St John's Blackheath (formally known as St John the Evangelist's Church) is an all age

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in the Vanbrugh Park area of

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, part of the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in southeast London, England. Built in the 1850s to the design of architect

Arthur Ashpitel Arthur Ashpitel (1807–1869) was an English architect. He trained under his father, William Hurst Ashpitel before setting up his own practice in 1842, and working in partnership with John Whichcord Jr. between 1850 and 1855. Ashpitel's works inc ...

, it provided "an important visual and spiritual focus" to a rapidly growing high-class residential area. The church has an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

character. There are four services on a Sunday. St John's Blackheath has thriving children's groups and youth groups. Their vision is to be ''A church for all ages, committed to growing in outreach, discipleship and the next generation''.

History

The residential area now known as Vanbrugh Park, east of

Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Herita ...

and north of the present A2 road, was laid out in the early part of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. Architect

from Hackney was commissioned to design a new church for this district, which at the time (prior to the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

) was in the county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It was his only new church in Kent, although he

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

the medieval building at

Ripple Ripple may refer to: Science and technology * Capillary wave, commonly known as ripple, a wave traveling along the phase boundary of a fluid ** Ripple, more generally a disturbance, for example of spacetime in gravitational waves * Ripple (electri ...

. Work began in 1852 and the church was completed in 1853. Some

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows in the north aisle were destroyed during World War II and were subsequently replaced. The interior was altered in 1999; some of the space at the west end was taken up by new facilities such as offices and a kitchen. The church was

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

at Grade II on 8 June 1973.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

defines Grade II-listed buildings as "nationally important" and of "special interest". The

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

outside the church, designed by J.B.L. Tolhurst and unveiled on 11 November 1922, was separately listed at Grade II on 19 May 2016.

Architecture

St John the Evangelist's Church is "a local landmark" and "a focal point" in a prominent position: it stands on an island surrounded by roads and housing, and is clearly visible in the streetscape especially from the west. It is built of Kentish Ragstone, a local material, and has a roof of Welsh

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

. The plan consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with aisles on both sides, an aisled

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

with a lower roofline and flanked by a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

and an organ chamber, porches on two sides, and a tower and the west end. This is topped with a "good" tall spire whose lowest stage is concealed by a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. The tower is

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

ed at each corner and has windows with decorative

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

, clock faces, a

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

d upper stage and a stair turret in one corner. The architectural style is largely

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, which was out of fashion by the 1850s, although there are some Decorated

elements. The architect Arthur Ashpitel, who worked extensively in Kent, was associated with Anglican evangelicalism; this may have led him to use the Perpendicular style, which was popular with that movement. Inside, the fittings date mostly from the late 19th century and include a

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

and

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

by H.S. Rogers. The west-end gallery installed by D. Drury in 1898 was removed during the 1999 reordering. The firm of

Heaton, Butler and Bayne Heaton, Butler and Bayne were an English firm who produced stained-glass windows from 1862 to 1953. History Clement Heaton (1824–82) Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane, p. 371. ...

designed many of the stained-glass windows.

Services and administration

There are four Sunday services, including a morning

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

ic service using the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

.Sunday Services
St John's Blackheath. The

Church Pastoral Aid Society The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglicanism, Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836. History of the Society The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take ' ...

holds the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of St John the Evangelist's Church. The population of the parish was estimated at 4,962 in 2001. It is within the

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

of Charlton and the Archdeaconry of Lewisham in the

Anglican Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

Gallery

Tower of St John's church - geograph.org.uk - 3075447.jpg, Tower St John's clock - geograph.org.uk - 3075451.jpg, Clock St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Chancel - geograph.org.uk - 4177730.jpg, Altar and chancel St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - East end - geograph.org.uk - 4177728.jpg, Nave St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Font - geograph.org.uk - 4177761.jpg, Font St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Organ - geograph.org.uk - 4177760.jpg, Organ St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Pulpit - geograph.org.uk - 4177777.jpg, Pulpit St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Roof - geograph.org.uk - 4177771.jpg, Ceiling

References

Bibliography

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External links

St John's Blackheath Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Johns Blackheath Blackheath, London Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Church of England church buildings Evangelical Anglicanism