Whitefield's Tabernacle, Moorfields | |
Denomination: | Church of England, Methodist, Congregationalist, United Reformed Church |
Dedicated Date: | 1741 |
Location: | Tabernacle Street and Leonard Street, London |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Whitefield's Tabernacle, Moorfields (also known as Moorfields Tabernacle) is a former church at the corner of Tabernacle Street and Leonard Street, Moorfields, London, England. The first church on the site was a wooden building erected by followers of the evangelical preacher George Whitefield in 1741. This was replaced by a brick building in 1753. Following Whitefield's death in 1770, John Wesley preached a sermon, "On the death of the Rev. Mr George Whitefield", both here and at Whitefield's Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road.[1]
The church was rebuilt in stone over a century later in 1868, to a robust Gothic design by C. G. Searle & Son.[2] Immediately west of the church itself (in Leonard Street) a Sunday School was built. The foundation stone of the 1868 building reads: "Near this spot stood the Tabernacle built by the Rev. George Whitefield in 1753: 115 years afterward it was taken down and in its place this building was erected."
In 1907 a successor church opened near Alexandra Park, north London: this was known initially as Whitefield Tabernacle, but from 1922 as Alexandra Park Congregational Church. Many members of the Moorfields congregation transferred their allegiance, and numerous benefactions were also transferred.[3] The Moorfields Tabernacle building was taken over by the nearby Central Foundation Boys' Grammar School.[2] The Alexandra Park church was converted into flats in 2004.[4]