Church Of St Mary Stratford Bow

Church of St Mary Stratford Bow

A parish church on an island site on Bow Road, with a possible 14th-century core, 15th-century tower, and substantial rebuilding and restoration during the early 18th century, 1829, 1882, 1895 and the 1950s. The building is constructed of Kentish Rag stone with brick additions and tiled roofs.

The exterior features a 15th-century West Tower in Kentish Rag ashlar with a southeast turret of brick in its upper part, topped by a timber clock turret that was rebuilt by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel after Second World War damage (replacing the 1829 rebuilding). A Perpendicular style west door with square label and window above opens onto the tower. The north aisle is of rubble stone and possibly dates from the 14th century. The aisles, clerestory and chancel contain straight-headed late Perpendicular style windows with elaborate cusping, renewed during the late 19th-century restorations. The south aisle was refaced in 1794 and a small Tuscan portico was added in the mid-20th century. To the north stand brick vestries of early 18th-century and 1900 date, the latter designed by the SPAB committee.

The interior contains a west tower with a tall Perpendicular arch with moulded caps on rounded shafts. The nave comprises six bays with an arcade of low octagonal columns carrying moulded capitals and double-chamfered arches, extensively restored in the late 19th century, though these may predate the 15th century. Double glazing to the windows dates from 1900. The roof is of common rafters with bulky tie beams, left roughly hewn as part of the late 19th-century restoration. The two-bay chancel has a late medieval roof with moulded tie-beams and carved bosses, the panels renewed in 1900. 18th-century panelling survives, alongside an 1881 raised and tiled floor by A.W. Blomfield and an east window by H. Lewis Curtis as part of the mid-20th-century rebuilding campaign. Communion tables date from circa 1630 and the early 18th century. An octagonal font features Perpendicular tracery. Fine monuments include those to Grace Amcottes (died 1551), Alice Coborn (died 1689) and Prisca Coborn (died 1701).

The church forms the central component of the island site and is grouped with Gothic style iron railings (reinstated in 1984), gate and piers to the churchyard, enlarged to the east in 1824. The group also includes the statue of W.E. Gladstone and bollards, as well as Our Lady of St. Catherine Roman Catholic Church and No. 1999 on the north side of Bow Road.

Originally built as a chapel of ease to Stepney under licence of 1311, the church became the parish church from 1711. In the late 19th century, following the 1896 collapse of the chancel roof, St. Mary underwent extensive restoration supervised by a committee of the SPAB and undertaken by architect Osborn C. Hills of the local firm Hills and Son. This restoration was the subject of heated debate concerning replacement versus repair of original fabric. The church sustained heavy bomb damage in the Second World War. The site was visited by the Queen in March 1951, and plans for reconstruction were prepared by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel.