CHURCHES.
In 1086 a priest held ½ hide at
Tottenham. (fn. 28) By 1134 King David I of Scotland had
given the church of Tottenham to the Augustinian
canons of Holy Trinity, Aldgate. (fn. 29) The grant was
confirmed between 1163 and 1174 (fn. 30) and again in
1201. (fn. 31) A vicarage was endowed by William of
Sainte-Mére-Eglise, (fn. 32) bishop of London from 1198
to 1221, and thereafter a vicar served the whole
parish until the creation of the district chapelry of
Holy Trinity in the early 19th century. (fn. 33)
Priors of Holy Trinity presented all the known
vicars from 1327 until the early 16th century. The
patronage was exercised by John Lawrence on
behalf of John Jekyll in 1510 and by William Redman
and Robert Heynes, by grant of a turn, in 1525, but
Holy Trinity again presented in 1526. (fn. 34) After the
Dissolution the king granted the advowson, together
with the rectory estate, successively to Sir Thomas
Audley, to William, Lord Howard, and, in 1544, to
the chapter of St. Paul's. (fn. 35) The vicar was presented
in 1551 by John Cook and thereafter by St. Paul's (fn. 36)
until the Interregnum, when Sir Edward Barkham
and others 'approved' the minister. (fn. 37) The chapter
regained the patronage at the Restoration and
retained it in 1972. (fn. 38)
One half of the tithes of grain at Tottenham was
granted by Simon de St. Liz (I) in 1107 to his newly
founded priory of St. Andrew, Northampton, (fn. 39)
which was confirmed in its right as late as 1329 (fn. 40) but
apparently had lost it by 1535. (fn. 41) William of SainteMére-Eglise endowed the vicar with small tithes
and with a pension of 20s. from the canon's treasury,
in return for a quit-rent. (fn. 42) The vicarage was never
wealthy. It was assessed at 5 marks in the mid 13th
century (fn. 43) and had risen to £5 in 1291; (fn. 44) it was taxed
at a mere 16 marks in 1428 (fn. 45) and was valued at £14
in 1535. (fn. 46) The minister occupied or leased out property worth £17 a year in 1650, by which date the
small tithes, owing to the remissness of the parishioners, were estimated at no more than £30. (fn. 47) In
the 1660s Dr. Edward Spark complained to St.
Paul's that his predecessor William Wimpew had
refused any augmentation, that Stephen Beale as
farmer of the rectory was obstructive, and that he
himself had only £58 18s. 8d. a year, of which
£38 18s. 8d. came from tithes. (fn. 48) By 1700 lessees of
St. Paul's were paying £10 yearly to augment the
benefice, (fn. 49) which was estimated to be worth £100 in
the early and mid 18th century (fn. 50) and £300 in 1810,
when the vicar received £175 in small tithes, £100
in fees and augmentations, £10 from the farmer of
the rectory, and Easter offerings. (fn. 51) The net income
was £978 in 1835. (fn. 52) When all the tithes were commuted for £1,685 10s. in 1844, the vicar was awarded
a rent-charge of £800. (fn. 53)
On the endowment of the vicarage 2 a. was set
aside for the vicar's house. (fn. 54) In 1455-6 the glebe
comprised the site of the house with 4 a., an additional 7 a. lately belonging to the rectory, and a small
grove. (fn. 55) The same land was probably held by
William Bedwell, who reckoned that it covered 10 or
11 a., including 1-2 a. at Wood Green; (fn. 56) in his time
the vicarage house stood next to an orchard, with
pasture called Vicarage croft to the north-west, and
the slip at Wood Green contained a cottage by the
New River. (fn. 57) In 1799 the Wood Green property was
sold, to redeem the land-tax, and in 1810 the vicar
had only his close of pasture adjoining one acre
around the house. (fn. 58) The pasture was still glebe in
1844, by which time the grounds of the house had
been extended to cover more than 8 a., (fn. 59) but all
were apparently sold when a new house was bought in
the 1860s. (fn. 60)
The first recorded vicarage house stood in 1610 on
the north side of White Hart Lane, close to the
junction with High Road. (fn. 61) Bedwell, then in occupation, considered it a small thing, of less note than
the glebeland, (fn. 62) and Edward Sparke, pleading
poverty, complained that the buildings were ruinous. (fn. 63) The house had been refaced by 1810, when the
White Hart Lane front was of brick with sash windows while the other sides were tile-hung and
described as ancient; it was then of two floors, the
upper one having 7 bedrooms, and a garret. (fn. 64) In the
