LIMEHOUSE

St. Anne's Church
from an original photograph by Kathleen Andersen

St Anne's was built 1712-1724 immediately to the north of the riverside community of Limehouse and it was finally consecrated in 1730. There appeared to be many oppositions to this new parish being created out of the ancient parish of St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney hence the six-year gap between completion of the building and its consecration. Another reason for the delay may have been because the parish had insufficient funds to pay the stipend of an incumbent.

The church is one of Nicholas Hawksmoor's outstanding designs. In 1850, it was gutted by fire and repaired 1851-1857. The font, pulpit and stained glass window at the east end date from this time. The church was restored in 1891 but was badly damaged by bombing in 1941 - it has recently been restored again. The clock on the spire is the highest church clock in London.

St Anne's has large, park-like grounds with a number of old, above-ground tombs and many gravestones still standing. Although the busy Commercial Road runs along one side of the grounds, another side faces narrow Newell Street which contains many pretty, little 18th-century houses.

The parish was part of the Stepney Registration District and, since 1965, has been part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The parish registers are at the London Metropolitan Archives and the dates available are:

Baptisms 1730-1955
Marriages 1730-1968
Burials 1730-1897
Baptisms from 1955 and marriages from 1968 are with the incumbent vicar.

The church is usually locked but arrangements may be made with the vicar to view it. Anyone proposing a visit to this area may take a very nice walk from the church, along Limehouse Cut and Basin and then into Narrow Street with its Grapes Inn dating from 1583. The area has been extensively (and expensively) renovated so you won't find the ambience of Dickens' and Sherlock Holmes' times!

Kathleen Andersen
December 1999