St John-at-Hampstead is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

dedicated to

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given ...

(though the original dedication was only refined from St John to this in 1917 by the Bishop of London) in Church Row, Hampstead, London.

History

St John at Hampstead, interior - geograph

Hampstead was granted to the Benedictine monks of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

by charter in 986. It is likely that they placed a church there soon afterwards, but the first records of one come from 1312 (when it was recorded that John de Neuport was its priest) and 1333 (through a mention of a Chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary). On the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Abbey was replaced by the Bishop of Westminster, with its first and only holder

Thomas Thirlby Thomas Thirlby (or Thirleby; –1570), was the first and only bishop of Westminster (1540–50), and afterwards successively bishop of Norwich (1550–54) and bishop of Ely (1554–59). While he acquiesced in the Henrician schism, with its rej ...

also serving as St John's

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. Thirlby appointed Thomas Chapelyne to be St John's vicar in 1545, but the see was abolished in 1551 by

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...

, with the manor and benefice of Hampstead being granted to Sir Thomas Wrothe. The church of this era was part in stone and part in timber, and also had a minor wooden tower. As Hampstead grew in popularity and size as an out-of-town health resort, the small existing church grew less and less adequate and derelict, being finally declared unusable by 1744. A new church was built on designs by Henry Flitcroft and

John Sanderson Lieutenant General John Murray Sanderson, (born 4 November 1940) is a retired senior Australian Army officer and vice-regal representative. He served as Force Commander of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia from 1992 to 199 ...

, and dedicated on 8 October 1747 by the Bishop of Llandaff (as commissary of the

Diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

). However, by 1827 this was again too small, though initial plans by

Lewis Vulliamy Lewis Vulliamy (15 March 1791 – 4 January 1871) was an English architect descended from the Vulliamy family of clockmakers. Life Lewis Vulliamy was the son of the clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy. He was born in Pall Mall, London on 15 March 17 ...

were rejected as too expensive and it took until 1843 for extension plans by Robert Hesketh to be agreed upon. This extended the church 30 ft westwards by means of transepts, adding 524 more seats. In 1853 the church had its first Willis organ built (it was replaced in 1883 and repaired in 1997), with Henry Willis himself employed as the organist, and in 1871 plans were mooted for 'beautifying and improving' the church. These plans originally involved the demolition of the tower, but this was shelved on protests from

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

, Holman Hunt,

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth, Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his mos ...

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ...

, George du Maurier, Coventry Patmore,

F. T. Palgrave Francis Turner Palgrave (; 28 September 1824 – 24 October 1897) was a British critic, anthologist and poet. Life He was born at Great Yarmouth, the eldest son of Sir Francis Palgrave, the (born Jewish) historian to his wife Elizabeth, daught ...

George Gilbert Scott Jr. George Gilbert Scott Jr. (8 October 1839 – 6 May 1897) was an English architect working in late Gothic and Queen Anne revival styles. Known in later life as 'Middle Scott', he was the eldest son of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott), a ...

and others, in favour of simple extensions westwards in 1877–78 designed by

F.P. Cockerell Frederick Pepys Cockerell (March 1833, 87 Eaton Square, London – 4 November 1878, 66 rue François Ier, Paris) was a British architect. He was the second son of Charles Robert Cockerell, also an architect, whose favour for French architecture a ...

(though these extensions moved the church's high altar to the geographical west end, rather than the more usual east end). In 1911–12 the Vestries were improved by Temple Moore, who also added a Morning Chapel, whilst in 1958 the dark Victorian interior scheme was removed and the original lighter, whitewashed scheme reinstated. The building is

Grade I 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 Ire ...

Music

The church has a fine musical tradition stretching back as far as Henry Willis. Under the direction of Martindale Sidwell it developed a national and international reputation as being a centre of excellence for parish music, which it maintains today with a fully professional choir as well as a junior choir and regular high-profile concerts.

Organ

The early records of organs date from the middle of the 18th century. The current organ was installed by Henry Willis in 1884. Restoration and rebuilding work was undertaken by Harrison and Harrison in 1964, and Bower and Co in 2000. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. and on the parish website.

