If you’ve ever found yourself in the centre of Hackney you’ve probably spotted St Augustine’s Tower, the odd structure that sits alone next to the bus-stops on Mare St.
I had always thought that it was part of a larger building that had been bombed and subsequently demolished during the Second World War, but that’s not actually the case – the story of St Augustine’s Tower is rather more involved.
Back in the late 1700s Hackney was becoming a community in its own right – houses and factories were being built and people were flooding in from the countryside to take up the new opportunities that came with the Industrial Revolution. Although St Augustine’s had been Hackney’s Parish church for over four centuries it was no longer large enough to accommodate the growing congregations, so in 1798 it was demolished with services transferring to St.John-at-Hackney, the grand new church built in the Georgian style on the other side of the graveyard. Unfortunately just as the construction of St John’s was nearing completion the money ran out, leaving the new church without a functioning bell tower. The church made the pragmatic decision to retain St Augustine’s tower until such time as they had sufficient funds to finish the work.
It was not until 1844 that the new church was able to accommodate the bells, by which point Victorian society had started to appreciate old architecture, and indeed to imitate it (the Palace of Westminster and St. Pancras station being two prime examples of their love of the medieval) so St Augustine’s tower was saved from an ignominious fate…
Today the tower is Grade I listed, one of the few such buildings in the borough. One of it’s notable features is the clock, which dates from the late 16th or early 17th century and which still works. It was hand-wound until relatively recently but now relies on an electric motor to drive the clock mechanism. Up in the tower’s fourth floor room one of the old church bells has been retained – if you’re brave and don’t mind risking your hearing you can even strike it. Of course the one thing that the tower definitely has over it’s neighbours is the view from the roof, which provides a commanding view of London over Hackney’s thankfully low-rise buildings.
St Augustine’s Tower, which is managed by the Hackney Historic Buildings Trust, is open to the public from time to time, and as well as hosting open days they also hold talks and recitals on the upper floors. See their website for information on when it will next be open to the public – they also manage Hackney’s Round Chapel which is another remarkable local building (and on my list to visit in the near future).
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