Image Source: Younus Mogul
The Old St Mary’s Church in Stoke Newington put on a festival last weekend to commemorate its storied past and mark its renewal.
Tudor hymns and Gershwin songs emanated from the newly renovated building between the younger, grander St Mary’s and Clissold Park.
The sold-out festival, the culmination of years of fundraising, was led by John Field, arts manager of St Mary’s Art Centre (SMART), and Ruth Whitehead, conductor of Saturday’s performances by Chorus of Dissent and Stoke Newington School’s Jazz Ensemble.
With help from its Clissold community, SMART raised £160,000 in six years to remove obstructive pews, build new toilets and a new kitchen, and install new flooring, lighting and heating.
“This is exactly what I’ve been working for,” Field enthused, “a church working in tandem with an arts centre, and each supporting the other.”
The weekend also included a night of modern music from Stokey locals and a discussion about slavery led by George Alagiah of BBC News.
But Field isn’t yet finished, “We’ve got to raise some more money. It’s a constant effort but we’ve started now. And what we’ve got out there is the basis for a very good arts centre.”
