East London Tabernacle, Mile End
East London Tabernacle, Mile End
East London Tabernacle is a Baptist church on Burdett Road, Mile End, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
- Location
- Mile End, Greater London
- Country
- England
- County
- Greater London
- City / town
- Mile End
- Address
- Burdett Road, Mile End, Greater London, E3 4TU
- Postcode
- E3 4TU
- Built
- 1955; successor to the 1871 Tabernacle destroyed in the Blitz
- Architect
- Hubert Lidbetter
- Denomination
- Baptist Church
- Style
- Mid-century Nonconformist chapel
- Opening hours
- Generally open during office hours Monday to Thursday. Just ring the door bell and a member of the church staff will be happy to show you around.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Ramp or level access available on request
Overview
The original East London Tabernacle opened in 1871 and was the second-largest Nonconformist church in London. It was destroyed by a German incendiary bomb in the Second World War; the basement was then used as a water reservoir for fire crews. The present building opened in 1955. The architect was Hubert Lidbetter, a Quaker who had designed the Friends Meeting House on Euston Road and other meeting houses. The Twentieth Century Society credits Hubert Martin Lidbetter (his son) in some records; contemporary grant reports name Hubert Lidbetter.
Lidbetter designed the auditorium as a modern take on a classic Nonconformist chapel: a wide room with a prominent pulpit facing raked pews, high windows, a rear balcony and a baptistry built into the floor of the stage. Seating was about 500 when opened and is about 350 today. The building is not listed. The church remains an evangelical Baptist congregation on Burdett Road.