Building    From 1906 

Gospel Lighthouse Mission

Our drawing, from Exploring Southwark,shows the building to the right of the Mission before the Club building arrived.This website also gives the history of the construction of the two buildings, as follows:

The Gospel Lighthouse Mission started in what is now Ayres Street, nearby in the area known as The Mint, in 1888. It moved around the corner to a hall in Clenham Street but this was in poor condition so The Ragged School Union and Shaftesbury Society (See Lord Shaftesbury for more on The Shaftesbury Society) provided a new building in Union Street, this one. This was opened in March 1907 by the Marquis of Northampton.

Meanwhile the Work Girls Protection Society was founded in 1875 and began with premises in New Kent Road. It was renamed the St Mary’s Girls' Club. In 1899 the Club lost the New Kent Road site so they acquired a lease at 85 Union Street, a former tin plate works.They then raised funds, bought the site to the left of the Mission site, and constructed a building there. 1930 the Girl's Club merged with the Acland Club to form the co-ed St Mary's and Acland Club. 1936 this moved of of Union Street to Nelson Square.

This drawing shows that originally the Mission had no attic parapet, nor cornice. The greyish bricks around the whole building at ground floor level are also, surely, a change to the original design, installed when the buildings were united. But we cannot discover when these changes happened, nor under what circumstances. Perhaps the Mission took over the Club building when the Club moved out.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Gospel Lighthouse Mission

Commemorated ati

Lighthouse mission - Treloar

To the glory of God this stone was laid by the Right Honourable Lord Mayor of...

Read More

Other Subjects

Margaret McMillan

Margaret McMillan

Socialist propogandist and educationalist. Born at Throgg's Neck, Westchester county, New York. Both her parents were from Scotland, and the family returned there when her father died. She attended...

Person, Education, Social Welfare, Scotland, USA

1 memorial
Henry Armriding

Henry Armriding

We have found references to Henry Armriding as a member of the Ealing District Council in 1899, 1908 and 1919. He was Mayor of Ealing 1916-17. Our colleague, Andrew Behan, states that Henry Armrid...

Person, Education, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Downhills Primary School

Downhills Primary School

Multi-national school with 94% of its pupils drawn from ethnic minorities and 70% taught English as an additional language. In 2012, the then Education Secretary Michael Gove cited that the school ...

Place, Education

1 memorial
Lady Eleanor Holles School

Lady Eleanor Holles School

Founded near what is now the Barbican. One of the oldest girls' schools in the country,  this was established when a trust for its endowment as a Christian foundation was created under the will of ...

Group, Education

1 memorial
Grey Coat Hospital / Grey Coat School

Grey Coat Hospital / Grey Coat School

From the school's website: "In 1666, after the Great Fire of London, many inhabitants of the Old City of London moved to the medieval town of Westminster. With its congested and squalid alleys, the...

Group, Education

4 memorials