St John the Baptist, Hoxton

St John's Hoxton
St John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton
West door of St John's Hoxton
Location	Hoxton, London N1
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Website	stjohnshoxton.org.uk
History
Founded	1826
Founder(s)	The Haberdashers' Company
Dedication	St John the Baptist
Dedicated	1826
Architecture
Architect(s)	Francis Edwards
Style	Neo-classical
Administration
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	London
Parish	St John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton[1]
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Sarah Mullally (Bishop of London) Joanne Grenfell (Suffragan Bishop of Stepney)
Vicar(s)	Graham Hunter
Curate(s)	Caroline Taylor
Archdeacon	Peter Farley-Moore (Archdeacon of Hackney)

The Church of St John the Baptist, Hoxton, usually known as St John's Hoxton, is an Anglican parish church in the Hoxton area of Hackney, London N1.^[2]

Nearby is Silicon Roundabout,^[3] and also Aske Gardens,^[4] named after the parish's major benefactor, City alderman and haberdasher Robert Aske.

Parish history

Dedicated to St John the Baptist, its name preserves the memory of a local priory dissolved by King Henry VIII.^[5]

Robert Aske's legacy still benefits the parish and associated primary school,^[6] while Haberdasher Street^[7] like Aske Gardens,^[8] remain in the memory of his original generosity.^[9]

One of the 18th-century residents of Hoxton Square,^[10] the Revd John Newton, composed the popular hymn "Amazing Grace".^[11] Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97), the writer and philosopher, was born in Hoxton. John Mander, an organ builder, lived at Hoxton and one of his sons, Noel Mander, founded Mander Organs.^[12]

In Victorian London the parish's work was recognised by social campaigners, such as the philanthropist Charles Booth, for its welfare work in a deteriorating inner-city environment.^[13] Many members of the church^[14] became missionaries in Africa and Asia, among them the first Bishop of Chota Nagpur, the Rt Revd Jabez Cornelius Whiteley, whose father, Chaplain to the Haberdashers' Aske's Hospital School formerly located in Pitfield Street^[15][16] was the Revd Edward Whiteley: to give opportunities to the "local poor",^[17] the parish's first vicar founded what became London's largest savings bank^[18] and St John's National Schools^[19] which still thrive in India.

The maternal great-great-great-grandfather of Kate Middleton (now the Princess of Wales), John Goldsmith, was married to Esther Jones at St John's Hoxton in 1850.^[20]

The present vicar, the Revd Graham Hunter, serves as an Assistant of the Haberdashers' Company and helps Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, pioneer the CofE's Health Inequalities Action Group (HIAG) bringing together faith leaders.^[21]

Architecture

Completed in 1826, St John's is a Regency church in the classical style, and the only one built to the design of the celebrated architect, Francis Edwards,^[22] Sir John Soane's foremost pupil. A large example of a Commissioners' church, its original floor plan remains intact as well as notable galleries and décor,^[23] including a painted ceiling^[24] executed in the early 20th century by the architect Joseph Arthur Reeve.^[25]

Pipe organ

Built and installed in 1915 by the firm of Thomas Sidwell Jones,^[26] the organ sits in the choir gallery retaining its original late-Georgian wooden case with an elaborate façade displaying the arms of William IV.

Last restored in 1934 by Henry Speechly & Son,^[27] St John's organ is known to voice the following stops:

Coat of arms of St John the Baptist, Hoxton

Notes Arms and Crest of the Haberdashers' Company confirmed by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms, 8 November 1570 Crest On a wreath Argent and Azure issuing from Clouds two naked Arms embowed holding a Laurel wreath all Proper Escutcheon Barry wavy of six Argent and Azure on a Bend Gules a Lion passant guardant Or Supporters On either side a Goat of India Argent flecked Gules membered Or Motto "Serve and Obey" Symbolism Coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers: patron of the advowson of St John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton

See also

• Geffrye Museum
• List of churches in the Diocese of London

References

External links

• St. John's Hoxton official website
• www.haberdashers.co.uk
• www.npor.org.uk
• www.ashrare.com/hoxton_prints
• www.londongardensonline.org.uk

Notes

• www.hackney.gov.uk/hackney-museum
• Air Cadets, Squadron 444: ATC HQ, Crondall Place, Crondall St, Hoxton N1
• East of London Family History Society
• www.english-walks.com: walk on the trail of street art Hoxton to Shoreditch

External links

51°31′50″N 0°5′0″W / 51.53056°N 0.08333°W / 51.53056; -0.08333

This page was last edited on 3 April 2024, at 00:11