St Mark’s Church, Silvertown was founded as a joint church and school, housed in an iron building and opened in 1857.
The building survived the war but a major fire in 1981 largely destroyed the roof, which was replaced between 1984 and 1989.
After the fire, the Brick Lane Music Hall moved there, converting it to its present use in 2003 to host traditional music hall shows. The music hall had opened in 1992 in the former Truman’s Brewery building in Brick Lane, before moving to Shoreditch and then to here. It was established by Vincent Hayes, who had previously run and performed in Music Hall shows at the Lord Hood pub, where he was landlord during the 1980s.
The church’s exterior was left largely unchanged, whilst a stage, bar, kitchen and lighting and sound equipment were added to the interior, with offices housed in the church’s former vestry.