1860s the vicar moved from White Hart Lane to
no. 776 High Road, (fn. 65) an old house which remained
the Vicarage until the purchase of the Priory (fn. 66) in
1905. (fn. 67) The oldest part of the original Vicarage was
pulled down in 1873 (fn. 68) and the rest was used by the
stationmaster at White Hart Lane in 1913, when the
premises in High Road served as the Working Men's
Tariff Reform club. (fn. 69)
The Priory, so called by the 1860s because it was
thought to occupy the site of a residence of the priors
of Holy Trinity, (fn. 70) apparently replaced Awlfield farmhouse, (fn. 71) which stood immediately south of the
church in 1619. In that year the farm was leased out
with demesne lands totalling 179 a. to Joseph Fenton,
a barber-surgeon of London and the most substantial of the demesne tenants. (fn. 72) Thereafter the farm
was presumably leased, as in 1785, until in 1789 the
house and 132 a. were bought by the tenant, Edwin
Paine. (fn. 73) The estate stretched westward across the
Moselle, along the north side of Lordship Lane,
thirty years later (fn. 74) and was sometimes known as
Church farm. (fn. 75) After its acquisition by the L.C.C.,
the Priory was saved from demolition by the Revd.
Denton Jones, since whose time it has served as the
vicarage-house. (fn. 76)
In 1973 the Priory, (fn. 77) a two-storeyed building with
cellar and attics, was largely screened from Church
Lane by a brick wall, containing an early-18th-century wrought iron gate from the old Vicarage in
High Road. (fn. 78) The north wing is partly timberframed and it probably survives from an earlier hall
and cross-wing house which Joseph Fenton remodelled. Fenton's name and rebus occur in the plasterwork of the hall ceiling and on panelling in a
bedroom, with the dates 1620 and 1621. More alterations took place in the early 18th century, when the
framed projection of the south wing was removed
and the main front was renewed in brick and provided with a wooden doorcase. Inside an elaborate
wooden overmantel was put into the hall and a new
staircase was built behind the main range. During
the 19th century there were extensions to the south
wing and when the house was converted into a
vicarage further alterations were made at the back
and to the fittings.
A chantry was founded under the will of John
Drayton, dated 1456, a goldsmith who left his lands
in reversion to St. Paul's for the support of two
priests to say masses at Roger Walden's tomb in the
cathedral and St. Katharine's altar in Tottenham
church severally. Masses were also to be celebrated
twice weekly at the chapel of St. Ann called the
Hermitage. (fn. 79) Drayton's chantry was worth £6 13s. 4d.
a year in 1535 (fn. 80) but was not included with other properties valued in 1547. William Courtman otherwise
Clark, a London vintner, by will proved 1528, left
land in trust, the rent from which primarily was to
pay for Easter expenses, including bread and wine
at communion; the residue was to go to Courtman's
heir for 20 years and thereafter to the poor. (fn. 81) In
1547, when Courtman's benefaction was somewhat
differently defined, 66s. a year was also paid by the
keepers of 33 cows which had been given by various
benefactors for the support of a chantry priest. (fn. 82)
The lands left by Courtman were sold by the Crown,
with many others, to Thomas Bourchier and Henry
Tanner in 1548. (fn. 83)
Edward Mariner, vicar 1474-83, was licensed to
hold Tottenham with one other living in 1478. (fn. 84)
Dr. Geoffrey Wharton, a canon of St. Paul's, resigned the living after a year in 1526 on becoming
archdeacon of London. (fn. 85) William Bedwell, vicar
1607-32 and author of the first local history, was an
Arabic scholar and one of the Westminster translators of the Bible. (fn. 86) William Wimpew, displaced
from 1644 until the Restoration, (fn. 87) also secured a
prebend of Lincoln in 1664. (fn. 88) Dr. Edward Sparke,
who continued as vicar of Walthamstow for a short
time after his institution to Tottenham in 1666, was
a royal chaplain and theological writer. (fn. 89) Samuel
Pratt, appointed in 1693, became minister of the
Savoy and a canon of Windsor in 1697 and dean of
Rochester in 1706; he resigned Tottenham in favour
of his son Daniel in 1707. (fn. 90) Thomas Comyn, vicar
1771-98, was second chaplain of the Royal Hospital,
