Origins in Bethnal Green
Up to the 18th century, Bethnal Green was a small rural hamlet within the parish of Stepney, outside the eastern gates of the City of London. Its few houses centred around the Green, which survives as open space near the Underground station. The area became more residential as Lolesworth Field in Spitalfields was broken up for brick making in 1576 and the Black Eagle Brewery was built in 1669; the brewery became Truman’s in 1694. By the late 17th century, the need for a church in the locality had become increasingly urgent.
In 1685, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes made it illegal to be a Protestant in France. Large numbers of Huguenots fled to England; many of the more prosperous settled around Spitalfields and Shoreditch, while poorer Huguenots settled around Bethnal Green. That influx helped shape the cultural and religious life of the area and contributed to the growing case for a separate place of worship.
The church takes shape
Negotiations for a separate parish began as early as 1690. Nicholas Hawksmoor, then a pupil of Christopher Wren, drew up plans for a large basilica-type church to be built by the Fifty Church Commissioners. Local people feared the cost of maintaining a church and rector, while the Rector of Stepney faced losing income from tithes if the area became a separate parish.
On 13 October 1725, part of Hare Fields was purchased for the church site at a cost of £200. The last remnants of Hare Fields can still be seen in the 15 metres of Hare Marsh off Cheshire Street. The site was detached from the old village green because a new commercial hub had grown up around Hare Street, now Cheshire Street, with the Huguenot weavers’ community. By then, the Commissioners’ scheme was in financial difficulty and the original plans were abandoned.
The parish of Bethnal Green was finally authorised in 1742, and George Dance was commissioned to design a smaller church. No detailed description of his design survives, but his drawings in the Soane Museum show simple and spacious ideas. The foundation stone was laid by Ebenezer Mussell in 1743, but work stopped the following year when funds ran out. A petition to Parliament led to an Act in 1745 to pay the debts and complete the work. It began: “The want of a place for public worship of Almighty God hath been a great cause of increase of dissoluteness of morals and a disregard for religion, too apparent in the younger and poorer sort.” The church was completed and dedicated on 15 July 1746.
Its early life was shaped by both devotion and circumstance. The parish was founded in a rapidly changing district, and the church soon had to respond to poverty, social pressure and a sometimes sceptical or hostile local culture. It became part of the life of the area not only as a place of worship, but as a place where people could gather, seek help and build community.
Fire, war and rebuilding
The interior of the church was destroyed by fire in 1859. The registers and robes were saved, and a rate was levied on the parish to rebuild the church. The work was delayed by builders’ strikes and disagreements between the architect, T.E. Knightley, and the local committee. The church reopened on 13 December 1861. Its rebuilt interior included a cupola on the tower, iron sanctuary gates, rood figures (now in St John’s Church nearby), stained glass, ornate mural decorations and a large stone reredos. The night of the fire was so cold that firemen were covered in sheets of ice as they fought the flames.
In 1940, bombing destroyed or damaged these features and left the church as a roofless shell. Architects Wontner Smith and Harold Jones designed a temporary church within the walls. Records differ on whether it was dedicated on 24 September 1952 or 27 November 1954. Many of its furnishings came from other local churches damaged by bombing, and some remain in the building today. In 1957 it was decided to rebuild the church, and Antony Lewis was appointed architect. Work began in 1958, the temporary church was demolished in 1960, and the present church was re-consecrated on 15 July 1961.
The church now contains Stations of the Cross by Don Potter, a staircase sculpture by Kim James, the Apostles Screen by Peter Snow and an altar by Robert Dawson. Dorothy Rendell painted the tester, designed by Lewis, who also designed the light fittings and font. The murals in the Upper Chapel are by Barry Robinson, and Heather Child designed the glass panels.
St Matthew’s also holds furnishings and objects from other bombed churches in the area. The stained glass in the Back Chapel by Lawrence Lee incorporates windows from St Philip’s, Swanfield Street. The crucifix at the east end, the statue of Our Lady of Peace and several carved wooden furnishings came from the temporary church. The organ was brought from St Matthias Church in Bacon Street. When St James the Great on Bethnal Green Road closed in 1984, several of its furnishings were also brought to St Matthew’s.
Parish life and character
St Matthew’s has long responded to poverty, local social pressures and changing communities. Its priests and curates have often combined their ministry with practical work among local people. Soon after the church’s consecration, vestry records show that several hundred local people held bull-baiting and dog-fighting in the field beside the churchyard. One notorious incident was the day a terrified bull ran into the church during morning service.
In the 18th century, the churchyard had to be protected from “resurrectionists”, who stole bodies for medical schools. Medical schools at Guy’s and the new London Hospitals were not particular about where bodies for research and teaching came from. The Watch House was built in 1754 on the corner of St Matthew’s Row and Wood Close, and by 1792 a guard was paid 10 shillings and 6 pence a week. A reward of two guineas was offered for catching body snatchers, and watchmen were provided with a blunderbuss and permission to fire it after sounding a rattle. This right is still held by the churchwardens today.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, the parish has remained a place of welcome and continuity. Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the twins at the centre of the criminal gang known as the Firm, were among its most infamous parishioners. The funerals of Ronnie Kray, Reggie Kray, Charlie Kray and Tony Lambrianou were held at St Matthew’s; these were not always the solemn events Christians might expect. The church has continued to serve a community shaped by migration, social inequality and resilience.
Priests and parish ministry
The history of St Matthew’s is also a history of the people who served its parish. Their work reflects the changing needs of Bethnal Green, from confronting local corruption to building new forms of social care and community life.
