A VISIT TO THREE SIGNIFICANT EAST LONDON CHURCHES

Robert Drake will lead another afternoon tour to three churches, this time in the City and East End fringes. All have much decorative arts interest. The Dutch Church in Austin Friars was rebuilt after bomb damage in 1950–4 with glass and tapestry by Dutch artists such as Max Nauta and D. Kok and English artists like John Skeaping. St Bonafatius German Catholic Church is also a post-war rebuild with fine fittings by German artists mainly from the Rhineland, sponsored by the then West German Embassy, creating one of the first modern churches in London. There are also more recently Old Testament murals by German émigré artist Hans Feibusch. Third is St Matthew’s Church, Bethnal Green, originally by George Dance with an ensemble of ‘Festival’-style fittings by eminent ecclesiastical artists including Stations of the Cross by Donald Potter and glass by Laurence Lee.