St Dunstan's, Stepney
| St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney | |
|---|---|
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| 51°31′1″N 0°2′30″W / 51.51694°N 0.04167°WCoordinates: 51°31′1″N 0°2′30″W / 51.51694°N 0.04167°W | |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Modern Inclusive Anglo Catholic |
| Website | Official website of St Dunstan's |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Dunstan and All Saints |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Stepney |
| Deanery | Tower Hamlets |
| Archdeaconry | Hackney |
| Diocese | Diocese of London |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | The Rev'd Trevor F Critchlow |
| Laity | |
| Organist(s) | Richard Salmon |
| Churchwarden(s) | Angela Saunders |
St Dunstan's, Stepney is an Anglican Church which stands on a site that has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
In about AD 952 the Bishop of London — who is also Lord of the Manor of Stepney — replaced the existing wooden structure with a stone church dedicated to All the Saints. In 1029, when Dunstan was canonised, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints, a dedication it has retained.
Up until the early fourteenth century the church served the whole of Middlesex east of the City of London. Then new churches were built at Whitechapel and Bow. The existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone mainly in the fifteenth century (although the chancel dates from 200 years earlier). A porch and octagonal parish room were added in 1872.
The church was restored extensively in 1899, at a cost of £5,600. The vestries and some of the main building were destroyed by fire on 12 October 1901, including the organ which had carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The restoration cost £7,084, and the church was re-opened in June 1902 by the Bishop of Stepney.
The ring of ten bells, the heaviest weighing 28¾ hundredweight, which hang in the belfry, were cast at the local Whitechapel Bell Foundry and are tuned to C#. The seven oldest bells were cast by Thomas Mears and Son, Whitechapel, in 1806. The bells were re-hung in 1899. Three were recast in 1952 when repairs were made to the tower. The bells are mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons: "When will that be, say the bells of Stepney."
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