Churches of the British Isles

Grace Baptist Church sits at the north-west corner of the junction between Gurney Road and Cruikshank Road. Strict Baptists first met in a house in Forest Lane in 1870, in a small group led by James Mortar, a builder. They soon moved to Chatsworth Road, using a room adjoining Mortar's house until 1882, when an iron church was erected in Gurney Road. This permanent building replaced it in 1885. It continued in use even after the war, despite bomb damage.

West Ham Cemetery occupies a large expanse of land on the northern side of Cemetery Road in Stratford. When the cemetery first opened, as was the case with the majority of Victorian cemeteries, it had separate chapels for nonconformists and Church of England burials. Today only the latter of those survives, on the eastern side of the entrance road. West Ham Cemetery opened in 1857, and its nine-hectare site remains open for visitors and burials.

St James (New) Church, Forest Gate, is on the eastern side of St James Road, a few metres south of the junction with Cemetery Road. The site originally held a small Victorian school building. This replaced the original St James Church which was further down the street (see below). That was demolished in 1964, although it seemingly had not suffered bomb damage. Its congregation then met in the chapel of Durning Hall community centre, presumably the building shown here.

St James (Old) Church, Forest Gate, stood at the north-east corner of the junction between St James' Road and Forest Lane. The church originated around 1870, when an iron building was serving a conventional district. A separate parish was soon formed for the growing area - in 1881 - taken from parts of those of Emmanuel Church (see below), All Saints West Ham, and St John's Stratford (see 'related links'). A permanent church was completed in 1882.

The organ came from St Matthew Friday Street in the City of London (see links), said to have been built in the 1700s by George England. During the period between 1895-1925 the church and attached schools were enlarged and parish halls were built. The church was demolished in 1964, seemingly due to falling attendances. Today the site remains largely undeveloped and unused, although the area behind it for Forest Gate District School has become a public park.

West Ham Synagogue was on the north side of Earlham Grove, now Adler Court, twenty metres east of Earlham Primary School. It started in 1897 with services at Earlham Hall on the same street. In 1899 a house was rented in Forest Lane and a reader appointed. The society bought Nos 95-97 here, replacing them with the synagogue in 1911. An extension was added to the north in 1934. Fire destroyed the synagogue around 1990. It closed in 2004 and was demolished in 2008.

Romford Road Congregational Church is at the north-east corner of Romford Road and Norwich Road, with the old hall behind it. It was founded by local Congregationalists under John Curwen. The Norwich Hall was opened in 1880. The first minister erected the main building in 1885, increasing attendance over the 300 mark. Second World War damage to the main buildings meant that, from 1941, meetings were held in an old iron hall. Repairs were completed in 1958.

Emmanuel Church Forest Gate sits at the south-east corner of the junction between Upton Lane and Romford Road, Forest Gate. It opened in 1852, and in the same year gained a parish. The building was erected at the expense of the Reverend T Cornthwaite, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott in the Decorated style, using Kentish ragstone. By 1889 it had been slightly enlarged and in 1890 the north aisle was rebuilt on a larger scale in the Perpendicular style.

Destiny Apostolic Church International sits on the northern side of the Romford Road, virtually opposite Emmanuel Church Forest Gate (see above) and just a hundred metres to the east of the Upton Lane junction. This was originally the Emmanuel Institute, as shown on late Victorian maps. Presumably it was related to Emmanuel Church itself but details for that church fail to mention it. Its latest use is likely to have originated around the turn of the twenty-first century.

Eight photos on this page by P L Kessler (from 2010-2011), one courtesy of Newham Council, and one from Multimap.