History
1865 | Baptist beginnings
St Barnabas Bethnal Green began its life as a Baptist church in 1865. Before this a Baptist Minister, the Revd Allan Curr, formed a 'church' from a small group of people for whom he had held services in the Peel Grove Hall in Bethnal Green. Subsequently, he planned the building of a church for use by this group.
A foundation stone for the building was laid on the corner of the Grove and Roman Roads by the Chamberlain of the City of London in 1865, with 800 people present at the ceremony.
An article in the East London Observer (May 1865) reported: ‘The new church is to be 83 feet in length internally, by 56 feet wide. Its interior is to be of ornamental coloured bricks in bands and devices, with coloured brick arches, &c. and the exterior to be of similar bricks and Hollington stone dressing. Great attention has been paid to the interior, the effect of which, it is stated, will not be surpassed by any chapel interior at the East end of London.The general style is to be Gothic, of what is called the “flowing middle pointed period”. A residence and schools are to be erected upon a large plot of ground in the Grove Road, a few yards away from the church, and the whole will cost upwards of 6,0001.’ A large baptismal tank for adult immersion was constructed at the west end of the church.
More fit for a masshouse
Despite the early celebrations and acclamation, when the ‘Prince of Preachers’. Charles Spurgeon came to preach (possibly as part of its opening ceremony) he commented that the building was more fit for a masshouse than a Baptist chapel. Further, it was surprising that due to lack of support, its founder, Allan Curr, left the church in the hands of other Baptist ministers just a year after its completion. He eventually sold the church to the Baptist Association.
1870 | Anglican consecration
In 1867 the Elders decided to sell the church to the Church of England, and to erect a more conventional Baptist church on the corner Grove Road / Bunsen Street — this church still stands today.
The building cost the Church of England £4,000 and a further sum was needed to make alterations to the interior. The church was consecrated as St Barnabas Church by the Bishop of London on the 2 July 1870.
The compilation of the early history of St Barnabas is very difficult for the minute books of the PCC did not survive the bombing in WWII, and most of the historical information in place is largely supplied from the memories of parishioners. We do know that the vicar of St Barnabas for 32 years was a George Barnes. He left to be Rector of St Albans in the City of London. His successor was Alexander Winter and it appears that he inherited an enormous liability with both church and vicarage in a very bad state of repair. A poster in 1902 proclaimed: ‘This church requires immediate repair: rain comes flapping through the roof; the windows threaten to fall in; the gutter hangs flapping in the wind......’
Alexander Winter, his parishioners and friends raised the necessary £1,000 for repairs within two years, arguably an amazing achievement.
In 1904, the old school building of St Barnabas in Lanfranc Road was demolished and rebuilt to form the St Barnabas Institute and Church Hall. An elderly parishioner wrote to say 'We had to raise the money of £6,000 by sales, fetes and concerts. The girl’s club had a concert on the old school playground. The Revd. Winter had many friends in good circumstances and we carried on in spite of the upheaval, buying bricks at 1 ½ d each. These were great days for St Barnabas.’
St Barnabas enjoyed an active life and much support until WWI. An official census by the Diocese of London, taken one Sunday in 1904, showed attendance of 279 (67 morning and 212 evening). An account of an elderly parishioner stated that after the war ‘nothing was the same, and this applied to the churches round about’. The lives of 110 young men from the parish lost in WW1 are recorded on a memorial in the church.
1942 | St Barnabas in the Blitz
In 1942, the church was bombed and gutted by fire. Everything within was destroyed, with the exception of the brass war memorial which reappeared some years later, after being cared for by a local parishioner.
After the bombing a temporary church was set up by the vicar of that time, Revd W Smith, on the upper floor of the St. Barnabas Institute in Lanfranc Road. Weddings were held nearby at the Holy Trinity in neighbouring Mile End.
King George VI visited the East End at the height of the blitz in 1942. A photograph of the visit taken by an Evening Standard photographer shows the spire of the church.
1947 | The steeple comes down
In September 1947 the church steeple was found to be unsafe and in a dangerous condition, and an order for its removal was made by the District Surveyor.
1957 | St Barnabas restored
The restoration of St Barnabas began in 1956 and was completed on the 18 June 1957 when it was re-dedicated by the Bishop of London. The architect was Anthony Lewis. Lewis also designed and carried out the painting of the reredos, representing Christ in Glory surrounded by angels, and worked with the sculptor Don Potter. More works of devotional art have been added in the years since.
1970 | Centenary
The centenary of St Barnabas in 1970 was marked by an exhibition in the church consisting of engravings, old photographs and news cuttings, and the Mayor of Tower Hamlets led a Grand Centenary Service of thanksgiving.
When the Revd Johnson left St Barnabas in 1967, the position of vicar for the church was suspended by the Bishop of London and in 1968, the church became part of the Bow Group Ministry. Revd Frederick Rollinson, who had been born and bred in the local community, was the first non-stipendiary priest to be placed in charge of a parish in the Diocese of London. Fred is remembered with immense fondness through the parish; he worked for the Gas Board by day and devoted the rest of his time to the parish of St Barnabas, refusing to accept any kind of reward for his services. A newspaper article described Fred in explaining his dual role, ‘Particularly in an area like this, a Priest needs to be completely identified with the people he serves’.
2020 | 150th anniversary
Father Brian Ralph was appointed Priest-in-Charge in 2001. Fr Brian has been responsible for reviving the Church amongst the local community, notably with the annual St Barnabas Fete (Bowstock) from 2003 .
Today, St Barnabas is open to everyone in its parish in Bow, for daily worship, its busy programme of community events, for celebrating the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and marriage, and for commemorating loved ones who have died.
For theatre and musical productions, St Barnabas offers a popular rehearsal and audition space.