Chelsea, from 1782 and chaplain there from 1787. (fn. 91)
Thomas Newcome, vicar 1824-51, was also rector
of Shenley (Herts.). (fn. 92) The living was often bestowed
as a reward by St. Paul's: John Husband, vicar
1714-38, his successor Christopher Morrison, and
William John Hall, vicar 1851-62, were minor
canons and Alexander Wilson, vicar 1870-98, was a
canon. (fn. 93) There was a resident assistant curate in the
time of Samuel Pratt (fn. 94) and, if not earlier, from the
time of John Husband, who himself stayed in the
parish from Easter until Michaelmas. (fn. 95) John
Rotheram (1725-89), the theologian, was curate
from 1757 to 1766. (fn. 96) The curate's stipend was
recorded in 1774, 1807, (fn. 97) and 1835. (fn. 98)
In 1650 Tottenham was said to be served by an
able minister, William Bates, and to possess a church
which could conveniently hold all the worshippers. (fn. 99)
Edward Sparke, however, declared that ignorance
and faction threatened unless his parishioners
should become as concerned for their souls as for
their bodies; he had vainly suggested that the congregation should support an evening sermon with
£40 a year, of which half should go to himself and
half to a reader, which would still be below the rate
of the meanest lecturer. (fn. 1) In 1685, when Sparke was
still vicar, it was ordered that the communion table
should be placed under the east window and railed
in, as formerly. (fn. 2) Sparke's successor, Samuel Pratt,
first allowed the vestry to choose a lecturer in 1693. (fn. 3)
Attacks on Pratt, perhaps as a pluralist, were condemned in 1695 by the vestry, which hinted at dissenters' malice and declared that the parish could
never desire to be better served than by the vicar and
his assistant curate. (fn. 4) When John Husband was vicar,
services were held twice on Sundays and the sacraments were administered once a month and on three
feast days. (fn. 5) In the 1770s there were still two Sunday
services, as well as a monthly communion attended
by 50-60 people. Two Sunday schools had been
started by 1790. (fn. 6) In 1851 there were attendances of
613, including 161 children from Sunday school, in
the morning and 525, including 150 children, in the
evening. (fn. 7)
The church of All Saints now called ALL
HALLOWS was so dedicated by the 15th century. (fn. 8)
It stands on the west side of Church Lane, separated
from housing to the east and north by Bruce Castle's
grounds and Tottenham cemetery and to the south by
the Priory. The building, after many alterations,
comprises a chancel with north-east vestries and
north and south transepts, an aisled nave of 6 bays, a
south porch, and a 4-stage west tower. (fn. 9) A contrast of
textures and colours is provided by the materials:
flint rubble, ragstone, varied brickwork, and dressings of stone. By the end of the 14th century the
surviving tower and arcades suggest a building with
an aisled nave of 4 bays and a chancel with north and
south chapels. During the 15th century both aisles
were rebuilt, probably to a greater width, and that
on the south side was continued beyond the rood
screen into the rebuilt chapel. The two-storey south
porch, of red brick with dark diapering and stone
dressings, was added c. 1500. A north-east vestry
over a burial vault for the Hare family was erected in
1696; a circular structure with a leaded dome surmounted by an obelisk, it was demolished in 1875 on
the reorganization of Lord Coleraine's charity. (fn. 10)
The fourth stage of the tower, in brick and battlemented, was added during the 18th century. At a
restoration in 1816 the church was probably again
extended eastward, by one bay, and the north aisle
was rebuilt in yellowish-brown brick. A further
restoration in 1875 included the addition of a
chancel, transepts, and vestries to the east; the work,
by William Butterfield, was carried out in a Geometrical style but in materials similar to those of the
porch. The many changes and slight 20th-century
war damage have left few of the architectural details
unaffected, although much original stonework has
been reset. A western gallery for children was
altered to accommodate more parishioners in 1741,
when a new children's gallery was built over the
south-west door. A north gallery, for the use of nine
subscribers and their households, was added in 1821.