Joshua King and the parish in the early 19th century
William Loxham was Rector from 1766. The earlier parish history records no evidence that he ever visited the parish. When Joshua King became Rector in 1809, he took a close personal interest in his new post, unlike the common practice of appointing a perpetual curate to carry out parish work while the Rector lived elsewhere.
King uncovered corruption among parish officials led by churchwarden Joseph Merceron. Merceron ran brothels in local public houses, manipulated poor funds and ran protection rackets. After King’s efforts to bring him to justice, Merceron was imprisoned in 1818. King later inherited a well-endowed parish in Cheshire and left Bethnal Green, although he retained the Rectorship and its stipend. Merceron returned to his former positions after his release and remained influential until his death in 1861. His family’s memorial tomb was one of only two to survive the Second World War bombings. The story is told in Julian Woodford’s The Boss of Bethnal Green.
Stewart Headlam, James Woodroffe and Victorian social work
Stewart Headlam served as a curate under Septimus Hansard from 1873 to 1878. In 1877 he founded the Christian socialist Guild of St Matthew. He campaigned for the welfare of poorer residents, served on the local council and school board, and supported reforms including school meals for children. He was also a prominent defender of music hall and ballet as worthwhile parts of cultural life. After Oscar Wilde’s release from Reading Jail, Headlam famously provided part of his bail and a safe house.
Another of Hansard’s curates, James Woodroffe, handled payments to impoverished parishioners. His meticulous records of visits and encounters offer an account of parish relief and an early form of social work. The records can be read online through the Bishopsgate Institute.
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram was Rector for a short time and led Oxford House, a settlement where Oxford students lived and worked in poorer communities. Oxford House continues its work with local people, although it no longer has a resident community. Winnington-Ingram later became Bishop of London in 1901.
Kenneth Leech and Christopher Bedford
Kenneth Leech was Rector from 1974 to 1979. His work in Bethnal Green informed his writing and ministry on drug use and related social issues, and he became a leading voice in the Church of England’s engagement with racism. He founded the Jubilee Group in 1974 and wrote extensively on the Anglo-Catholic socialist tradition.
Christopher Bedford arrived as Rector in 1981 and helped rebuild a dwindling congregation. He developed the top floor of the church hall, then used as a sweatshop, as a social centre. His opposition to the ordination of women led him to work for St Matthew’s to join the Roman Catholic Church; more than half of the worshippers and clergy changed their allegiance. For a year, the new Roman Catholic congregation worshipped at St Matthew’s.
After Fr Kevin Scully became Rector in 2002, he helped stabilise the church. During his time as Rector, St Matthew’s had its first ordained female priests: Sr Helen Loder, Mtr Rachma Bush and Sr Judith Blackburn. Erin Clark became the church’s first female Rector in 2019 and served until 2025.
The present church building
Antony Lewis’s vision included commissioning young artists and making their work integral to the building. The church still bears the marks of that approach through its glass, screen, murals and liturgical furnishings. The result is a building that is both historic and alive, rooted in the church’s past while offering space for worship and community in the present day.
Modern refurbishment
In 2020, we began planning an upgrade to our toilet and kitchen facilities. After two years of planning and fundraising, the project delivered a small but functional kitchen, a disabled toilet, baby change facilities and a renovated original loo. The £100,000 refurbishment allows us to increase community activities and outreach and gives us a fully accessible ground floor.
We thank our funders and everyone who made personal or private donations from the community. The funders were the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Churches Trust, Joseph Rank Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, Allchurches Trust and Beatrice Laing Trust. St Matthew’s is also listed on the National Churches Trust website, whose aim is to keep church buildings well maintained and open to everyone.
The organs of St Matthew’s
Chris Maxim’s history of the church’s organs traces a succession of instruments through fire, war and rebuilding. The first known organ, installed in 1772 and believed to have been by Byfield & Green, was lost when the church burned in 1859. Henry Jones built its successor, installed in 1862; that instrument was destroyed when the church was bombed in 1940.
In the post-war years, services were accompanied by a reed organ, and a pipe organ built by Eustace Ingram in 1877 was brought from St Matthias, Bethnal Green. It was installed in St Matthew’s temporary church in 1954 and later placed in the west gallery of the rebuilt church, where it remains. The instrument has two manuals and fifteen speaking stops, and was cleaned and overhauled in 2004.
Based on “The History of the Organs of the Parish Church of St Matthew, Bethnal Green, London” by Christopher Maxim (2008). Read the 2020 third edition.
Further reading
A booklet on the history of the church and parish was produced in 1989, revised by Fr John Oldland and drawing on earlier booklets by churchwarden P.J.E. Eyre and Ken Leech from 1976, as well as acknowledging the work of the Revd Denis Shaw. The 1989 booklet is available on the website. Adey Grummet’s A Short and Anecdotal History of St Matthew’s Church, Bethnal Green was published in 2011, and copies are available in church. Historical photographs form part of Dr Christopher Maxim’s history of the organ.
St Matthew’s in the 21st century
Today St Matthew’s is still the focus of a growing and living church community. We try to welcome everyone who comes through our doors because we believe the church is here for local people and their lives today as much as for any historical record. The area still faces many of the same pressures it has known for generations, including poverty, prostitution, tensions between immigrant communities and drug abuse. At the same time, new development, new residents, a parish school and strong community links continue to shape the church’s life. We celebrate the tenacity and resilience of a faithful community in our beautiful church.