Stepney, Middlesex, England
This leafy green oasis of calm stands in the midst of the swirling multitudes who inhabit the East End of London. The Rector of this parish says in his welcome "You are standing on holy ground. Over a thousand years ago, St Dunstan dedicated a church on this site to all the saints...............It is the mother church of the East End and with the ancient port of London nearby (it) became known as the Church of the High Seas." At one stage St Dunstan's was the church for the whole of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and part of Hackney. At its hieght the parish covered seven square miles. For many years it stood amongst walled orchards and cornfields with fine houses on either side. As London grew and engulfed the parish, gentlemen, sailor and market gardener parishoners were replaced by dockers and factory workers. Numerous daughter parishes were spawned from its maternal arms and thousand as thousands of immigrants arrived from abroad whilst others left for new horizons in the US or were banished to the Australian colonies.
Map LS 64 Located on Stepney High St