All three galleries were subsequently removed, the
first being the north one c. 1862. (fn. 11)
Fittings include French glass of c. 1600, (fn. 12) presented in 1807 by John Eardley and later moved
from the chancel to the north aisle, and an early-17thcentury communion table. There is a brass inscription to Geoffrey Walkeden (d. 1599) and there are
figured brasses to Elizabeth Burrough (d. 1616) and
Margaret Irby (d. 1640). An imposing marble wallmonument displays the kneeling figures of Richard
Candler (d. 1602), his son-in-law Sir Ferdinando
Heybourne (d. 1618), and their wives, and another
portrays Sir John Melton and his wife (d. 1640). (fn. 13)
A third, in black and white marble, of three stages
and advanced in style, has busts by Edward Marshall
of Sir Robert Barkham, his wife Mary (d. 1644), and
their 12 children. Other monuments include a slab
to Bridget Moyse (d. 1626) and, in the churchyard,
headstones commemorating Rebecca Angell (d.
1682) and Mary Hobby (d. 1708), as well as many
table-tombs of the early 19th century.
The church possessed 4 bells in 1552 (fn. 14) and a
great bell, weighing 2,011 lb., which was recast in
1612. Presumably they were the 5 bells which were
recast in 1696, when a sixth was added. In 1972 the
tower held 8 bells: (i) and (ii) 1881; (fn. 15) (iii) to (viii)
1696, Philip Wightman. A sanctus bell mentioned
in 1552 may have been the one replaced in 1801,
when Dr. Humphrey Jackson gave a French bell of
1663, said to have been taken from the Quebec
garrison in 1759. A chalice and some other pieces,
kept in private houses, were said in 1552 to be the
only valuables to have survived two burglaries. (fn. 16)
Communion vessels were again stolen in 1818 (fn. 17) and
in 1897 there was no plate dating from before the
late 19th century. (fn. 18) The registers date from 1558
and are complete. (fn. 19)
HOLY TRINITY chapel, on the north side of
Tottenham Green, was built 1828-30 out of public
subscriptions and a Parliamentary grant. (fn. 20) A district
chapelry, taken from the parent parish, was assigned
in 1844 (fn. 21) and perpetual curates were thereafter appointed by the vicar of Tottenham. (fn. 22) There was
seating for about 800 but attendance was poor in
1851 (fn. 23) and was denounced as scandalous for so
respectable a community in 1879, when many letters
to the local newspapers attacked the vicar, W. C.
Howell, for using the Gregorian chant. (fn. 24) The church
was designed in yellow stock brick with stone dressings by James Savage. It is a plain building,
comprising a nave, sanctuary, and aisles; when new
it was highly praised, although the crocketed pinnacles were condemned as Perpendicular blemishes
on an otherwise austere work in the Early English
style. (fn. 25) A school, between the church and High
Road, was built in 1847. (fn. 26)
A chapel of ease, dedicated to ST. MICHAEL,
was consecrated at Wood Green in 1844. (fn. 27) It was
paid for by subscriptions and a grant from the
Church Building Society and could seat 200, although attendances of no more than 48 in the
morning and 85 in the evening were recorded in
1851, when there was no Sunday school. (fn. 28) The
building, when erected, stood amid fields in the fork
between Bounds Green Lane and Green Lanes
(later Bounds Green Road and High Road). G. G.
(later Sir Gilbert) Scott and W. B. Moffat designed
it, in Kentish rag and Brownhill stone, in the
Decorated style. It consisted of an aisleless nave and a
short chancel. Damage from subsidence caused
temporary closure in the 1850s and presumably
prompted a complaint in the press in 1863 that
Wood Green, with its rapidly growing population,
was served by 'a little crippled church on crutches'.
In 1865 the building was reconstructed in an early
Decorated style, with an aisled nave designed by
Henry Curzon. A new chancel, also by Curzon, was
built in 1869-70, a south-east tower was added in
1873-4, largely at the cost of Samuel Page of Chitts
Hill, and a spire in 1887. (fn. 29) St. Michael's became a
district chapelry, taken from the parent parish, in
1866, with the vicar of Tottenham as patron. (fn. 30) A
church hall, designed by J. S. Alder, was built on
the south side of Bounds Green Road in 1911. (fn. 31)
In 1973 the church, which had seating for c.
