St Mary, Haggerston

St Mary, Haggerston, was an Anglican parish church built to the designs of John Nash in 1827, in what is now the London Borough of Hackney.

It was altered later in the 19th century by James Brooks as the first initiative of the Haggerston Church Scheme, and destroyed by bombs during the Second World War.

[2] The Church Building Commission, set up under the act to distribute the money and oversee construction,[3] was advised on architectural questions by the Board of Trade, whose three architects, John Soane, John Nash and Robert Smirke were asked for sample plans and estimates as soon as the act was passed.

[2] Nash built only two churches for the commissioners: the Neoclassical All Souls, Langham Place, and the Gothic St Mary, Haggerston.

Its construction to such a height was made possible by the purchase by the contractor of a large amount of moderately priced Bath stone from the demolished Wanstead House.

Reviewing the church for the Gentleman's Magazine, Edward John Carlos blamed what he saw as the building's deficiencies on the ambitions of its architect exceeding the limited budget available:From this cause it is, that we see some parts of the building highly ornamented, brought into collision with others distinguished by the greatest plainness, and a facade marked by attempts at expensive decoration attached to an ugly meeting-house looking body.

He set to work on improving his church and on making better provision for his parish, which had a population of more than 30,000, although congregations at St Mary's had fallen to as few as 200.

The architect James Brooks was brought in to make the alterations, which were to bring him a great deal of positive attention and advance his career.

[5] In other changes, Nash's arcade pillars were reshaped into a more authentic Gothic form, the lower tier of windows was removed, and the upper ones given Decorated tracery.