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 Borough of Hackney
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Church of England
Website stjohnshoxton.org.uk
History
Founded 1826
Founder(s) The Haberdashers' Co.
Dedication Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
Dedicated 1826
Architecture
Architect(s) Francis Edwards
Style Neoclassical
Administration
Parish St John the Baptist with
Christ Church, Hoxton[1]
Diocese London
Province Canterbury
Clergy
Bishop(s) Richard Chartres
(Bishop of London)
Adrian Newman
(Suffragan Bishop of Stepney)
Vicar(s) Graham Hunter
Archdeacon Rachel Treweek
(Archdeacon of Hackney)[2]

The Church of St John the Baptist, Hoxton, usually known as St John's Hoxton, is an English urban Anglican parish church in Hoxton, within the London Borough of Hackney.[3]

Nearby is Silicon Roundabout,[4] and also Aske Gardens,[5] named after the parish's major benefactor, City alderman and haberdasher Robert Aske.

St John's Church ceiling

Architecture

Completed in 1826, St John's is a Georgian church in the Classical style, and the only one built to the design of Francis Edwards,[6] Sir John Soane's foremost pupil. The building is a large example of a Commissioners' church, with its original floor plan intact, as well as notable galleries and décor,[7] including a spectacular painted ceiling. This was executed in the early 20th century by the architect Joseph Arthur Reeve.

Pipe organ

Built and installed in 1915 by the firm of Thomas Sidwell Jones,[8] the organ is situated in the Choir gallery and retains its original late Georgian wooden case with an elaborate façade displaying the arms of King William IV.

Last restored in 1934 by Henry Speechly & Son,[9] St John's organ is voiced with the following stops:

Choir
Gamba8'
Dulciana8'
Lieblich Gedact8'
Viol d'Orchestre8'
Flute4'
Piccolo2'
Clarinet8'
Great
Bourdon16'
Open Diapason No. 18'
Open Diapason No. 28'
Clarabella8'
Dulciana8'
Principal4'
Harmonic Flute4'
Twelfth2.2/3'
Fifteenth2'
Mixture3'
Trumpet8'
Swell
Double Diapason16'
Open Diapason8'
Lieblich Gedact8'
Salicional8'
Voix Celeste8'
Principal4'
Mixture3'
Cornopean8'
Oboe8'
Pedal
Open Diapason16'
Bourdon16'
Bass Flute8'

Parish history

Dedicated to St John the Baptist, its name preserves the memory of a local priory dissolved by King Henry VIII.[10]

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.[11] To give opportunities to the "local poor",[12] the first vicar founded what became London's largest savings bank[13] and St John's National Schools[14] which still thrive. Many members of the church[15] became missionaries in Africa and Asia, among them the first Bishop of Chota Nagpur, the Rt Revd Jabez Cornelius Whiteley, whose father was Chaplain to the Haberdashers' Aske's Hospital School formerly located in Pitfield Street.[16][17]

Robert Aske's legacy still benefits the parish and associated primary school,[18] while Haberdasher Street[19] like Aske Gardens,[20] remain in the memory of his original generosity.[21]

"Amazing Grace"
(music pub. 1847)

One of the 18th-century residents of Hoxton Square,[22] the Revd John Newton, composed the popular hymn "Amazing Grace".[23] 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.[24]

The maternal great-great-great-grandfather of Kate Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge), John Goldsmith, was married to Esther Jones at St John's Church in 1850.[25]

The present vicar is the Revd Graham Hunter.

See also

References

Districts within the
London Borough of Hackney.
  1. ↑ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
  2. ↑ www.london.anglican.org Archived 5 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ www.achurchnearyou.com
  4. ↑ www.hoxtonmix.com
  5. ↑ www.hackney.gov.uk/aske-gardens
  6. ↑ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
  7. ↑ www.funpalaces.co.uk
  8. ↑ www.organ-biography.info
  9. ↑ www.organ-biography.info
  10. ↑ www.british-history.ac.uk
  11. ↑ www.booth.lse.ac.uk
  12. ↑ www.lse.ac.uk
  13. ↑ National Savings Bank
  14. ↑ www.brunel.ac.uk
  15. ↑ www.familysearch.org
  16. ↑ www.chronicleworld.org
  17. ↑ www.cnisynod.org
  18. ↑ www.st-john.hackney.sch.uk
  19. ↑ www.london-footprints.co.uk: Hoxton rpoute
  20. ↑ www.hackneycitytennisclubs.co.uk
  21. ↑ www.british-history.ac.uk
  22. ↑ www.visionofbritain.org.uk
  23. ↑ www.oxforddnb.com
  24. ↑ www.mander-organs.com
  25. ↑ New England Historic Genealogical Society
South aspect of St John's Hoxton

Notes

Media related to St John the Baptist Church, Hoxton at Wikimedia Commons

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

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