450, (fn. 32) was unusual in being served by a vicar and
three assistant curates and in having charge of two
mission churches. The church of St. John, Brook
Road, was dedicated in 1898 and the iron church of
the Good Shepherd, formerly at Neasden, was
erected in Berwick Road in 1916.
In north Tottenham services were held in an iron
building, on the site later occupied by no. 125
Northumberland Park, from 1855 until land for a
permanent church in Park Lane was given by Miss
Jemima Holt, of Marie House, High Road. (fn. 33) The
church of ST. PAUL was begun in 1858 (fn. 34) and consecrated in 1859, (fn. 35) when a district chapelry was
assigned out of All Hallows parish, (fn. 36) with the vicar of
Tottenham as patron. (fn. 37) Much of the money was
raised by the first incumbent, D. J. Harrison. (fn. 38) The
building, of Kentish ragstone, was designed in a
Decorated style by William Mumford. It consisted
of aisled nave, sanctuary, north and south transepts,
west gallery, and north-west tower with spire, (fn. 39) and
could seat 750. The fabric had been little altered by
1972 but in 1973 it was demolished, with the near-by
vicarage, to make way for a new church, hall, and
flats. (fn. 40)
Assistant curates from Holy Trinity held Sunday
afternoon services at the Hermitage school, opened
in 1858 on the north side of Hanger Lane (later St.
Ann's Road). (fn. 41) A few yards farther east the church
of ST. ANN was founded in 1860 and dedicated in
1861, whereupon a district was assigned from Holy
Trinity parish. Both school and church were chiefly
paid for by Fowler Newsam, a City merchant who
lived in High Road opposite the junction with St.
Ann's Road, on behalf of his daughter Mrs. E. M.
Robins, whose house was on the site of the later
St. Ann's hospital. Fowler Newsam became the first
patron and was succeeded by Mrs. Robins (d. 1895),
who in 1891 devised the patronage to the chapter of
St. Paul's. (fn. 42) Of the 625 sittings only 100 were free.
The church was attended by rich businessmen's
families, which led a newspaper correspondent to
complain in 1872 that an iron church in West Green
or Tottenham Hale would have been more beneficial
than Newsam's lavishly favoured St. Ann's, in rural
surroundings and catering largely for outsiders. The
building cost as much as £11,000, with a vicarage
to the north-east (demolished 1962), and was much
praised for the richness of its detail, both internal
and external. (fn. 43) It was designed by Thomas Talbot
Bury in the Decorated style, of brick, faced with
Kentish ragstone and with dressings of Bath stone,
and comprised an aisled nave, north and south
transepts, apsidal chancel, and south-west tower and
spire. A single vestry served both clergy and choir
until 1897, when a separate one for the choir was
consecrated; the original vestry was converted into
a memorial chapel in 1921, when a new clergy vestry
was added. The steeple, damaged in the Second
World War, was repaired in 1954-5, and other parts
of the fabric were restored in 1958 and 1961. Fittings
included an organ on which Mendelssohn had
played at Crosby Hall (City of London), whence it
was brought by Mr. and Mrs. Robins. There was
seating for about 480 in 1972.
A rise in the working-class population of south
Tottenham led to the hire of rooms as a soup
kitchen before the opening of the Newsam Memorial
House, with a resident mission woman, on the south
side of St. Ann's Road. A hall was added at the back,
with help from the Bishop of London's Fund, and
dedicated in 1914; it was pulled down in the 1960s,
when a new parish hall was built north of the church.
The same fund contributed to a parish hall in
Braemar Road, opened as the Mission of the Good
Shepherd in 1906 and bombed in the Second World
War. It also helped to build a hall in Blackboy Lane,
dedicated as St. Andrew's church in 1908 and thereafter served by a curate-in-charge until the Second
World War; St. Andrew's was used as the headquarters of the Church company of the Boys'
Brigade from 1947 until it was burned down in
1970.
