To the glory of God and in pious memory of parishioners and members of the congregation who fell in the Great War 1914-1919, the crucifix in the church enclosure is erected.
{An alphabetic list of 186 names in 4 columns. See Subjects commemorated for the names.}
{At the end of the last column:}
Killed in air raids
{A list of 7 names. See Subjects commemorated for the names.}
While almost devoid of decorative elements this plaque is extremely legible and long-lasting with lettering that is a pleasure to read (not something that can be said of all plaques, even, especially, those made today).
Site: St Matthias Stoke Newington war memorial (2 memorials)
N16, Wordsworth Road, St Matthias Church
This church, designed by William Butterfield, was completed in 1853. In 1867 Rev. Le Geyt's high church tendencies sparked strong protests: the vicar being shouted at during the service, mobs surrounding the church and shouting "Attack the church" etc. and causing the police to be called out to protect the vicarage.
Bombs on 5 January 1941 totally destroyed the vicarage and the church suffered severe damage, especially to the roof. Following significant restoration work by architect Nugent Cachemaille-Day the church was reopened in 1954.
You can chart the recent restoration of this plaque (by Antique Bronze of Highgate) on Google Street View: it's shown unrestored until April 2019, when the wall is shown empty. The plaque reappears, restored, in September 2020. Whilst researching this we noticed a rather lovely light effect on the window opposite the church.
Sources: church website, Wikipedia, St Matthias Halls.
We are not particularly short of stature but to get all the names on this plaque we had to return with a stool on the back of the bike to give us the extra height to see over the wall. By chance, our standing on a stool peering over the wall coincided with playtime at the primary school next door. Sure enough - a teacher came out to question our activities.
The cross, barely visible from the road, is in the church grounds immediately to the north, right of this church.
The associated church halls, St Matthias Church Institute, is a few minutes walk to the north, on the same side of the road.
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