In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Bow was spiritually divided between the Church of England, the Congregationalists and the Plymouth Brethren.
With liberalisation, the Congregationalists adapted their focus, and the Board reorganised the former Homerton Academy as New College, London and what became Homerton College, Cambridge.
The Anglican churches in the Southgate and Gossops Green neighbourhoods (built in 1958 and 1962 respectively), Pound Hill's Roman Catholic church of 1965, with its "striking" triangular design, and the nearby United Reformed Church building (erected in 1955–57 for Congregationalists), are all on the list.
Citing the debate over the institution of slavery in America as a secondary cause of schism, Crocker focused on the relationship between New England Congregationalists and Southern Presbyterians, a relationship that had been formalized in the 1801 Plan of Union.