In the populous Stamford Hill area an iron
church, dedicated to ST. JOHN THE DIVINE,
was opened in Franklin Street in 1880. It was replaced by a church in Vartry Road six years later,
when a parish was created out of St. Ann's, whose
vicar became the patron. Lord Amherst gave the
site and the Bishop of London's Fund contributed.
The church, of red brick with stone dressings, was
designed by S. W. Grant in the Early English style;
it had seating for 650 and consisted of aisled nave,
chancel, north-east sacristy, and south-east organchamber. A mission house was opened in Harefield
Road in 1891 and a parish room was built in 1894. (fn. 44)
Despite repairs to the church itself in 1953 (fn. 45) the
fabric became so dilapidated that from the late 1960s
120-150 worshippers met in a large hut within the
nave. In 1973 it was planned to demolish the church,
with its adjoining clergy-house and hall, and to rebuild on part of the old site. (fn. 46)
Services were started by a mission from Marlborough College (Wilts.) at the new Coleraine Park
board school in 1881. The church of ST. MARY
THE VIRGIN was consecrated in 1887, Marlborough College having contributed over one third
of the cost of the site, on the south side of Lansdowne Road, and of the building. (fn. 47) A consolidated
chapelry, taken from the parishes of All Hallows,
Holy Trinity, and St. Paul, was created in 1888, (fn. 48)
with the bishop of London as patron. (fn. 49) The church,
designed by J. E. K. Cutts, was of red brick with
stone dressings, in the Early English style; it seated
720 and comprised a western vestry, an aisled nave,
an apsidal chancel with the altar raised unusually
high, a north-east chapel, and a south-east organchamber. (fn. 50) A mission hall in Mitchley Road,
Stoneleigh South, was opened in the 1890s and later
halls were built in Kemble (fn. 51) and Lansdowne roads.
The Kemble hall was used by the parish in 1973,
when the other halls were leased out. (fn. 52)
At West Green, where residents hitherto had been
faced with a difficult journey to St. Ann's, services
began in the Willow Walk school in 1882. (fn. 53) Two
years later an iron church, which had served the
parishioners of All Souls', Clapton, was erected, with
help from the London Diocesan Home Mission, on
land in West Green Road leased from W. Hodson of
Downhills. In 1888 the permanent CHRIST
CHURCH was consecrated, at the junction of
Stanmore and Waldeck roads, and in 1889 a consolidated chapelry was formed out of Holy Trinity,
All Hallows, St. Michael's, and St. Ann's, (fn. 54) with the
vicar of Holy Trinity as patron. (fn. 55) The church was
designed by Hodson and Whitehead, of red brick
with some stone dressings, in the Early English
style. It seated 700 and comprised an aisled nave and
a chancel; the roof was relaid with pantiles after the
Second World War. The iron building was retained
for Sunday school classes until 1893, when a parish
hall was opened in Waldeck Road, where successive
vicarage houses later separated it from the parish
church.
In 1884, a year after work had started on the Noel
Park estate, services and Sunday school classes were
held over a shop in Park Road South, later no. 9
Lymington Avenue. (fn. 56) A site for a church at the
centre of the estate had already been bought by
Richard Foster and extended, to include a hall and
vicarage, by the Bishop of London's Fund; money
also had been raised in Shrewsbury to erect a mission
hall, which would be supported by the Shropshire
Mission to East London. The hall was dedicated in
1885 and the church of ST. MARK consecrated in
1889, when a district was assigned from St. Michael's,
Wood Green, (fn. 57) with the bishop of London as
patron. (fn. 58) In 1902-3 St. Mark's had the largest
Anglican attendance in the parish, with a congregation twice that of any other church in Wood
Green. (fn. 59) The church, of red brick, seated 850 and
consisted of aisled nave, transepts, chancel, north-east chapel, and south-east vestry; it was designed
by Rowland Plumbe in Venetian Gothic and was
intended to have a lofty bell-tower. The mission hall
was retained for parish meetings and formed, with
the church and vicarage, an island site between
Gladstone and Lymington avenues.
