The Church of St John the Evangelist, or more commonly, St John's Church, is an

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 t ...

church in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

in the Diocese of Southwark. It is located to the south of the town centre. The church dates from June 1870, when a temporary iron building was constructed on the corner of Springfield Road and Denmark Road. Bishop

Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day. Natural ...

laid the foundation stone for a permanent church in July 1871, on a site donated by William Mercer in the centre of the new Spring Grove Estate. Mercer also gave £2000 towards the cost of building the church, but it was with difficulty that £7000 was raised to build the essentials. The church was consecrated in November 1872 without the tower or spire that were in the original design by the Surbiton architect A. J. Phelps and with little internal ornament. Carvings, paintings, coloured windows and an organ were introduced over time, but the tower, a squat structure with octagonal turret in matching style, was not added until 1935. The church has been

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

since March 1975. In 1974, the pews were removed and new heating and lighting installed, to allow Kingston Polytechnic to use the church on weekdays as an examination hall. Later, the choir stalls and the pulpit were removed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Johns Church Kingston upon Thames

Churches completed in 1870 19th-century Church of England church buildings 1870 establishments in England

Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Grade II listed churches in London History of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames