Title:
FOREST GATE, St Saviour
Level: Category
Parish Records
Level: Fonds
FOREST GATE, St Saviour
Admin History:
The parish of St Saviour, Forest Gate, originated in 1880 as a mission of Emmanuel, Forest Gate [for records of which see D/P 592]. The first services were held in the Forest Gate National School, moving later in the year to an iron building erected in Macdonald Road. During 1882-1884 a permanent church was built to the designs of Edwin Clare on the corner of Macdonald Road and Station Road. The church was consecrated on 1 April 1884 [D/CC 35/3], and an Order-in-Council of 11 August 1884 [D/CPc 61] created a separate district chapelry of St Saviour, the former curate, Henderson Burnside, becoming the first vicar. The iron building was disposed of in 1891/92.

The new parish was bounded to the east and south by the parish of Emmanuel, Forest Gate; to the west by St James, Forest Gate; to the north by Holy Trinity, Harrow Green, Leytonstone; and to the north-east by Wanstead. To the south the effective boundary was formed by the Great Eastern Railway. The plan attached to the Order-in-Council of 1884 shows that the new parish covered all or part of the following streets: Bective Road, Bignold Road, Brownlow Road, Chapel Street, Clare Road, Cobbold Road, Dean Street, Derby Street, Essex Street, Field Road, Forest Road, Forest Street, Fowler Road, Ingestre Road, Leonard Road, Leyton Road, Macdonald Road, Norfolk Street, Odessa Road, Station Road, Stracey Road, Stroud Road, Suffolk Street, Sydney Road, Talbot Road, Vansittart Road, Wellington Road, and Woodgrange Road otherwise Woodford Road.

A mission room existed by 1890 (D/P 631/8/1), but no separate records of the mission are known to survive. After the sale in 1900 of the former Forest Gate National School (closed ?1894) in Forest Street a railway arch at 365 Station Road was fitted up to act as the parish hall. In 1904, however, a new hall, designed by F. Danby Smith, was erected next to the church in Macdonald Road. A vicarage was built in 1910, and in 1925 the church was restored.

From October 1944 the church was closed owing to war damage, the neighbouring hall being used instead. The church was re-opened, following repairs, on 2 July 1949. In 1975, however, the parish was united with that of St Matthew, West Ham [for records of St Matthew's as a separate parish see D/P 628]. An Order-in-Council of 17 August 1976 established a team ministry of St Saviour, Forest Gate, with St Matthew, West Ham. The church of St Saviour was demolished, and the site re-developed. In 1977 the former parish hall was converted to serve as the new church.

A Pastoral Order of 28 March 1988 [D/P 592/3/26], effective from 1 April 1988, transferred to the parish of St Saviour, Forest Gate, with St Matthew, West Ham, an area to the south of the railway, formerly part of the parish of St John and Christ Church, Stratford, with St James, Forest Gate; and transferred two smaller areas to the south of Romford Road from the parish of St Saviour, Forest Gate, with St Matthew, West Ham, to the parishes of St John and Christ Church, Stratford, with St James, Forest Gate, and West Ham [All Saints].

The union with St Matthew, West Ham, was dissolved in 2013. With the closure in 2014 of St James's church, Forest Gate (known by that time as St James, Stratford), a Pastoral Order of 1 September 2014, effective 1 October 2014, transferred to St Saviour's part of the parish of St John and Christ Church, Stratford, with St James, including the former church of St James. St Saviour's was re-named St Saviour's and St James, Forest Gate.
Archivist Note:
D/P 631/1/1, 2; 631/28/1-4; and 631/28/5/1, 2 catalogued by CL, November 2003.
D/P 631/1/3-20; 631/2/1, 2; 631/3/1, 2; 631/5/1-4; 631/6/1-15; 631/8/1; 631/28/6-19; 631/29/1/1-4; 631/29/2/1-4; 631/29/3/1-6; 631/29/4/1-6; 631/29/5/1-7; and 631/29/6/1-8 catalogued by CL, April 2007.
Related Unit of Description:
For 'St. Saviour's Parish Church ... 1884-1934. A Short Account of its History ...' see D/P 631/28/15. This work includes photographs of the church, parish hall, and vicars, and also of a seating plan of the church. In 2023 it was supplemented by 'St Saviour's Church, Forest Gate. Celebrating 140 years', for which see D/P 613/28/20 or LIB/E/HAMW79.

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Personal Names Edwin
Clare 		architect of church of St Saviour, Forest Gate, 1882-1884
Personal Names F. Danby
Smith 		architect of St Saviour's Parish Hall, Forest Gate, 1904
Personal Names Henderson
Burnside 		vicar of St Saviour, Forest Gate, 1884-1903
Place Names West Ham, Forest Gate St Saviour: parish records
Place Names 365 Station Road
West Ham, Forest Gate 		Used as parish hall, 1900-1904
Place Names Macdonald Road
Church of St Saviour
West Ham, Forest Gate 		Built as Parish Hall, 1904
Place Names Station Road
Church of St Saviour
West Ham, Forest Gate 		Built 1884, demolished c.1976
Institutions Parish of Forest Gate, St Saviour and St James Parish records