St John Horsleydown was the

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 ...

parish church of

Horsleydown Southwark St John Horsleydown was a small parish on the south bank of the River Thames in London, opposite the Tower of London. The name Horsleydown, apparently derived from the "horse lie-down" next to the river, is no longer used. The pari ...

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

, South

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Built for the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches to the designs of

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

and John James in 1726–1733, it was noted for its distinctive spire in the form of a tapering column.

The church

The church built between June 1727 and 1733 in Fair Street (beside the road now known as Tower Bridge Road, just south of the junction with Tooley Street), as one of the last churches built for the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches. The new parish was created from part of that of

Southwark St Olave Southwark St Olave was an ancient civil and ecclesiastical parish on the south bank of the River Thames, covering the area around where Shard London Bridge now stands in the modern London Borough of Southwark. The boundaries varied over time bu ...

. The design was by Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James, the two surveyors to the commission. In May 1727 they had been asked to draw up plans for a church costing, including its enclosure and parsonage, no more than £10,000, much less than Hawksmoor's previous churches. Like St Luke Old Street, the other collaboration between the two men, which was built at the same time, the main body of the church was simple in plan, with an aisled nave. The most distinctive feature of the church was its unusual spire, This was in the form of a tapering column, and was topped by a weather vane depicting a comet. The "silly but lovable spire" was considered a landmark of south London by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

. He described the church as "a stately building, all stone faced, the W front severely bare, without a portico, the N side symmetrical with two outer slightly projecting bays and a central big Venetian window." The church had a peal of ten bells cast in 1783/4.

War damage and reduction to chapel of ease

Parts of the church remained in use after it was severely damaged by a bomb on 20 September 1940 during the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

. In 1952 only the west, north and east walls were standing. In 1947 the parish was merged with neighbouring St Olave's, (the church there having been demolished) so that the parish and church became known as Southwark, St Olave and St John. In 1956 there was a further amalgamation with the parish of St Magdalen

, with the church becoming a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

in the new parish of Bermondsey St Mary Magdalen with St Olave and St John. In the same year a rebuilding scheme for the church was approved, but never carried out. The last baptism was held in the church in 1960. In 1964 a further amalgamation of parishes saw St Olave and St John's included in the parish of St Mary Magdalen with St Olave, St John and St Luke, Bermondsey.

Closure and demolition

London City Mission, Bermondsey - geograph

In 1968 the church was closed, and the 1956 rebuilding scheme rescinded. The

London City Mission London City Mission was set up by David Nasmith on 16 May 1835 in the Hoxton area of east London. The first paid missionary was Lindsay Burfoot. Today it is part of the wider City Mission Movement. History The London City Mission's early work ce ...

bought the site from the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

in 1974 for £37,811. Burials in the church's crypt were removed to

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

and the Mission opened its Nasmith House there in 1975, though the church's plinth may still be seen from the churchyard (surviving up to 10 ft in places). The shell of the church serves as the backdrop for part of the promo film for

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...

's 1969 single 'Ragamuffin Man'.

Notes and references

External links

*http://www.lcm.org.uk/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=77802 History (LCM site) *http://www.stmarysbermondsey.org.uk/History2.htm St Mary Magdalen site {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John Horsleydown Former churches in the London Borough of Southwark Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark Former Church of England church buildings

Destroyed churches in London Bermondsey 1727 establishments in Great Britain