A mission hall, holding 250, was built by the
Drapers' Company of London in 1884 to serve the
poor and populous area between Page Green and
Tottenham Hale. A permanent building was planned
ten years later but was not consecrated, as the church
of ST. PETER, Broad Lane, until 1900, (fn. 60) when a
district chapelry was formed out of Holy Trinity
parish. (fn. 61) The bishop of London became patron. (fn. 62)
The church, of red-brick with stone dressings, was
designed in an early Gothic style by J. S. Alder; it
seated 800 and consisted of aisled nave, transepts,
chancel, and south-east chapel. The building was
restored after war damage in 1955 (fn. 63) but closed c.
1970. (fn. 64) It awaited demolition in 1973, when the
parish was divided between the churches of Holy
Trinity and St. Bartholomew. (fn. 65)
The detached portion of the parish of St. James,
Clerkenwell, which lay to the north-east of
Muswell Hill in Hornsey parish, became a mission
district in 1899. (fn. 66) For a year services were held at the
Norwegian House, a wooden building, formerly used
as a restaurant in the grounds of Alexandra Palace,
which stood near the junction of Alexandra Park
Road and the Avenue. The iron church of ST.
ANDREW, a little to the east on land which had
been bought by the Bishop of London's Fund, was
dedicated in 1900, when a new parish was created
out of the outlying portion of Clerkenwell and part
of St. Michael's, Wood Green, with the bishop of
London as patron. (fn. 67) A permanent church of red
brick with stone dressings, designed by J. S. Alder
in a Decorated style, was consecrated in 1903; it
seated 800 and was not orientated. It consisted of
aisled nave, transepts, chancel, south-east chapel,
and western spire. A hall, to the west, was opened in
1923 and was used for worship after the church had
been gutted by an incendiary bomb in 1944. St.
Andrew's was dedicated again in 1957, having been
remodelled by R. S. Morris to incorporate the shell
of its predecessor. The new church seated 414 and
was set back from the road, with a bellcot instead
of a spire; it contained a bronze tablet which was all
that survived of a memorial to the first vicar by Sir
Ninian Comper, which had been placed above the
altar in 1938.
A red-brick hall, dedicated to St. Alban, was
built on the east side of Stonebridge Road in 1899. (fn. 68)
It became a parish hall (fn. 69) after the church of ST.
BARTHOLOMEW, Stamford Hill, had been built
on the north side of Craven Park Road in 1904, with
funds from the sale of the City church of St.
Bartholomew, Moor Lane, London (demolished
1902), (fn. 70) which itself had replaced St. Bartholomew
by the Exchange, London. A consolidated chapelry
from St. Ann's, Hanger Lane, and St. Thomas's,
Stamford Hill, was created in 1905 (fn. 71) and the patronage was vested in the Crown. (fn. 72) The church, of red
brick with stone dressings, was designed by W. D.
Caroë in the Perpendicular style; it comprised aisled
nave, north and south aisles and transepts, chancel
with a crypt chapel and vestries underneath, south-east chapel, and west gallery. The 17th-century
pulpit sides and font-cover, attributed to Grinling
Gibbons, came from St. Bartholomew by the
Exchange, as did the font itself and the later altarrails. (fn. 73) The plate included several early Victorian
pieces from St. Bartholomew's, Moor Lane.
The corrugated iron church of ST. SAVIOUR, (fn. 74)
at the highest point reached by Palace Gates (later
Alexandra Park) Road, was dedicated in 1900. It
accommodated 300 and was used for services until
the consecration of part of its successor in 1904,
shortly before a district chapelry was formed out of
St. Michael's, Wood Green, (fn. 75) with the bishop of
London as patron. (fn. 76) The iron building then became
a parish hall and was moved farther south in 1907, to
make way for the west end of the permanent church,
which was completed two years later. The new
church, designed by J. S. Alder, was of red brick
with stone dressings, in the Decorated style, and
was not orientated; seating 700, it consisted of aisled
nave with transepts, apsidal chancel, and north-east chapel. In 1926 a memorial hall was opened, on
an adjacent site to the west which had been bought
five years earlier.
The mission church of St. Peter, in the charge of
St. Michael-at-Bowes (Southgate), was established
in 1883, on the corner of Bounds Green and
Brownlow roads. (fn. 77) A brick building in the Early
English style, with chancel and nave, it later became
the church of ST. GABRIEL and was turned into a
parish hall in 1906, on the consecration of part of a
new church on the south side of Bounds Green
Road. In that year a consolidated chapelry was
formed out of St. Michael's, Wood Green, St.
