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| St Mary's Bow, sometimes called
Stratford Church, was erected about the year 1311on an island site in the midst of the
Kings High Way by licence from Bishop Baldock, who was then the episcopal Lord of Stepney
Manor. This Chapel of ease was built to save the inhabitants of Stratford and Old Ford
from having to traverse roads flooded in winter to attend Stepney Church.
They still had to attend on holidays and contribute towards it's upkeep, however. This was resolved in 1497 when the 'Stratfordians' acknowledged themselves as parishioners of Stepney and agreed to pay 24s. per year in lieu of repairs and to attend the mother church just once a year - on the feast of St Dunstan. In 1719 the church of Stratford-le-bow was at last constituted a seperate parish and all dependence on Stepney Church ceased. Today it still stand with a roadway either side of it and is often confused with the church associated with Bow Bells; not helped by the fact that a pub facing the church on the southern side is named the Bow Bells. It was badly damaged during the last world war. The statue of William Gladstone was erected in front of the church in 1882, paid for by William Bryant of Bryant and May's match factory nearby. |