Organists

* Samuel Reay 1854–56 *James Shaw 1874-95 *George Aitken 1894–1942 * Martindale Sidwell 1947–92 *Simon Lawford 1993–94 *Lee Ward 1994–2012 * James Sherlock 2012–2017 * Peter Foggitt 2018–present

Voluntary rate

By virtue of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956, parochial church councils are entitled to levy a voluntary rate and, in 1986, Hampstead Parish Church's PCC decided to supplement their millennium redecoration appeal by this means. The levying of a voluntary rate on businesses and residents alike has now become a regular annual event.

Churchyard

Notable individuals buried in its churchyard include: * Eliza Acton, food writer *

George Atherton Aitken George Atherton Aitken CB, MVO (1860–1917) was a British civil servant, author, scholar, a literary biographer and a book collector. During his lifetime, Aitken became an expert on the Queen Anne period of English literature. Public serv ...

, author and biographer *

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous programm ...

, actor and theatre-manager * Walter Besant, novelist and historian *

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the ...

, romantic painter * Peter Cook, writer and comedian *

Henry Cort Henry Cort (c. 1740 – 23 May 1800) was an English ironware producer although formerly a Navy pay agent. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron (or bar iron) using innovative producti ...

, ironmaster and inventor * Eleanor Farjeon, author * Penelope Fitzgerald, author, daughter of E.V. Knox *

Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, ...

, Labour Party leader from 1955 until 1963 * Eva Gore-Booth and Esther Roper, suffragists and social justice campaigners *

John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revo ...

, inventor of the marine chronometer * C. E. M. Joad, philosopher * Kay Kendall, actress, film star of the 1950s *

E.V. Knox Edmund George Valpy Knox (10 May 1881 – 2 January 1971) was a poet and satirist who wrote under the pseudonym Evoe. He was editor of ''Punch'' 1932–1949, having been a regular contributor in verse and prose for many years. Life Knox was t ...

, poet and satirist, editor of ''Punch'' (1932-1949) * Mary Knox (née Shepard), illustrator of

P.L. Travers Pamela Lyndon Travers (; born Helen Lyndon Goff; 9 August 1899 – 23 April 1996) was an Australian-British writer who spent most of her career in England. She is best known for the ''Mary Poppins'' series of books, which feature the eponymous ...

' ''Mary Poppins'' stories, daughter of E.H. Shepard, wife of

Arthur Llewelyn Davies Arthur Llewelyn Davies (20 February 1863 – 19 April 1907) was an English barrister of Welsh origin, but is best known as the father of the boys who were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. Biography Born 20 ...

and his wife Sylvia (née du Maurier) who befriended J M Barrie and whose children inspired

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

* Jack and

Peter Llewelyn Davies Peter Llewelyn Davies MC (25 February 1897 – 5 April 1960) was the middle of five sons of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, one of the Llewelyn Davies boys befriended and later informally adopted by J. M. Barrie. Barrie publicly iden ...

(children of the above) in the same grave as their parents and their brother Michael, in a separate grave * John Llewelyn Davies, preacher and theologian, father of Arthur Llewelyn Davies and

Margaret Llewelyn Davies Margaret Caroline Llewelyn Davies (16 October 1861 – 28 May 1944) was a British social activist who served as general secretary of the Co-operative Women's Guild from 1889 until 1921. Her election has been described as a "turning point" in the ...

* George du Maurier, author and cartoonist, father of Gerald du Maurier and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies * Gerald du Maurier, actor and manager, father of

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Georg ...

, novelist, and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies * Temple Moore, architect * Nicholas Parsons, actor and radio and television presenter * Langford Reed, scriptwriter and director *

, architect working in late Gothic and Queen Anne revival styles, eldest son of Sir George Gilbert Scott, father of

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, an ...

and Adrian Gilbert Scott, all also architects *

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

, Architect * Evelyn Underhill, Anglo-Catholic writer * Anton Walbrook, Austrian actor *

Alec Waugh Alexander Raban Waugh (8 July 1898 – 3 September 1981) was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh, uncle of Auberon Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic, and publisher. His first wife was Ba ...

, writer, brother of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

The churchyard contains 8 war graves, comprising 6 servicemen from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and 2 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty records.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:John-at-Hampstead, St 18th-century Church of England church buildings Buildings and structures in Hampstead Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Camden Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Saint John Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom Temple Moore buildings