Victorian - 1837 - 1901
Manor Park Methodist Church
This modern church building on the corner of Romford Road and Herbert Road was opened in 2009. It replaces an earlier one, built in 1964, that was badly damaged by fire (believed to be arson) in 2003.
The first congregation met in a disused beer-shop in Greenhill Grove around 1870 first and then in a skittle alley. The first building was in 1880 and a larger church was rebuilt in 1891. The 1964 rebuild was funded by the sale of the Sixth Avenue church.
(Text: Abridged from Colin Marchant's Faith Flows in Newham Project, with additional information from Newham Heritage Service; photograph: Matthew Crisp. More information about the history of the Methodist Church in Newham can be found in Colin's article Methodism in Newham on the website )
Harold Road Church
HAROLD ROAD Methodist Church was built in 1903.
Fife Road Methodist Church
Fife Road Mthodist Church has its origins in 1853 when they first met in Coke Oven Cottages on the site of Thames Iron Works.
METHODISM IN NEWHAM
Thu, 24/02/2011 - 16:54 — Newham Story BFJohn Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached in a Plaistow 'meeting house' in 1739.
Co-operative Jug
This commemorative jug was produced for the jubilee of the Stratford Co-op. The scene depicts Straford Broadway with the Gurney memorial and St John's church.
Hilleary
This image shows the impressive mien of Frederick E. Hilleary who was the first Town Clerk of West Ham, serving from 1886 to 1913. His was a part-time appointment throughout and he combined it with a practice in the City and several other local official appointments. As Clerk to the Local Board, 1874-86, he conducted the negotiations for incorporation (to which there had been a great deal of opposition) and guided the new Borough through the legislative and administrative development of its first 25 years. Frederick's son George Edward Hilleary became West Ham's third Town Clerk (1915-29).
Avenons
Avenons Road (seen here in the 1960s) was built on six acres of marsh pasture land that were owned by Nicholas Avenon a merchant tailor of London who died in 1599.
He conveyed to 12 trustees by a deed of 1580, six acres of marsh called Withering's mead. After his death the income from this land was to provide 24 poor persons with a penny loaf each Sunday, with any residue going towards an annual sermon to be preached in the parish church. The charity has had a complex history, with controversy arsing at various times. Development of the land took place between 1881 and 1897 and, when completed, the estate in Avenons Road, Hayday Road, Ingal Road and Denmark Street comprised the sites of about 140 houses, let on building leases.
(Image and text: Newham Heritage Service. More information about Avenon's charity can be found in West Ham 1886 - 1986, published by the London Borough of Newham).
