Early history

The original St Benet Fink church was in Threadneedle Street

Threadneedle Street

Threadneedle Street is a street in the City of London, leading from a junction with Poultry, Cornhill, King William Street and Lombard Street, to Bishopsgate....

 in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

 and is first mentioned in 1216. At an unknown prior date a Saint Benedict's Church had been rebuilt with a gift from one Robert Finke.

Name

Benet is short for Benedict from Saint Benedict. Historically, if there was more than one church in an area dedicated to a particular Saint then the benefactor's name was added to the churches name, hence Benet Fink.

20th Century

In 1904 a mission to the district was established by Rev Harold Van Cooten and a church (the Tin Tabernacle) opened in Granger Road on 1905-04-08. Its official name was St Luke's.

The present church was built during 1911 and 1912 and at its consecration was referred to by the then Bishop of London

Bishop of London

The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

as 'the little Cathedral'. The assets of the original St Benet Fink helped in the construction, hence the name.

Architecture

The church is of red brick with a slate roof and has a small spire that accommodates a single bell. It is the style that was common in north London at the beginning of the twentieth century. The site includes a matching vicarage and church hall.

Incumbents

1912	Fr Harold Van Cooten
1917	Fr Marcus Donavon
1927	Fr Charles Waton
1962	Fr William Stephenson
1969	Fr Michael Davenport
2009	Fr Mark Elliott Smith
2011	Fr James Hill

Reference:.