The Former Ark Of The Covenant

The Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lord is a Georgian Orthodox church located on the border of Upper Clapton and Stamford Hill in the London Borough of Hackney. Since its opening in 1892 as the Agapemonite Church of the Ark of the Covenant it has served as the sole London outpost of three very different Christian denominations. During the second half of the twentieth century it was the Church of the Good Shepherd and belonged to the Ancient Catholic Church, a now defunct denomination. In 2011 it became a Georgian Orthodox Cathedral and gained its current name. It is a Grade II* listed building, in part because of its exceptional Arts and Crafts stained glass windows but also as the former headquarters of a late-Victorian Christian cult. The church's incumbents have included two patriarchs, an archbishop and a beloved, but the longest tenure of any of its active incumbents has been that of a lady, the Reverend Schroder. It has long served as a local landmark; its tower rises above most of the surrounding buildings and trees, so its entire stone steeple and the unusual statues that surround it are widely visible.