St Andrew’s Church, Stoke Newington

St Andrew’s is a Grade II listed Church in Stoke Newington, designed by Arthur Blomfield and opened in 1884. It stood originally in a green field site and served a large congregation, with over 300 people attended each of the three Sunday services in the 19th century. The area of London in which the church is situated has since become a hub for an Orthodox Jewish community and the congregation of St Andrew’s now remains at around a steady 45.

War Memorial (2015)

The church has a painted wood 'Those Who Returned' WWI memorial board recording the names of men from the parish who served in WW1 and returned. Before it’s restoration, the war memorial board had warped and split in the middle and its paint was damaged. It was removed for structural repair and stabilisation of the paint, filling of losses and retouching. The board was then returned to its original location outside the war memorial chapel.

Wall Murals (2019)

The church’s stone exterior is quite plain but inside it has an extensive range of wall paintings and stained glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The chronological Life of Christ is depicted in an extensive sequence of wall paintings. The painting at the west end was added in 1914 (later than the rest of the scheme) after the tapestry previously occupying this wall was removed. The scheme in this painting combines the Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer with memorial shields, including the arms of Stoke Newington and Hackney.

In recent decades the large west window of St Andrews had failed and rainwater had streaked this painting. A vertical crack had also opened in the centre of the wall from structural movement. During its restoration the surface of the whole west end was cleaned to remove staining, losses to the paint were repainted and missing letters reinstated. The open crack was repaired, grouted, and painted over.