Church of St Matthew, Salmon Lane, Limehouse Fields, Tower Hamlets

[shaun]

Hello,

I learnt that this church was bombed in the WWII, and was wondering if anybody knows whether any photo's of it may have survived?

thanks

Shaun

[MaxD]

This looks as if it is the one:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=LQXdBY0P&id=3FADBC21F3BB3D51340FF02436AAB37E7C6902FD&thid=OIP.LQXdBY0Pd7QXDuLidNYXhQHaFL&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F9a%2F02%2F3f%2F9a023f9fd9385f2f803aab1d017d2399.jpg&exph=448&expw=640&q=st+matthew+salmon+lane+limehouse&simid=607996558597358830&ck=679A4C1B7BC621AE2D7E1F73582BBC5F&selectedindex=1&form=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&sim=11

There is another image if you scroll forward entitled Salmon Lane and Limehouse Church which is the same church by the look of it.

MaxD

[shaun]

Oh Wow,

This is incredible, Thank you so much, great find.

Appreciate your help MaxD

Shaun

[Grollo]

Good day,
I to searched for St Matthews, Salmon Lane, as it cropped up recently on one of my Ancestry searches. Many of my close ancestors lived in this area but I've never come across it previously. The link showing Salmon Lane and a church in the distance is not St Matthews. The church in the image is St Anns. A very well known church in the area.
I did find a 1914 Ordnance Survey map showing it's location. It was on the North side of Commercial Road close to what is now Limehouse DLR Station. After the war the site would have been cleared and a modern building erected known as the Danish Seamans Church.
I spent five years at a senior school nearby and got the bus each day very close to the site.
Here is a link to the 1947 OS map. The vacant plot next to the Star Tavern on Commercial Road would have been it's location.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/102907750

[Grollo]

Here’s the best I can find. The church frontage is on the bottom of the image. This is from October 1952 and the site Britain from Above. It fronts into Commercial Road. Found the following online.

Administrative History:
The church of Saint Matthew originated in a London Diocesan Home Mission founded in the 1860s in the parish of Saint John, Halley Street, (P93/JN1). The permanent church was built in 1871 and assigned a parish in the same year. Services had to compete with the noise of traffic in Commercial Road, the Eastern Counties Railway and the Rotherhithe Tunnel. The church was gutted by an incendiary bomb in 1941 and the parish was united with Saint John's, Halley Street. The ruins of the building were demolished.
The second image shows the tower. The view is looking east on Commercial Road and the railway bridge was Stepney East station now Limehouse DLR station.
I’m sure I’ve read it lasted until 1955 but don’t quote me.

Edit: Additional comment. The church in the arial image certainly looks damaged. It doesn't appear to have a roof for starters and the tower when compared to the second image appears damaged.