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IN THE NEWS
TOUR OF THE MONTH
ON THIS DAY IN LONDON
23rd April 1959 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
23rd April 1925 1st London performance of operetta Fasquita staged
23rd April 1881 Gilbert and Sullivan's opera Patience produced in London
23rd April 1775 Artist J.M.W. Turner was born in Covent Garden, London.
23rd April 1705 Richard Steele's Tender Husband, premieres in London
23rd April 1702 The Coronation of Anne I in Westminster Abbey.
23rd April 1685 The Coronation of James II (and VII of Scotland) in Westminster Abbey.
23rd April 1661 English king Charles II crowned in London
23rd April 1661 The Coronation of Charles II in Westminster Abbey.
The Church of the Good Shepherd
This is a church that was built for the Agapemonites...
Location: Upper Clapton, London
Description: A Church built for a Victorian free love cult!
The Church of the Good Shepherd (orignally called the Church of the Ark of the Covenant) was built in 1892 for a sect called the Agapemonites. This group had been founded in the 1840s by a man called Henry James Prince. During that decade he created a community for his followers in Spaxton, Somerset where they could practice their unconventional views on marriage, morality and the messiah.
The London church which cost 20,000 was opened in 1896 by Prince's sucessor John Smyth-Pigott. The building looks like a typical Victorian church except for the huge sculptures of the symbols of the Evangalists around the door and around the steeple. The interior has stunning stain glass by the Victorian illustrator, Walter Crane.
The sect's presence in North London, came to an end not many years after it was built when in 1902 Smyth-Pigott claimed he was the messiah and that he could walk on water. Venturing out to the ponds on Clapton common to show eveyone he could perform this miracle inevitally led to his failure at water walking and the police had to protect him from the angry mob that were not impressed that this self proclaimed messiah was a fake. So Smyth-Pigott fled the area and went back to the town of Spaxton.
The church is now owned by the Ancient Catholic Church. Occasionally it is possible to get a look inside however even the exterior is worth a visit!
Architecture
Ranking This Month: 508/2798
Pages Hit This Month: 75
Link to This Page: http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location/1881
Credits: http://www.churchofthegoodshepherd.co.uk/
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This is a church that was built for the Agapemonites... |
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The Black Madonna of Willesden», 8.0km
Notre Dame de France», 5.0km
Lily among the weeds», 6.4km
The Holy Trinity and Clowns», 1.9km
Southwark Cathedral», 4.7km
London's oldest parish church», 4.0km
The Actors' Church», 4.9km
The Church of the Good Shepherd», 0km
A History of differing Worship», 7.0km
St John's Wood Church», 5.2km
mapping London's most interesting and unusual places and history
