St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern-day London Borough of Southwark, on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane,

Marshalsea Road Marshalsea Road (classified A3201) is a major street in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road. At the southeast end is Borough tube station on Borough High Street. Continuing across the street are ...

, and

Tabard Street A tabard is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more develope ...

. St George the Martyr is named after Saint George. The church is a Grade II* listed building. The church has strong associations with Charles Dickens, whose father was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea prison. The surviving wall of the prison adjoins the north side of the churchyard. Dickens himself lived nearby, in Lant Street, lodging in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George's. This was during the darkest period of his life when, as a teenager, with his father in prison, he had to work in the 'blacking factory', and his literary career must have seemed an impossible dream. Later, he was to set several scenes of the novel '' Little Dorrit'' in and around St George's Church. There is a small representation of Little Dorrit in the east window of the church. It is also a recognised church of the City of London Company of Parish Clerks and the guild church of the Guildable Manor. From 2008 the annual Southwark Quit Rents ceremony, before the Queen's Remembrancer has taken place there.

History

According to traditional

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

, Saint George served as a soldier in the

Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...

and was killed on the orders of the emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

in 303 for refusing to persecute Christians and confessing to his own Christianity. The earliest reference to the church in Southwark is in the Annals of

Bermondsey Abbey Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Most widely known as being founded in the 11th century, it had a precursor mentioned in the early eighth century, and was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site of Bermonds ...

, which claim that the church was given by Thomas Ardern and Thomas his son in 1122. The date follows the Battle of Acre when tales of Saint George were popularised by European, especially Norman, crusaders; perhaps the church dedication is related to the Arderns' involvement in the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

. This gift included tithes from their manor at Horndon in Essex and "land of

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

returning five solidos". This statement indicates that this St George's is the first church with this dedication in Greater London, and predates Edward III's adoption of him as the patron of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

by over 200 years. The statement is also the first reference to London Bridge's endowment lands. The present priest was nominated by the City's Bridge House Estates. On

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

's return from his victory at the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

in 1415, he was welcomed by the Aldermen of London on the steps of the church. The '

Agincourt Song The Agincourt Carol (sometimes known as the ''Agincourt Song'', the ''Agincourt Hymn'', or by its chorus and central words, ''Deo gratias Anglia'') is an English folk song written some time in the early 15th century. It recounts the 1415 Battle ...

' was commissioned as part of the celebration. In this battle the standard with the red-on-white Saint George's Cross was used for the first time. In the same year St George became the patron saint of England. The west tower dominates views along Borough High Street from both the north and south due to the curve in the street at this point, where it now meets

Great Dover Street Great Dover Street is a road in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough Underground station is at this location. At the southeast ...

. Originally, a much narrower road to the south of the church called Church Street led into Kent Street (now renamed

), the historic route to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. Due to the volume of traffic, Great Dover Street was cut through parallel to Kent Street as part of the road network enhancements for the first road crossing (east of Putney) west of

, Westminster Bridge, in 1750. Tabard Street was later extended through the churchyard on the north side of the church, leaving the church focal to what was a road island but the east side of which is pedestrianised. St George the Martyr - Borough, Southwark

St George the Martyr - Borough, Southwark

The present church is believed to be the third on this site. There was a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

church of unknown appearance; inscribed stones from it were discovered in the second church. This was replaced at the end of the fourteenth century by a church with a bell tower, which may have been from where

Anton van den Wyngaerde Anton van den Wyngaerde ( Span.: ''Antonio de las Viñas''; 1525 – 7 May 1571) was a prolific Flemish topographical artist who made panoramic sketches and paintings of towns in the southern Netherlands, northern France, England, Italy, and Spa ...

surveyed at least part of his plan view of London, which includes a drawing of the church, but slightly out of position as might occur if drawn onto the perspective latterly. The church also appears to be that in William Hogarth's engraving of ''Southwark Fair'' made in 1733, a year before it was demolished. The church was rebuilt in a Classical style to the designs of John Price between 1734 and 1736, partly funded by £6,000 from the

Commission for Building Fifty New Churches The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building fifty new church ...

. The major City Livery Companies and the Bridge House Estates also supported this rebuilding, their arms decorate the nave ceiling and stained glass. In 1899, the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

was cleared and 1,484 coffins were removed and re-interred at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. The foundations of the south wall were strengthened in 1938 and helped save the building from collapse during the Second World War, when the damage from enemy action was considerable. The red brick and

Portland Stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

structure of the church has suffered from considerable

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

damage, and the nave was declared unsafe in 2000, although services continued in other parts of the building. In September 2005, St George the Martyr received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for repairs and refurbishments, which involve complete underpinning of the building, and the lowering of the floor levels in the crypt to create additional space. A large number of lead Georgian coffins were removed from the crypt to allow the works to take place. Subsequent archaeological investigations of the ground beneath the church found substantial medieval and Roman structures. The destruction of some archaeological remains before a fuller excavation could be completed led to controversy. The church was closed for restoration works between September 2005 and March 2007. During this time the congregation worshipped at nearby Guy's Chapel. The new 'crypt', in fact a church hall created by the underpinning works, provides a new conference venue in central London. Services at St George's resumed on Palm Sunday, 1 April 2007.

Architecture

The church is built of red

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

with

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

, and has a copper and slate roof. There is a pediment at the west entrance, supported by Ionic columns. The tympanum displays reliefs of angels, and there are eight steps leading up to the entrance. The tower is built of Portland stone, with a large spire. On top of the spire is a ball and weather vane. Inside, the nave has a gallery on three sides, with a pair of fluted Ionic columns supporting the gallery at the west end. On the

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...

is a painting done by Basil Champneys in 1897 of cherubs breaking through a clouded sky, with texts on a ribbon. The

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

of four of the City Livery Companies (the Skinners, Grocers,

Fishmongers A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, fillet (cut), filleting, d ...

and

Drapers Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

) appear on a frieze. The chancel has three bays. There is a tall

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

on four Ionic columns, and an octagonal

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

of grey marble. The east window of the church, which includes a kneeling figure of Dickens' character Amy Dorrit, was designed by Marion Grant. Like

St James Garlickhythe St James Garlickhythe is a Church of England parish church in Vintry ward of the City of London, nicknamed "Wren's lantern" owing to its profusion of windows. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London ...

in the City of London, St George the Martyr has two reliefs of the

Royal Arms The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the royal arms for short, is the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Varian ...

. Both are of the House of Stuart. The main one, located on the gallery at the west end, is said to have come from the former church of

St Michael Wood Street St Michael's Wood Street was a church and parish of medieval origin in Cripplegate Ward in the City of London, and is first mentioned in 1225 as ''St. Michael de Wudestrate''. It stood on the west side of Wood Street, initially with a frontage o ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:St George the Martyr Southwark Churches completed in 1736 18th-century Church of England church buildings Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Grade II* listed churches in London

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links