Published by the
Anglo-Catholic History Society, Michael Yelton recounts the history
of 12 London Churches – most of which have been demolished, all of
which have ceased to be Anglican Churches.
Most, but not all,
of these Churches were founded during the Victorian heights of the
Anglo-Catholic movement, with its urgent and energetic sense of
Mission to the urban poor. That these Churches were short lived can
be accounted for by the confluence of two main developments. One is a
lost of urgency and energy within the movement in the post-War years,
the other was the de-population of many of the poorest districts in
London as slums were replaced with suburban estates.
Yelton gives an
account of the building, and any significant modifications that
occurred to it, but he also gives an account of the Priests that lead
these Churches, and it is here that the real colour and interest
lies. For much of the period under consideration the Anglo-Catholic
movement was marginalised within the Church of England (most of those
considered here would fall at the “extreme” neo-Papist end of the
Anglican spectrum) and so those that inhibited it were often
eccentric – probably those without that tendency would have found
their place closer to the mainstream of the Church.
Yelton does these
Parishes the honour of remembering them, they burned brightly with
the spirit of the Gospel, even if they burned briefly.
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