A detailed history of St Paul’s Church, Bow Common
Read Father Duncan Ross’s authoritative and painstaking guide to this unique place of worship.
Much of this detail has come from direct interviews with those involved and is not available anywhere else. The guide is intended for researchers and those interested in detail and source materials.
This 347 page illustrated guide brings together detail about the original church, the rebuilding in the 1950s and ‘60s and the associated art and artists, along with the detailed history of the church presence in the parish.
Please contact the church if you are having difficulty downloading any files and we can send them to you directly.
Click on the section name to download:
A Welcome to the Gates of Heaven – Foundations
The first section of this guide introduces the main people and movements behind this unique modern church building (PDF – 1.3 Mb)
The second section of this guide details the context and reaction as this building was proposed and took shape in the late 1950s (PDF – 1.9 Mb)
The third section of this guide (PDF – 2.6 Mb)
The present church of St Paul’s, Bow Common (PDF – 2 Mb)
Selected history
E Bow Common a Nuisance; William Cotton and the first church
The fifth section of this guide looks at the first church of St Paul in Bow Common and St Lukes church (PDF – 3.2 Mb)
F Ritualist Scandal at St Pauls and St Lukes church
The sixth section of this guide looks at the religious context of the first church (PDF – 3.7 Mb)
G The Clergy of St Pauls and of St Lukes church since 1865
Explores the priests who have served this part of the East End for 160 years (PDF – 1.9 Mb)
H Church Schools and Barnadardo - then and now
Looks at the schools attached to the church and the start of Dr Barnado's work in the parish (PDF – 2.7 Mb)
Bringing us up-to-date with current context and usage of the church building (PDF – 1.6 Mb)
“Students, enthusiasts and researchers, this is for you. This is the best aggregation of information we have on the history of the building of St Pauls’, Bow Common and of the parish. of St Paul with St Luke.”
About the author
This detailed and authoritative guide is the painstaking, dedicated work of Father Duncan Ross, Vicar of St Paul's, Bow Common from 1995—2013.
We are grateful for the very kind permission to publicise his work.
Please address any comments or enquiries to the church via this website in the first instance, which will be passed on.
© Duncan Ross 2016
Published under the CC BY 4.0 licence
Explore the church
Eddie Tulasiewicz made this short video The UK’s Best Modern Churches: St Paul’s Bow Common with the National Churches Trust to explain the importance of the building. It features our Prebendary Duncan Ross, the vicar from 1995—2013.