Churches of the British Isles

In 1903 total Sunday attendances of fifty-three were among the lowest in the district. A full-time pastor was again appointed in 1920. In 1926, when church membership was thirty-three, the Hainault Road church building was constructed and opened. The Sunday School building pictured here was opened on the other side of the road in 1933, and is still in use. By 1946 membership of the church was 148. In 1966 it was 75, but it continued past 2009 despite the low figures.

Leyton Parish Church of St Mary lies on Church Road in Leyton. The earlier building was probably Norman, but rather than repair it when it was in a bad state in 1640, the decision was announced that it would be rebuilt. In 1658-1659 the tower had become so dilapidated that it may fall down any moment, so it was rebuilt in red brick, with a small lean-to vestry on the north side. A north aisle was added in brick, leading from the tower to the west (on the left here).

Further improvements were made in 1711, and the church was enlarged in 1822, all helping towards the general mismatched impression the building has. The clock in the tower looks out of place because it came from Leyton Great House, the largest mansion in the area, which was built in 1700 and which was sadly demolished in 1905. The parish is now united with those of St Edward's (now Christian Hope Ministries) and St Luke's (now St Eleftherios).

Leyton Salvation Army corps opened in 1883 in Church Road. Then it moved to a purpose-built hall in the High Road. In 1908 a new building opened on this site in Lindley Road, but this was replaced by another new building in 1931, known as 'Salvation Castle' thanks to its battlements. During the war the High Road citadel was badly damaged and in 1959 abandoned. Leyton corps closed in the early 2000s and amalgamated with Leytonstone. The building was passed on.

Grange Park United Reformed Church also pays host to the Lighthouse Chapel International, as well as proclaiming the union of Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Churches of Christ on its sign, a merger which took place in 1972. The church building is a modern addition to an older one, set back from the road in its own walled courtyard, and faces Grange Park Road, in the triangle between that, Church Road, which houses St Mary's, and High Road Leyton.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Redemption Parish is an African-born church movement from Lagos which is at the southern end of Grange Park Road, almost on the corner of Church Road and very close to St Mary's and Grange Park URC. Apparently it is affiliated with the branch of the same name which holds its meetings at the Legacy Business Centre on Ruckholt Road, next to Leyton Library. The church was born in 1999 when the Angel Parish restructured.

The Bible Faith Holiness Church lies immediately next to St Joseph's church hall and forms the 'Holiness Revival Centre UK Headquarters'. It is one of a series of minority African gospel church movements around the capital, claiming to preach through the establishment of Bible schools like this one which is in a small 1950s apartment block. This appeared to be its only branch in the British Isles in 2009, with two more in the USA and one each in Ghana and Nigeria.

St Joseph's Catholic Church is on Grange Park Road. The family of Thomas More (1531-1606) were the most notable Catholics in Leyton from 1582 when they settled in a house which is now the cricket ground. Thomas himself was in prison from 1582 to 1586. In 1676 no 'papists' were reported in Leyton, but by 1766, and again in 1810, many Irish Catholics were in the parish. St Joseph's started afterwards as part of the Westminster archdiocese under Cardinal Vaughan.

The first baptism took place on 1 November 1881, although there was no Catholic church until a mission was founded in February 1897. The first services were held in the chapel of St Agnes school and orphanage (Etloe House, Church Road). A temporary iron church opened in 1904 in Primrose Road (torched by vandals in 1990). The permanent Church of St Joseph was opened in 1924, but was not consecrated until 1930, when all debt on the building was cleared.

All photos on this page by P L Kessler.