Located on Eastway in Hackney Wick, St Mary of Eton is an Anglican church and a Grade II* listed building. It was built between 1890 and 1892 in the medieval Gothic style to serve the Eton Mission, a scheme organized and funded by Eton College to provide social and religious support to people living in the crowded district.
The church was designed by Victorian architects George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner, built in red brick with stone dressings. In 1911-12, two bays were added to the west side by Cecil Greenwood Hare, and the tower was completed in 1912. The interior features a tall, spacious nave bisected by a painted rood screen by Bodley, and a high altar backed by an ornately decorated reredos designed in 1930.
During World War II, a bomb struck the Eton Mission in 1944, leaving the church badly damaged. After the merger with the Church of St Augustine in 1953, the building underwent interior alterations in 1958 and received a new organ in 1960. A major refurbishment and restoration project was carried out in 2013-2014, while new apartment blocks with diaper-patterned brickwork were constructed nearby to harmonize with the original architecture.
The development was awarded a RIBA National Award in 2015 for its sensitive design. St Mary of Eton is notable as the founding location of the Church of England youth club, the 59 Club.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.