Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lord, Upper Clapton

The Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lord, on the border of Upper Clapton and Stamford Hill, is the Georgian Orthodox church in London. Since its opening in 1892 as the Agapemonite church of the Ark of the Covenant it has served as the sole London outpost of three very different types of Christianity. During the second half of the twentieth century it was the Church of the Good Shepherd and belonged to the Ancient Catholic Church, a now defunct denomination. In 2011 it became a Georgian Orthodox Cathedral and gained its current name. It is a Grade II* listed building, in part because of its exceptional Arts and Crafts stained glass windows and in part as evidence of the more bizarre end of late Victorian Christianity.

The tower and spire of the church soar above Stamford Hill. Sharp eyes and those closer will notice some winged statues on an otherwise classic English church tower and steeple.

The church's incumbents have included two patriarchs, an archbishop and a beloved, but, ironically for a church whose stained glass imagery has been described in somewhat sexist terms, the longest tenure of any of its active incumbents so far has been that of a lady, the Reverend Schroder.

Under its various names the church has long served as a local landmark; its tower rises above most of the surrounding buildings and trees, so its entire stone steeple and the unusual statues that surround it are visible from afar.

Location

The building is next to Stamford Hill Bus Garage on Rookwood Road, London N16, in the northern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Sources vary as to whether it is in Upper Clapton[1] or Stamford Hill.[2]

Construction

The building was built by Joseph Morris and Son of Reading.[3] It is built of stone in the gothic style and has a capacity of 400. Morris's daughter the architect Violet Morris may have assisted with the design; like her sister the wood carver Olive Morris, she was a resident at the Agapemone.[4]

Architectural sculpture

The tower statuary and at least some internal stone carving was by Arthur George Walker,[5] and has been described as "accomplished" by English Heritage as part of its justification for the church's listing.[6] The main external sculpture consists of two sets of the four beasts of the tetramorph – an ox, a lion, an eagle and a winged person – in stone around the entrance and in bronze at the corners of the top of the tower around the base of the spire. The four have variously been described as the symbols of the four evangelists – the winged ox for Luke, the winged lion for Mark, the eagle for John and the winged person or angel for Matthew – or as the four beasts from the Book of Revelation. The bronze versions are on pedestals carved with the words "God is Love" while the stone versions are shown crushing human figures.[7] The Book of Revelation was of especial importance to the Agapemonites as they believed the end of the world was imminent.

Stone winged lion and bull on either side of the main door
Bronze lion and bull at the base of the spire
Winged ox on a corbel in the interior
Lion and lamb

Enoch and Elijah

According to the Old Testament, the Prophets Enoch and Elijah did not die but were physically taken up to Heaven. This had particular significance for the Agapemonites, so they had roundels made both on the outside of the tower and the interior of the church representing the chariot of Elijah and the Book of Enoch.[8] Enoch and Elijah were also depicted in the stained glass of the apse,[9] but this is no longer on public display.

Chariot of Elijah inside the church
Both roundels on the outside of the tower
Scroll of Enoch inside the church

Stained glass

The stained glass windows were designed by the children's book illustrator and member of the Arts and Crafts movement Walter Crane and made by Sylvester Sparrow. This was Crane's first commission for stained glass in Britain and one of Sparrow's first works. These designs are a mixture of Art Nouveau floral works on the side windows and depictions of sin, shame and the rise of the sun of righteousness, whilst in the apse were depicted the translations of Enoch and Elijah.[10] They have been described by English Heritage as Crane's "most significant work in this medium"; it notes in the justification for listing the church at Grade II* that "the stained glass is extraordinary and has more than special interest in the context of Arts and Crafts stained glass".[11] English Heritage also quotes an 1896 review of the glass by The Builder: "it is difficult to write without superlatives; for richness and magnificence of colour we believe it never has been, and is not likely to be, surpassed".[12] John Betjeman later described the glass as "the richest Victorian glass I have ever seen"[13] The stained glass has also been described as "illustrating woman's submission to man".[14]

The sets at the west end of the church depict the end of the world, which the Agapemonites believed was coming at any moment. The side windows are of a more floral nature and depict the "new Eden" which they believed was to follow.

Millenarian imagery at the west end of the church

Then shall the Sun of Righteousness arise
Sin and Shame
Death and Disease

New Eden imagery on the side windows

Art Nouveau stained glass in the nave with adjacent Georgian icons.
Lilies

Wood carving

The hammerbeam roof structure, partially obscured by netting

In its listing, English Heritage described the hammerbeam roof as "splendid"; it also noted the benches, lectern and pulpit, the woodcarving of the latter at least being attributed to Olive Morris, daughter of the builder Joseph and herself for a time a resident of the Agapemone.[15]

Church of the Ark of the Covenant

The church was built in 1892 to 1895 for the Agapemonites, and especially to serve as a London base for their rising star John Smyth-Pigott who took over as leader (the beloved) of the Agapemonites in 1899 on the death of the movement's founder. Aside from the prominent large statuary on and of the tower, an unusual feature of the church interior when it was the Ark of the Covenant was that instead of an altar it had a chair for "the beloved" – Smyth-Pigott.

The Agapemonites were a controversial nineteenth-century religious sect whose leaders had originally been Anglican ministers, though the sect is not generally considered to be a form of Anglicanism (indeed, Smyth-Pigott was defrocked by the Church of England in 1909, six years after he had declared himself the Messiah). Due to the number of heiresses in their "abode of love" at Sproxton the sect was unusually well funded. Sources vary as to whether the church cost £20,000 or £15,000 to build, but it was a lavish sum for that era. The building was only to serve as an active centre for the sect for less than a decade between its opening in 1895 and a controversial announcement by Smyth-Pigott in 1903.

In 1903 (or September 1902 according to English Heritage[16]) Smyth-Pigott had to be protected by the police from a mob of thousands after he had declared himself to be Jesus Christ, but declined to walk over Clapton Pond. He retreated to the safety of the Agapemonite communty in Sproxton where he died in 1927; his grave was left open for some time in the expectation of his resurrection. As none of his grandchildren were willing to continue his ministry, the church steadily dwindled and the last of the ladies in the abode of love died in 1956. Sources vary as to whether the church was completely disused for the half-century between the events of 1903 and the arrival of the Ancient Catholic Church in 1956,[17] or whether some of the London Agapemonites had continued for a time to discreetly meet in the church's basement.[18]

Church of the Good Shepherd, Upper Clapton

From 1956 to 2007 the building was used by "the Ancient Catholic Church" and the building was known as the Church of the Good Shepherd.[19] The church was founded by Harry Nicholson, a priest and later Primate of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Nicholson had left the Apostolic church before he moved into the then disused Agapemonite church in 1956; he continued as Primate until his death in 1968. His successor as Primate was a Mr Schroder who continued the church until his death in 1985. The third and final leader of the Ancient Catholic Church was Mr Schroder's widow Pamela Schroder who, as Reverend Schroder, led the church for another 22 years until her own death. After Reverend Schroder's death a court case ruled that the church had in effect ceased with her death, and no longer existed to be the beneficiary of her will. So the Ancient Catholic Church was dissolved, and the days of the building's dedication to the Good Shepherd came to an end.[20]