Wednesday 13 June 2012

Going to the Olympics?

Anyone attending the Olympic Stadium, in Stratford might also consider visiting All Saints Church, West Ham which stands in the middle of the one way system in Stratford centre.  This from their website:

All Saints' Church is one of Newham's finest buildings which dates back a thousand years. To many in this area, it is known affectionately as the Cathedral of the East End - and rightly so. This dignified building has watched over the great developments of our history. Once associated with Stratford Langthorne Abbey, it has been linked with the crown both in fact and legend. It is said that Henry VIII used to visit the church with Anne Boleyn on their visits to the Abbey (there is a Boleyn Road nearby). 

The Abbot of the Abbey was originally the patron of the church and one of the Abbots baptised Queen Elizabeth I and also went to Greenwich to welcome Anne of Cleves in 1539. The church witnessed the plague and the Great Fire of London would have been clearly seen from its majestic tower. Charles Dickens used to set his watch by the time on the church clock - the mechanism is thought by some to be the prototype of the world's most famous clock - Big Ben, at Westminster. The earliest schools were built within the churchyard and many daughter churches were established throughout Newham.

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