The historic church of St. Mary Magdalene in East Ham’s High Street was built in the twelfth century, like its smaller neighbour St. Mary the Virgin in Little Ilford. According to the Parish of East Ham website, St. Mary Magdalene is the oldest Norman church in London still in regular weekly use. While the imposing churches of St. Bartholomew-the-Great and the Priory of St. John were serving the population of the City of London, worshippers in rural Essex prayed in this church, as the people of East Ham still do today.
The present building is believed to have replaced an earlier Saxon church. Its walls of ragstone rubble include fragments of Roman tile and prehistoric flint, evidence of humanity’s long history in East London.
Nature Trails in an Ancient Churchyard
Its ancient churchyard, which extends for nine and a half acres, is managed as a nature reserve. A number of gravestones still stand, many of those dating from the past 250 years still legible. This makes a visit especially rewarding for those interested in local genealogy or wildlife. Accessible nature trails have been laid out for the partially sighted, those in wheelchairs, or those with small children in pushchairs. A visitor centre, opened in 1983 by Queen Elizabeth II, has facilities for visitors, a souvenir shop and a small exhibition area.
Norman Church Built like a Roman Basilica
The original church was smaller than the present one. It consisted only of the nave, where the faithful stood or knelt to hear services, the chancel, reserved for the priests and attendants, and the semi-circular apse. The floor plan is very similar to that of a Roman basilica. Many churches of this type were built throughout Europe during the reign of Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century after Christ. The style came to Britain with the Norman Conquest, so English churches on this plan are usually called Norman rather than Roman.
Inside the ancient walls, twelfth century doorways and windows survive in the nave and chancel. The chancel also has a twelfth century intersecting wall arcade with chevron decoration, and vaulting shafts. The apse windows, and the arch that divides it from the chancel, and some of the oak roof timbers also date from the same period. They are still as the Norman carpenters left them in 1130, held together with wooden pegs rather than iron nails.
Anchorites, Cistercian Monks and Bright Paintings
The chancel has an anchorite’s cell built into the walls. These devoted hermits took a vow of isolation from the world so as to pray perpetually, and never left their cells, although they could communicate and receive food and gifts through windows. Those whose cells were attached to churches had a window into the chancel so they could join in church services and receive Holy Communion without breaking their vows of solitude.
Another mediaeval remnant is the beautiful double piscina, or washbasin, bult into the wall of the apse in the thirteenth century. It was used for cleansing the priest's hands and the sacred vessels during services.
Mediaeval churches could be colourful places, often with brightly painted statues and walls. A Flemish statue of Saint Mary Magdalene stands to the left of the sanctuary, recalling this tradition. There are some faint, and very rare, remnants of thirteenth century Cistercian wall paintings in the apse. Local people recalled seeing surviving wall paintings in other parts of the church in the early twentieth century, but these artworks have since faded or crumbled.
Marble Monument to Banished Nobility
An imposing marble monument to Katherine Nevill, buried in 1613, has impressive painted sculptures of her parents, Edmund Nevill, pretender to the Earldom of Westmoreland, and his wife Jane, with their sons and daughters kneeling in prayer. The Nevills had seven children, but one of the small statues has been stolen. Nevill’s father had chosen the wrong side in the struggle between Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots, and though the family escaped death by fleeing overseas, they lost their estates. Edmund never persuaded King James I to return them along with his father’s forfeited title.
Change and Destruction
There were repairs and alterations in the sixteenth century, and a hundred years later the roofs were altered and ceilings inserted, covering the old beams and probably helping to preserve them for future generations. The chancel arch may have been taken down at this time, but the worst damage was done later.
In the nineteenth century four large stained glass windows were added, destroying three Norman windows in the process. These windows in turn were destroyed when the church was bombed during a Nazi attack on London in 1941, losing all its stained glass and suffering considerable damage. A striking modern stained glass window was installed in the apse in 1975.
An Unusual Day Trip on London Transport, or a Virtual Tour
For those unable to visit in person, the parish website offers a virtual visit. However, the church is easy to get to on public transport. It's an easy fifteen-minute stroll Northwards from Beckton Bus Station or Beckton Docklands Light Railway terminal. From East Ham Underground station, a short walk down the bustling shopping street to a bus stop will enable you to pick up the 325, 300 or 101 London bus, all of which pass the church.
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