St Anne’s Church 1912-1974

 

‘The new Mission Church of St Katherine at Leigh Beck was dedicated on 5th November 1910 by the first Suffragan Bishop of Barking, Thomas Stevens. At that time Barking came under the Diocese of St Albans as the Diocese of Chelmsford had not yet been created.

 

The land for the Church was given by Arthur Mayhew Clark in memory of his parents William and Jane Clark, farmers of Mucking Hall, Stanford Le-Hope.

It was at the Vestry meeting on 20th May 1912 that it was agreed to dedicate the new Church to St Anne, the Grandmother of our Lord.

 

The Vicar of Canvey Island at that time was The Revd Joseph Romanus Brown, the population was just 477 people.’

 

 

W. Marston Acres in his book 'Canvey Island and its churches' describes St Anne's church and the reason it was built.

 

'In 1900 the resident population of Canvey did not exceed 300, but building development at the east end of the island early in the 20th century necessitated the provision of church accommodation in that area, and a site at Leigh Beck having been given by Mr A M Clark in memory of his parents, a Mission Church was built there under the supervision of Mr L Wood of Grays. On the 5th November, 1910, the church was opened for worship, the Bishop of Barking (Thomas Stevens) performing the ceremony. It was subsequently decided that the building should be dedicated to St Anne.

 

The church, which is constructed of ferro-concrete, consists of chancel and nave under one continuous roof, and a north aisle with a vestry at its eastern end. The bell, which hangs in a small turret above the western entrance, was placed there in 1911 to commemorate the Coronation of King George V, this fact being recorded on a brass plate affixed to the south wall of the nave. Three painted panels which originally formed the reredos now hang on the west wall, and nearby is a small stone bowl on a wooden stand which serves as a font.

 

In the sanctuary is a simple wooden memorial containing the names of 14 men who gave their lives in the War of 1914-8; on the south side of the chancel are memorials to William Budd, Churchwarden (d1917), and to R J H Monteith, lay reader (d1913); and on the west wall is an oak-framed tablet commemorating Ebenezer Joseph Mather, founder of the Royal National Mission to Deep-sea Fishermen, who died in 1927.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canvey Island Essex

St Anne’s Church