St. John's Church, Egham or St. John the Baptist, Egham or St. John's Church is 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 ...

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 located in the centre of

Egham Egham ( ) is a university town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, in the Diocese of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. There are approximately 320 members on the Electoral Roll and a usual Sunday attendance in the region of 300. The church's current vicar is Revd Esther Prior, who was appointed as Vicar in September 2018.

History

The current church, of Georgian architecture, was built between 1817 and 1820 with the first Sunday service in the new church held on March 16, 1820. There has been a church on the site since about 1150 and the

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

precedes the current building.

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

preached in Egham during his English ministry in about 1771. Both the church and the lychgate are Grade II* listed structures. One of those buried in the churchyard is Frederic Cournet, a former French naval officer and political exile. Cournet fought in the last duel to take place in England, in 1852 at nearby

Englefield Green Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Royal Holloway, University of London. The village grew from a hamlet in the 19th century, when much of Egham ( ...

. His opponent was compatriot

Emmanuel Barthélemy Emmanuel Barthélemy (1823–1855) was a French revolutionary and a member of secret Blanquist societies during the reign of Louis-Phillipe, the citizen king of France in the July monarchy from 1830 until 1848. He fled to London in 1850. He is ...

who fled to England after taking part in the 1848

June Days Uprising The June Days uprising (french: les journées de Juin) was an uprising staged by French civilians from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in order to provide work an ...

. Cournet was wounded and died some hours later. Barthélemy was found guilty of manslaughter and served seven months in prison, however he was hanged in London in 1855 after killing two other men. The

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

baronial shields have been displayed in the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

since the 1999 liturgical reordering. Prior to that time, they were displayed on the pillars within the

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 ...

Local projects

St John's currently runs and supports a number of projects for Egham. They run an English Language Cafe for people for whom English is not their first language,

Christians Against Poverty Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a Christian charitable company in the United Kingdom founded in Bradford, West Yorkshire by John Kirkby in 1996. It is a national organisation specialising in debt counselling for people in financial diff ...

Life Skills course, The Besom which ensures facilitates people to give and receive furniture or household items they need, and many more projects. More information can be found on their website, including information about their global mission partners.

Recent events

The Vicar, Jeff Wattley and several parishioners were on BBC1 "the One show" on 17 Feb, 2014 helping those in need from the flooding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egham, St John's Church

Grade II* listed churches in Surrey Diocese of Guildford