Unexpected London Sight No. 3: The Agapemonite Church
Visiting a friend in Hackney a few years ago, we came across this magnificent church half-hidden away among some trees. What caught my eye initially was the unusual imagery of the statues above the door:
and the surprising nature of the services listed on the board:
A passing taxi driver screeched to a halt and hurried up to explain to us that he was a member of the Ancient Catholic Church who now use the building, and to recommend the great accuracy of the clairvoyants who do readings there on a Thursday night.
Further investigation revealed that the Church of the Good Shepherd had even stranger origins.
It was built in 1849 by the Agapemonites, a religious community set up in Somerset by a former Anglican clergymen, Henry James Prince, who claimed the Holy Ghost had taken residence in his body, and was particularly keen on preaching to wealthy widows and taking a large number of 'spiritual' brides. The sect was so successful that they managed to raise £20,000 for the building of this gigantic, 400-seating church in the then small hamlet of Clapton, where Prince died and was buried standing up in readiness for the resurrection. He was succeeded by the Clapton Messiah, John Smyth-Pigott, a charming preacher who during a service in the Clapton church suddenly proclaimed himself to be the messiah, causing riots among the local population who demanded that he walk across Clapton Pond to prove it. Failing in this, he fled to Somerset, where he concentrated mostly on the spiritual brides angle, fathering children with names like 'Power' and 'Glory', and overcame an attempt to tar and feather him, and was finally defrocked by the amazingly patient Church of England. The Clapton church was abandoned by the Agapemonites in the 1920s.
You can read more about the Agapemonites here.
