St Paul's Church, East Ham facts for kids
St Paul's Church, East Ham is a Church of England church located in East Ham, a part of east London. It is also sometimes called St Paul's Church, Burges Road, named after the road it is on. This church serves the local community as a parish church, which means it has its own area of people it looks after.
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How St Paul's Church Began
St Paul's Church started as a 'mission church'. This means it was a smaller church linked to a bigger one, St Mary Magdalene's, which helped it get started.
The Land and Early Buildings
A long time ago, in the late 1700s, a man named Ynyr Burges owned a lot of land in this area. Later, in 1887, his great grand-nephew, Colonel Ynyr Burges, started to build houses on this land. As part of this plan, he gave some land for the mission church to build a temporary meeting place.
- This temporary building was called the Mission Room. It opened on 24 May 1908. Today, this building is used as the church hall.
- Three years later, in 1911, people started a special fund to collect money to build a permanent church.
- In 1914, a small iron church hall was set up next to where the new church would be.
Becoming Its Own Parish
In 1924, the mission church became a parish church on its own. This meant it was no longer just a small part of St Mary Magdalene's. On 11 April 1924, Kendrick W Sibley became its first vicar, who is like the main priest for the church.
Building the Permanent Church
People worked hard to raise money for the new church. By January 1931, they had collected a good amount of money, and the church leaders agreed that building could begin.
- The construction company Hammond and Miles from Ilford built the church.
- They even reused some items from the temporary church, like the cross used in processions and a stone font (a basin for baptisms).
- The church bells were special too! They came from an old church in a place called Wendle Lofts that was no longer being used.
The Church Today
In 1932, the right to choose the vicar for the parish was given to the bishop of Chelmsford. Finally, on 30 September 1933, the new, permanent St Paul's Church was officially opened and blessed. The original temporary church building then became the church hall, which is still used today.
