Keen followers of Wanstead on screen will be watching ITV on Sunday for the start of its production of Vanity Fair, part of which was filmed at St Mary’s Church in Overton Drive (as Wansteadium reader Melanie Hartt memorably captured in the above photo).
Becky Sharp. Smart. Confident. Ambitious.
Major new drama #Vanity Fair
Starts Sunday 2nd September @ITV pic.twitter.com/GOSHdoxeAt— ITV (@ITV) August 26, 2018
The church has been the site of regular weekly worship for 800 years but is currently under threat from a proposal to shut its doors save for a handful of occasions. It is Redbridge’s only Grade 1 listed building and is an architectural and cultural gem, as anyone who has ever been inside knows. Supporters are campaigning to keep the church open.
One opportunity people will have to see the setting comes next week with the Wanstead Fringe. Amateur astronomer Ricardo Cerezo will be pointing out some of the heavenly bodies visible to those who know what they should be looking for in the night sky. It promises to be a fascinating event, and appropriate too since one of history’s great astronomers, James Bradley, is one of the residents of the church yard. The event is free, and details are available here on the Wanstead Fringe website.