Michael-at-Bowes, and St. Paul's, New Southgate. (fn. 78)
The new church, designed by E. B. Carter, was of
red brick with stone dressings, in a late Gothic
style, and was not orientated; after the 'east' end had
been consecrated in 1915, it accommodated 600 and
consisted of undivided aisled nave and chancel and
south-east chapel, all plastered internally. Fittings
included a 19th-century pulpit, lectern, and choirstalls from St. Paul, Great Portland Street, and an
ancient processional cross, of Russian design but
unknown origin, which had been given to St. Peter's
mission. A church hall to the west, on the corner of
Durnsford Road, was opened in 1937.
In 1899 the London Diocesan Home Mission
established a district which was served by an iron
church in Philip Lane. A permanent church, dedicated to ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE, was founded
in 1906 on the east corner of Clonmell Road and
Philip Lane. (fn. 79) A consolidated chapelry, from the
parishes of Holy Trinity and Christ Church, was
formed in 1907, (fn. 80) and the bishop of London became
patron of the living. (fn. 81) The new church, of red brick
with stone dressings, was designed by J. P. Cutts in
the Perpendicular style; it was not orientated and
consisted of an aisled nave, a chancel, which was
finished in 1911, and a south-east chapel, and seated
800. There were plans for a north-west tower, of
which only the first stage was completed. The organ
came from St. Philip, Clerkenwell. (fn. 82) A yellow-brick
church hall was built to the west, near Spur Road.
In 1902 the London Diocesan Home Mission
established a district at Chitts Hill, with an iron
church near the top of Wolves Lane to serve the new
housing estates on the slope to the south. A permanent church, dedicated to ST. CUTHBERT, was
consecrated in 1907, (fn. 83) when a consolidated chapelry
was created out of the parishes of All Hallows and
St. Michael, Wood Green, the patron being the
Church Pastoral Aid Society. (fn. 84) The church, of red
brick with stone dressings, was designed by J. S.
Alder in a Decorated style; its west end was completed in 1930, leaving a church shorter than the one
originally planned and consisting of an aisled nave
with arcades of stone, chancel, north-east chapel, (fn. 85)
and transeptal vestry and organ-chamber. There was
seating for c. 300 in 1973. A hall was built to the east
in 1923 and, although intended to be temporary, was
remodelled in 1965. (fn. 86)
Services for residents around Walpole Road were
held in a priest's house from 1908 and afterwards in
an iron church, until the consecration of ST. BENET
FINK in 1912. The new church was designed by
J. S. Alder and paid for by funds from the sale of the
City church of St. Peter-le-Poer, London (demolished 1908) which itself had replaced St. Benet
Fink, London (demolished 1844). (fn. 87) A consolidated
chapelry, taken from the parishes of All Hallows,
Christ Church, and St. Mark, was formed in 1912, (fn. 88)
and the patronage was vested in the chapter of St.
Paul's. (fn. 89) The new church, near the junction of
Walpole Road and Lordship Lane, was built of
brick with stone dressings, and was not orientated;
it had seating for 750, and consisted of aisled nave,
double transepts, chancel, and chapel. The rosewood
organ case came from St. Peter-le-Poer, as did the
communion plate. (fn. 90) A brick hall was built to the
north-west c. 1924. (fn. 91)
The mission church of St. Hilda, on the corner of
White Hart Lane and Great Cambridge Road, (fn. 92) was
established by the London Diocesan Home Mission
in 1926. It was replaced in 1939 by the church of
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, Great Cambridge
Road, designed by Messrs. Seely and Paget and
largely paid for by the sale of St. John the Baptist,
Great Marlborough Street (demolished 1937). (fn. 93) The
church, which has an aisled nave, chancel, and
north-west chapel, is of red brick and concrete, with
some copper cladding and tiled roofs. The complex
west front, centred on a semi-circular portico enclosing a statue of the Baptist, conceals a shed-like
main building. A pantile-roofed hall was built
behind the church, in Acacia Avenue. (fn. 94) The patron
was the rector of St. James's, Piccadilly, London, who
had earlier been patron of the Great Marlborough
Street church. (fn. 95)