Christ Church, Spitalfields - Restoration

Restoration

By 1960 Christ Church was nearly derelict and services were held in the Church Hall (an ex Huguenot Chapel in Hanbury Street) as the roof of Christ Church itself was declared unsafe. The Hawksmoor Committee staved off the threat of wholesale demolition of the empty building—proposed by the then Bishop of Stepney, Trevor Huddleston—and ensured that the roof was rebuilt with funds from the sale of the bombed out shell of St John's, Smith Square, now a concert hall. A rehabilitation centre for homeless alcoholic men was housed in part of the crypt from the 1960s until 2000 when it relocated to purpose built accommodation above ground. In 1976 the Friends of Christ Church Spitalfields, an independent charity, was formed to raise money and project manage the restoration of this Grade I listed building so it could be brought back into use. Church services returned to the partially restored building in 1987 and the restoration of the building was finally complete in 2004, enabling a wide range of uses to run along side its primary function as a place of worship. In 2012, the organ and crypt still remain to be restored.

As part of the restoration process, the burial vaults beneath the church had to be cleared. Instead of hiring a commercial undertaker for this job, the Friends of Christ Church raised funds for the employment of an archaeological team, who excavated nearly 1,000 interments between 1984 and 1986. Of these, about 390 were identifiable from coffin name plates. Archaeologists and physical anthropologists took this opportunity to study Victorian mortuary practices and anthropology, including health and causes of death of the local population. The project was written up as a two-volume landmark study.

The portico at the west end was repaired and cleaned in 1986, when Ewan Christian's re-arrangement of the aisle windows was also replaced by a recreation of the originals, scrupulously researched. The 202 ft tower and spire were consolidated and cleaned in 1997. The south façade was cleaned and repaired in 1999 revealing the striking whiteness and beauty of the Portland stone and the delicate detailing, both so quickly obscured by weather and city pollution. At the same time Hawksmoor’s magnificent double flight of steps on the south side, which was removed in the nineteenth century, was rebuilt. In addition, the gate piers of the Rectory yard were repaired and the large iron gates restored. Regency style railings to the churchyard, removed in World War II, were replaced. The north and east façades were repaired and cleaned in 1999–2000. The restoration of the interior, begun in 2000 and completed in 2004, restored the fabric of the church; removed the nineteenth- and twentieth-century alterations; reinstated the original arrangement of galleries following archaeology to establish their original pattern; and has recaptured the proportions, light and clarity of Hawksmoor’s original design.

Thus, after years of neglect, the church was restored to its pre-1850 condition, working from the original building documents where possible, a process that stretched over more than 25 years. The restoration revealed the most complex and sumptuous of Hawksmoor’s interiors in London. Key players in the restoration were Andrew D "Red" Mason (Project Architect and building historian from 1976–2004), Revd. Eddie Stride (Rector), Eric Elstob (Chair of The Friends of Christ Church and benefactor), Howard Kenward, Derek Stride and Hosten Garroway (Wardens), The Hon Simon Sainsbury (benefactor), English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. "Red" Mason worked from 1972–2000 with the architects Whitfield Partners, and from 2000 with Purcell Miller Tritton.