Bow Church is the parish church of St Mary and Holy Trinity, Stratford, Bow.
There has been a church on the same site for over 700 years.
A chapel of ease on the site was licensed by Bishop Ralph Baldock of London on 17 November 1311 for the people of Stratford-at-Bow within the parish of Stepney. Before this date, churchgoers had had to travel to St Dunstan’s, Stepney. The present building is thought to have a 14th-century structure and the tower was added in the 15th century. It is constructed of Kentish Ragstone with brick additions.
The chapel of ease arrangement allowed parishioners to practise their religion locally, but were still obliged to attend St Dunstan’s at Stepney on religious holidays and to help pay for the church’s upkeep.
In 1497, an agreement was reached, whereby the people of Bow promised to acknowledge themselves as parishioners of Stepney and agreed to pay 24 shillings annually for repairs of the mother church. They could now dispense with their attendance there.
In 1556, during the reign of Mary I, many people were brought by cart from Newgate and burned at the stake in front of Bow Church. These included the thirteen ’Stratford Martyrs’.
In 1719, the parish became independent and St Mary, Stratford, Bow, was consecrated.
The church suffered considerable bomb damage during the Second World War. The site was visited by Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) in 1951 to mark the start of a campaign to restore the church with the work was overseen by the architect H S Goodhart-Rendel. The bell tower was reconstructed.
During 2011, the church celebrated 700 years of Christian life on the site.
