St John's Blackheath (formally known as St John the Evangelist's Church) is an all age

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in the Vanbrugh Park area of Blackheath, part of the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...

in southeast London, England. Built in the 1850s to the design of architect Arthur Ashpitel, it provided "an important visual and spiritual focus" to a rapidly growing high-class residential area. The church has an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

character. There are two services on a Sunday. St John's Blackheath has thriving children's groups and youth groups.

History

The residential area now known as Vanbrugh Park, east of

Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the eight Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World H ...

and north of the present A2 road, was laid out in the early part of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. Architect Arthur Ashpitel from Hackney was commissioned to design a new church for this district, which at the time (prior to the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

) was in the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It was his only new church in Kent, although he

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

the medieval building at Ripple. Work began in 1852 and the church was completed in 1853. Some

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows in the north aisle were destroyed during World War II and were subsequently replaced. The interior was altered in 1999; some of the space at the west end was taken up by new facilities such as offices and a kitchen. The church was listed at Grade II on 8 June 1973.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

defines Grade II-listed buildings as "nationally important" and of "special interest". The

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

outside the church, designed by J.B.L. Tolhurst and unveiled on 11 November 1922, was separately listed at Grade II on 19 May 2016.

Architecture

St John the Evangelist's Church is "a local landmark" and "a focal point" in a prominent position: it stands on an island surrounded by roads and housing, and is clearly visible in the streetscape especially from the west. It is built of

Kentish Ragstone Kentish ragstone is a hard grey limestone in Kent, England, drawn from the geological sequence known as the Hythe Beds of the Lower Greensand. For millennia it has been quarried for use both locally and further afield. Geology Ragstone occurs ...

, a local material, and has a roof of Welsh

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

. The plan consists of a

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 ...

with aisles on both sides, an aisled

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 ...

with a lower roofline and flanked by 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 ...

and an organ chamber, porches on two sides, and a tower and the west end. This is topped with a "good" tall spire whose lowest stage is concealed by a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. The tower is

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

ed at each corner and has windows with decorative

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

, clock faces, a

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

d upper stage and a stair turret in one corner. The architectural style is largely

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

, which was out of fashion by the 1850s, although there are some Decorated

elements. The architect Arthur Ashpitel, who worked extensively in Kent, was associated with Anglican evangelicalism; this may have led him to use the Perpendicular style, which was popular with that movement. Inside, the fittings date mostly from the late 19th century and include a

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

and

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

by H.S. Rogers. The west-end gallery installed by D. Drury in 1898 was removed during the 1999 reordering. The firm of

Heaton, Butler and Bayne Heaton, Butler and Bayne was a British firm that produced stained-glass windows from 1862 to 1953. History Clement Heaton (1824–1882) Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane, p. 371 ...

designed many of the stained-glass windows.

Services and administration

There are two Sunday services, 10.15am and 6.00pm including a morning

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

ic service at 8.00am on the 2nd Sunday of the month, using the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

.Sunday Services
St John's Blackheath. The

Church Pastoral Aid Society The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency that works across Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1836. History The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industri ...

holds the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of St John the Evangelist's Church. The population of the parish was estimated at 4,962 in 2001. It is within the

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

of Charlton and the Archdeaconry of Lewisham in the

Anglican 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 ...

Gallery

Tower of St John's church - geograph.org.uk - 3075447.jpg, Tower St John's clock - geograph.org.uk - 3075451.jpg, Clock St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Chancel - geograph.org.uk - 4177730.jpg, Altar and chancel St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - East end - geograph.org.uk - 4177728.jpg, Nave St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Font - geograph.org.uk - 4177761.jpg, Font St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Organ - geograph.org.uk - 4177760.jpg, Organ St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Pulpit - geograph.org.uk - 4177777.jpg, Pulpit St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Roof - geograph.org.uk - 4177771.jpg, Ceiling

References

Bibliography

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External links

St John's Blackheath website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Johns Blackheath Blackheath, London Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Church of England church buildings Evangelical Anglicanism Blackheath