A starring role: flat for sale in former church where Reggie Kray got married

The iconic building features in the film Legend, starring Tom Hardy as both Kray twins.
1/22
Amira Hashish30 August 2017

St James the Great, in the heart of Bethnal Green, is an iconic East End fixture.

Gangster Reggie Kray married Frances Shea in the historic building in 1965. Packed with high profile guests, the event was captured by photographer to the stars David Bailey — on his only ever wedding assignment.

The building features in the film Legend as the Kray brothers, both played by Tom Hardy, sit in the famous Pellici’s café opposite.

Now converted into apartments, the “Red” church was built in 1844 by Edward Blore, a master architect of his day who completed work on Buckingham Palace when it was expanded, restored Lambeth Palace and worked on Westminster Abbey & St James’ Palace.

The wedding of Reggie Kray, left, and Frances Shea in Bethnal Green. Best man Ronnie Kray is on the right 
Associated Newspapers

In 1865, the Reverend E F Coke made the church the first in London where poor couples could get married for free. It survived the blitz during the Second World War and more recent redevelopment in the area.

In a rare opportunity to invest in its 170-year story, a two-bedroom flat, which has dramatic period features and arches, is for sale.

On the third floor, it has skylights throughout and is a stone’s throw from the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, site of one of the first Banksy’s in London. It is on the market for £600,000 with Keatons.

Seeing double: Tom Hardy as Ronnie and Reggie Kray in the film Legend

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in