Welcome to another episode of ChurchMapped and today we’ll be heading to London to review Guardian Angels Church in London, United Kingdom! Many people around the world associate London with a huge number of attractions – be it Trafalgar Square, London Eye, Big Ben – to name just a few. And they would probably be right to make that association. But London is a big place. After all, it is home to more people than approximately 132 countries around the world, such as Finland, Uruguay and Luxembourg. Whilst these attractions reflect London, it needs to be stressed that these attractions are in the more affluent parts of London. There is another side to London however located in the east known as the “East End” or “East London” which is relatively poorer. That isn’t to say East London is all bad. It is known for its lively music and urban scene, distinct slang and its relative affordability to other parts of London. Oh, and don’t forget its profuseness with chicken shops. We all love chicken. Mmmmm. Nevertheless, it needs to be stressed that “the struggle is hard” in East London, so to speak. And it is this income disparity between this part of London and the rest that played a major part in the history of Guardian Angels Church. Guardian Angels church was opened by Archbishop Henry Manning in 1868. He was the second Archbishop of Westminster. His portrait is featured in Westminster Cathedral – take a look at one of our previous travel guides if you want to learn more about Westminster Cathedral. Interestingly enough, Guardian Angels Church wasn’t always known as Guardian Angels Church. It was originally known as Salem Chapel and it belonged to a man by the name of Mr. Robert Beeton. When he died, however, the building was put up for sale. It was originally offered to a religious group known as the Congregationalists but they were busy arguing with their pastor. As they were arguing, another man called Charles Walker – a Catholic - decided to put money down to buy the building. Talk about letting your distractions get the better of you! Charles Walker had an eye for Catholic buildings in London. He is credited with being behind quite a number of churches in London. Do subscribe to us at ChurchMapped to learn more about them. But you might be wondering what ChurchMapped is? ChurchMapped is an upcoming technology company with a Christian inspiration. Our travel website focuses on churches around the world. We also offer a games, dating, jobs and music service. Do be sure to visit ChurchMapped.com for when we fully launch. There was very little money, however, to do up what was then known as Salem chapel. There were no statues and compared to other churches in London, it did certainly look inferior. As the congregation started to grow in size, there was a need for even more money. But the church started to fall into dilapidation and the council put a warning stating that the building would need to be demolished and rebuilt again. But that was expensive. The projected cost would have been £8,000 in money in those days, or about the equivalent of just under a £1 million in today’s money. Pricey! With such a huge amount needed to build a new church, and being in the impoverished area that the East End of London was in those days, the faithful turned to God for some divine assistance. A certain Fr. William Donlevy asked the faithful to come to Adoration – a religious practice in which Catholics pray before the Eucharist – and strangely, the amount came later from a woman by the name of Lady Mary Howard. She wanted to build a new church in memory of her sister who had passed away. She had an interest in the Mile End area because Cardinal Vaughan (remember him, from our travel guide of Westminster Cathedral? Do check it out!) urged Catholics living in the richer part of London to get to know the poorer part of London better. She insisted she would do whatever the Cardinal desired and it was his desire for her to reach out to the poorest part of London in those days – namely, Mile End. The celebrated English architect Frederick Walters was commissioned to build the church. The church was opened on the 25th March in 1903. Cardinal Vaughan was sadly in very bad shape at the time so another bishop conducted the opening ceremony on his behalf. One of the little known things about Guardian Angels church is that it is a Grade II listed building. In the UK, buildings can be “listed” if they are of particular significance. One of the implications of this is that it can’t be repaired or amended without consultation from the relevant authorities. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see just how far Guardian Angels church has come – from being completely rundown to a building that is of national significance. What is also not known is that Guardian Angels church features a very distinct architectural style known as the “Perpendicular Gothic” or “English Gothic”. You might have recognised the word “Gothic” from one of our previous travel guides – namely, Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. . .do take a look if you haven’t already – but “Perpendicular Gothic” is distinct in that it features much larger windows and a greater emphasis on vertical lines – hence the use of the word “perpendicular”. How about we take a look inside? One of the slightly unusual things about Guardian Angels Church is the font, where baptism happens. This is stuck to the ground, unlike many other churches. It was designed by Mattia del Preti – funnily enough, legal documents misspelled his name as Matteo. Speaking of Italian names, did we tell you that in an upcoming ChurchMapped episode we’re heading to St. Peter’s Church which is also in London? Thinking of visiting Italy? We’re covering the Pantheon and more! Be sure to click subscribe to us for the latest. Back to where we were: if you look straight ahead you’ll see the statues of St. Thomas More and St. Dunstan, both popular saints in the UK. St. Thomas More was an English author and politician. He was executed under the orders of Henry VIII for refusing to acknowledge him as the Supreme Head of the Church of England, among other things. As such, Catholics recognise him as a saint. St. Dunstan is also a popular saint in England. He was a Bishop of London as well as Archbishop of Canterbury. One of the things about Guardian Angels church is the Britishness of the saints it commemorates. If you look up you’ll see a stained glass window created by Nathaniel Westlake. Shown are Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. On either side is St. Margaret as well as St. Clare. That marks the end of our tour of Guardian Angels Church in London, UK. In our next ChurchMapped episode, we’ll be heading to the Church Of Our Lady of the Sablon in Brussels, Belgium. Still can’t get enough of London? We have not one but two travel guides in the pipeline: Farm Street Church as well as St. Peter’s Italian Church. From the States? Consider looking at our travel guide of the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. We also have an upcoming travel guide of Minneapolis where we’ll be heading to the Basilica of Saint Mary. Hungry for some pretzels? Consider watching our travel guides in Cologne such as Cologne Cathedral and St. George’s church Cologne. ChurchMapped is an upcoming technology company with a Christian focus. Our travel website focuses on churches around then world. We also have a music, games, jobs and dating service. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, subscribe to us on YouTube and give us a ‘like’ on Facebook. C’mon, you know you want to! Until next time!