St Augustine's Tower stands in St John's Church Gardens, in central Hackney, in the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

, just off the southern end of the Narrow Way (formerly Church Street). It is all that remains of the early 16th-century

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

church of Hackney of

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, which replaced the 13th-century

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

church founded by the

Knights of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. The Tower comprises four stages beneath a restored parapet with diagonal buttressing. A fine working 16th-century

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as Church (building), churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enab ...

has remained on the third floor of the Tower since at least 1608. The Tower and contents are

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The Tower is seen as a symbol for Hackney, and is represented in the coat of arms of the London Borough of Hackney. During the First World War, it appeared on the cap-badge of the 10th (Hackney) Battalions of the

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). Th ...

, together with the

Metropolitan Borough of Hackney The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney. Formation and boundaries The borough ...

motto ''Justitia Turris Nostra'', Latin for ''Justice is our tower''.

St Augustine's Church

History

The parish church of Hackney became a sinecure rectory in 1275. This meant there was a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

and a rector representing the parish, both positions being in the gift of the

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

. The church served the entire area of the parish of Hackney until the parish was divided into separate ecclesiastical parishes in the 19th century. Hackney remained united for civil purposes until 1965, when the

merged with Shoreditch and Stoke Newington to become the new

. Many of the position holders were absentee pluralists (i.e. they had other jobs, and Hackney just formed a part of their income). From the 14th century to the 17th century the church was dedicated to

. From about 1660, the church was dedicated to St John of Jerusalem, St

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, and known as St John at Hackney, representing the links of the parish with the Order of St John of Jerusalem.''Hackney: The Parish Church'', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 115-122
accessed: 26 July 2008 The church tower was constructed as part of the early 16th-century rebuilding of the church itself, commemorated by the arms of Sir John Heron (d. 1521) carved between each arch of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and also placed, with those of the rector Christopher Urswick (d. 1522), in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. Thereafter the church consisted of a chancel, aisled and

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

ed nave, and south-west tower. The "so-called" Rowe Chapel, properly a mausoleum, was built on the south side of the chancel in 1614 and a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

was added on the north side. In 1741, the church measured along its north wall and across; the tower bore a vane surmounted by a crown which reached to . The walls, with fenestration of c.1500, showed a variety of materials, as they did at the time of the church's demolition, when the exterior presented 'an incomprehensible jumble of dissonant repairs, without a trace of the original building, except the windows of part of it'. In Tudor times, many members of the court used the church, including

Ralph Sadleir Ralph Sadleir (1579 – 12 February 1661) of Standon, Hertfordshire was an English landowner. He was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1609. He was the only son, and heir, of Sir Thomas Sadleir (c. 1536 – 1607), lord of the manor of Standon, b ...

( Bryck Place), Thomas Sutton (The Tan House),

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

and the

Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

(Brooke House). Lady Lucy Neville (d.1583), daughter-in-law of Queen

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr ( – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until Henry's death on 28 January 1547. Catherine was the final queen consort o ...

, was buried there. Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford (12 April 1550 – 24 June 1604) was probably buried here.

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

visited the church in 1667, after resting at the local Mermaid Inn. The constant increasing of Hackney's population meant that galleries were added to the church, and by 1789 it was able to hold a congregation upwards of 1,000. This was still inadequate to the needs of the parish, and on the advice of architect William Blackburn, the vestry petitioned

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1790 for the church's complete rebuilding at an adjacent site to the north. Blackburn died suddenly in November 1790; James Spiller, a friend of

John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor ...

, was chosen from six architect candidates to replace him as designer of the new church. The body of the old church was pulled down in 1798, with many of the monuments preserved in the new Church of St John-at-Hackney. The stone was sold as building material. The extent of the original church is marked by four cornerstones to the east of the Tower. The Tower remained to house the eight bells of Hackney; these were finally relocated in the new church in 1854, after the new church tower was underpinned to take the weight.

In modern times

The Tower was subsequently used as a public mortuary, and a tool shed for the gardens of St John. The

became responsible for the maintenance of the Tower and gardens in 1912. In more recent times, the Tower was made safe in 1983, and has been used for occasional art exhibits. It is normally opened as part of

London Open House Open House London, now known as Open House Festival, is an annual festival celebrating the architecture and urban landscape of London. It is staged by the charity Open City which campaigns to make London a more accessible, equitable and open city ...

each year. Since 1990, the Tower has been in the care of the Hackney Historic Buildings Trust. A grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

has made possible repairs and improvements and a permanent exhibition on the history of the Tower, and its church, is now open to the public on the last Sunday of every month. It is now possible to climb its narrow winding stairway to the roof. St John's Church Gardens, around the Tower and later church, were awarded both a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

, and Green Flag Heritage status, in 2008.

References

External links

Hackney Parish churches at British History Online
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augustine's Tower Grade I listed churches in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hackney History of the London Borough of Hackney Churches in the London Borough of Hackney Hackney, London Hackney Central

St Augustine's Church

History

In modern times

See also

References

External links