1883) accessed 17 May 2007
- ^ a b c "War Memorials Archive". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 January 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ White, Jerry (2008). London in the Twentieth Century: a city and its people. London: Vintage. p. 313. ISBN 9781845951269. Retrieved 17 October 2012.