Plaque

Christ Church Spitalfields - pavement - ownership

Inscription

The vacant ground extending 61 feet east, 13 feet west and 30 feet north of this stone is part of the ground conveyed to the Commissioners appointed by act of Parliament for building the church and is accordingly part of the freehold belonging to the same.
Revd. West Wheldale - Rector
William Bartholomew, William Davies - Church Wardens
1821

Site: Christ Church Spitalfields - crypt entrance (2 memorials)

E1, Commercial Street, Christ Church Spitalfields - crypt entrance

In our photo both these plaques are behind, and to the right of, the modern standing sign, with the paving stone in the ground directly below the wall stone.

The pavement stone, intended to fix the ownership of a patch of land, has rather failed in its duty, having gone walkabout for much of its life. On this page we interrogate these two plaques (and a nearby third). For more input, particularly from British History Online, see our page for the Spitalfields engine-house.

Referring to the Greenwood 1827 map, you can see that there was a small building in front of the church, and the ground north of that and to the west of the church was indeed ‘vacant’. From all the dimensions given we believe that the pavement plaque was originally affixed to that building, on its north side, the purpose of the stone being to record the church’s ownership of the land to the west of the church front, and north of the small building. This land is referred to as the ‘Esplanade’ in the quote on our page for the Spitalfields engine-house.

Then came the creation of Commercial Street, constructed 1843–5 and 1849-57 - see 1890 insurance map. This was effectively a widening to the east of the north-south road that was here before, Red Lion Street, causing the demolition of any buildings between that Street and the church, including our small building. At this point the stone was salvaged and "built into the wall" of the new engine-house. This strongly suggests that the small building was also an engine-house.

But the church has one more plaque which adds information – in 1843 anyone needing assistance putting out a fire was directed to apply to the “Station House, No. 1 Church Passage, Spital Square”. Stanford's map of 1862-71 shows a police station at the address given on the plaque (which would now be about where Lamb Street disappears underground at Elder Gardens). Seems likely that an engine-house, or the land it was on, could have, over 30 years, found a new life as a police station so we like to think this is the site of our “new engine-house” which received the plaque dislodged from the small building.

And then in 1861 the stone was retrieved from the new engine-house and installed here on the church, together with the wall plaque explaining what it is. The retrieval was probably prompted by the demolition of the new engine-house but we have not investigated that. Note: the "mark" used is similar to an upside down trig point mark but we think it is intended as an arrow pointing to the pavement plaque.

We've collected a total of 7 plaques on the outside of this church - see Christ Church Spitalfields - porch.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Christ Church Spitalfields - pavement - ownership

Subjects commemorated i

Spitalfields engine-house

'Engine-house' was an early term for what we would now call a fire station. T...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Christ Church Spitalfields - pavement - ownership

Also at this site i

Christ Church Spitalfields - wall - engine-house

Christ Church Spitalfields - wall - engine-house

The stone now built into the wall of the new engine-house formerly stood 103 ...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Freddie Mercury - High Street Feltham

Freddie Mercury - High Street Feltham

TW13, High Street Feltham, By a tree outside number 21

This stone is a substitute for the more elaborate memorial that was located on the other side of the road, and subsequently removed. It c...

1 subject commemorated
RNH - Casualty Department

RNH - Casualty Department

N7, Manor Gardens, Royal Northern Gardens

See the mosaic for more information about the Casualty Department.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Cross Keys pub

Cross Keys pub

SW3, Lawrence Street, Cross Keys

But not Dickens?

6 subjects commemorated
First driver killed in road accident

First driver killed in road accident

HA1, Grove Hill

Londonist reports: "According to a local press report, 'While the car was going down Grove Hill at a high speed the front wheel collapsed...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Dennis Brown

Dennis Brown

NW10, Hazeldean Road, 55

Unveiled as part of the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence.

1 subject commemorated, 6 creators

Previously viewed

Jabez West

Jabez West

Campaigning working-man and temperance advocate. Son of a blacksmith from Princes Risborough, he came to Bermondsey in the 1830s and worked in the leather trade. Campaigned for political reform, th...

Person, Social Welfare

1 memorial
John Philpot

John Philpot

Protestant martyr burned at Smithfield.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
Fred Hampton

Fred Hampton

Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. was an American activist. He came to prominence in Chicago as chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP. ...

Person, Politics & Administration, Tragedy, USA

1 memorial
St George's Hospital - Tooting

St George's Hospital - Tooting

SW17, St George's Hospital, Hunter Wing

The corridor with the two busts, plaque and glass display area is on the ground floor of the Hunter wing.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
H. Smith

H. Smith

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial