History of St Paul’s

The present chapter in the life of St Paul’s Church began in the 1970’s, when Fr Raymond Avent was Parish Priest. The original church, a ‘Commissioners’ Gothic’ building, was demolished to make way for the present building in the mid 1970’s. The new building is very unusual in that it consists, not only of a Church, Social Club and Clergy accommodation, but also over thirty flats owned by the Metropolitan Housing Association. This was part of Fr Avent’s original vision of a Church that served the community in a particularly practical and tangible way. While the new building was under construction, the congregation worshipped in our Church School opposite. This was a particular period of growth in the church’s life and the Church registers of the time bear witness to the increase in the size of the congregation. Finally, the new Church was consecrated by the then Bishop of Edmonton, the Rt Revd Bill Westwood, in 1977.

Consecration in 1977

There have been three parish priests since then; Fr (now Bishop) Alan Hopes (1977-1993); Fr Andrew Dangerfield (1996-2006); and Fr Mark Elliott Smith (2007- ), who also served as assistant Curate in the min 1990’s. Saint Paul’s is also a training parish, which means those who have been recently ordained embark on their priestly ministry at St Paul’s. Many curates have passed through Tottenham and many look back on their time here with great affection and fulfilment, speaking of the mixture of exhilaration and exhaustion that characterised their time here!

Fr (now Bishop) Alan Hopes, Parish Priest 1977-1993	Fr Andrew Dangerfield, Parish Priest 1996-2006

There have been further developments in the building since then. Fr Dangerfield added the Millennium Wing, an area of cloister on the south side of the building, which, at one end, serves as an extra chapel and, at the other, as an extension of our Social Club; and the Youth Hall, which, as its name suggests, primarily exists to serve the needs of our young people, especially the Sunday School. Fr Elliott Smith recently added the new principal Altar, which was originally in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.