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back of No. 49, Poland Street. By the liberality of Messrs.
W. & A. Gilbey, the conservatory of the Pantheon was used
as a temporary Church from the 12th May, 1867, until September,
1869, when a temporary iron building was erected
on the yard of one of the two houses (Nos. 49 & 50, Great
Marlborough Street), which had been purchased as the site
of the future permanent Church. This iron building was
enlarged to the extent of covering the yards of both
houses, during the incumbency of the Rev. H. N. D'Almaine,
M.A., the second and present incumbent. The last service
conducted in the iron Church, previous to its removal for the
erection of the permanent structure, was held on New Year's
Eve, 31st December, 1884, and Divine worship is being held
in a Mission Room in Cambridge Street (formerly used as
Archbishop Tenison's school) pending the completion of the
new Church.
The site was purchased in the year 1869 at a cost of
£6,100, of which £1,000 was contributed by the Bishop of
London's Fund, £2,500 was received from the purchasemoney
of St. James's Chapel, Hampstead Road, and £2,600
was raised in voluntary subscriptions by the Rev. Prebendary
Kempe, M.A., Rector of St. James's. The Church, now in
course of erection, is being built by Mr. John Woodward,
from the designs of Mr. A. W. Blomfield, and will cost about
.£5,100, of which £4,000 has been given by the Commissioners
of Her Majesty's Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues,
out of a sum of money placed at their disposal for Church
building purposes, by the sale of St. Matthew's Chapel,
Spring Gardens. The balance, it is hoped, will be raised by
subscriptions in the Parish. The Church will accommodate
450 persons. There is an endowment of £150 per annum,
being the interest of the sum of £4,500 in the hands of the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners. This fund was raised as
follows: £1,500 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners,