Henry Croswell et al. in St Stephen's Church, Old Ford, East End of London - 9 May, 1880, 07:10 PM

from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 206:

[Croswell recorded that the service began at 6.30pm, but] We got there at 7.10, finding it miles from home.

[…]

O[rgan]. – "This organ was repaired and beautified with but very poor results".

H[ymns]. – Bickers, a dissenting selection.

C[hoir]. – Any number of squalling young ladies and gentlemen in the West Gallery.  They made grand attempts at Handel, etc.

[The congregation numbered] 400  A curious spectacle with more in the galleries than in the body.  More were nearer the organ and the choir than the Pulpit.

cite as

Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 206. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551012694841 accessed: 12 December, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)

location of experience: St Stephen's Church, Old Ford, East End of London

Listeners

Henry Croswell
assurance clerk, Sunday School teacher
1840-1893

Listening to

hide composers
Hymns selected from the 'Hymnal Companion'
Anglican church music performed by the choir and organist of St Stephen's Church Old Ford
unspecified choral music
written by George Frideric Handel
performed by the choir and organist of St Stephen's Church Old Ford

Experience Information

Date/Time 9 May, 1880, 07:10 PM
Duration 1 hours 5 minutes
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Notes

Henry Croswell (1840–93) kept a record of his visits to churches in London over a period of more than twelve years (1872–85). He made methodical notes about the number of clergy, the churchmanship, the congregation, the sermon and the church architecture, as well as commenting on the music that he heard (the organ, the hymns and the choir). The above listening experience has been extracted from one of these records. ‘Bickers’ refers to ‘The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer’ (1870, rev. 1877; and in a revised edition with tunes, 1890) compiled by Edward Henry Bickersteth (1825–1906).


Originally submitted by lcc5 on Sun, 24 Feb 2019 12:51:35 +0000
Approved on Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:44:09 +0100