St Philip's Church, Avondale Square (also known as St Philip the Apostle, Camberwell and St Philip and St Mark's, Camberwell) is a parish church within the

Avondale Square Estate Avondale Square Estate is a housing estate in Bermondsey, South East London adjacent to the Old Kent road. It was constructed between 1958 and 1962 and is the largest of City of London's housing estates. The area the estate occupied belonged to the ...

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

in the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

. It is dedicated to St Philip the Apostle. The church is in the Archdeaconry of Southwark, in the

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 ...

Temporary church

Baptismal registers commence in 1866, and a temporary church was probably erected at that point. No details are known of the temporary church.

First permanent church

The permanent church was built in 1875 by Henry Edward Coe (1826-85), who had been a pupil of Gilbert Scott. It was repaired after bomb damage in WWI. The church consisted of a half-octagonal chancel with north organ chamber and south vestry, a five-bay nave, a south transept, and north and south aisles. It was built of Kentish ragstone with dressed details, and was designed in late 13th-century style. The organ was by Bevington & Sons. It was so badly damaged by bombing in WWII that it was demolished. The church hall (also dating from 1875, and by Coe) was rebuilt in 1953.

Replacement church

The replacement church was designed by

Nugent Cachemaille-Day Nugent Francis Cachemaille-Day (1896–1976), often referred to as NF Cachemaille-Day, was an English architect who designed some of the most "revolutionary" 20th-century churches in the country. His Church of St Nicholas, Burnage has been c ...

, and was dedicated in 1963. It was one of Cachemaille-Day's last works. The main body of the church is in the form of an octagon. There is a lady chapel (with aumbry). The

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 ...

depicts the Crucifixion, with the Blessed Virgin and St John at the foot of the Cross. The ceiling depicts the four archangels (Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel) and the Holy Spirit as a dove. Both the reredos and the ceiling are the work of John Hayward. Internal decorations were undertaken by Campbell, Smith & Co Ltd. Stained glass is by

Christopher Webb Christopher Rahere Webb (1886-1966) was an English stained glass designer. His unusual second name was derived from that of the founder of St Bartholomew's Priory in London where his father, Edward Alfred Webb and his uncle, Sir Aston Webb ...

and Cachemaile-Day. The organ is by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

and was previously in

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in the ...

. A 1962 sculpture by Anthony Weller (1927–94), ''Woman and dog'' is outside the church. The church of St Mark's, Camberwell (designed by

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

in 1880), was made redundant in 1965, and the parish merged in with that of St Philip's. The double dedication of St Philip and St Mark is the result of the merger. From 2012 to 2018 the peripatetic Southwark and District Model Railway Club was located in the church hall.

References

{{coords, 51.4866, -0.0694, display=title Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Churches completed in 1963 20th-century Church of England church buildings Anglican Diocese of Southwark Nugent Cachemaille-Day buildings