St John Horsleydown facts for kids
St John Horsleydown was an important church in Horsleydown, a part of Bermondsey in South London. It was a Church of England building, meaning it was part of the main Christian church in England. This church was built between 1726 and 1733 by famous architects Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James. People especially remembered it for its unique spire, which looked like a tall, thin column getting narrower towards the top.
Building the Church
The church was built between June 1727 and 1733 on Fair Street. It was one of the last churches built by a special group called the "Commission for Building Fifty New Churches." This group was set up to build many new churches in London. The area around St John Horsleydown became a new church district, or "parish," taken from an older one called Southwark St Olave.
Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James were the main designers. In 1727, they were asked to create plans for a church that would cost no more than £10,000. This was a much smaller budget than Hawksmoor usually had for his other church projects.
The main part of the church was quite simple inside, with a central area and side aisles. But the most interesting part was its spire. It was shaped like a tall, thin column that got narrower as it went up. At the very top, there was a weather vane shaped like a comet. A famous expert named Nikolaus Pevsner called it a "silly but lovable spire" and a well-known landmark in South London. He also said the church was a "stately building" made of stone, with a plain front and a large window on one side. The church also had ten bells that were made in 1783 or 1784.
Damage and Changes
During The Blitz, a time when London was bombed a lot in World War II, St John Horsleydown was badly damaged by a bomb on September 20, 1940. Even though it was damaged, some parts of the church were still used. By 1952, only three of its walls were left standing.
In 1947, the church's parish joined with a nearby one called St Olave's. The church there had been taken down, so the combined area became known as "Southwark, St Olave and St John." Later, in 1956, it joined with another parish, St Magdalen Bermondsey. St John Horsleydown then became a "chapel of ease," which means it was a smaller church used for services, but not the main church for the area. A plan to rebuild the church was approved that same year, but it never happened. The last baptism was held there in 1960. In 1964, the parishes joined again, and St Olave and St John's became part of an even larger parish.
Closing Down
In 1968, St John Horsleydown church was officially closed. The plan to rebuild it was cancelled. In 1974, a group called the London City Mission bought the land for £37,811. The bodies that had been buried in the church's underground crypt were moved to Brookwood Cemetery. The London City Mission then built a new building called Nasmith House on the site in 1975. You can still see parts of the old church's stone base, up to 10 feet high, from the churchyard. The empty shell of the church was even used as a background in a music video for the band Manfred Mann in 1969.
Images for kids
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London City Mission, built on the footings of the old church
