Museum of the Order of St John

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Museum of the Order of St John
Museum of the Order of St John logo.svg
St John's Gate, Clerkenwell - London..jpg
St John's Gate, home of the museum
Open street map central london.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Central London
Location St John's Gate, Clerkenwell
London, EC1
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°31′19″N0°06′09″W / 51.52195°N 0.10257°W / 51.52195; -0.10257 Coordinates: 51°31′19″N0°06′09″W / 51.52195°N 0.10257°W / 51.52195; -0.10257
Public transit access Underground no-text.svg National Rail logo.svg Farringdon
Website museumstjohn.org.uk

The Museum of the Order of St John in Clerkenwell, London, tells the story of the Venerable Order of Saint John from its roots as a pan-European Order of Hospitaller Knights founded in Jerusalem during the Crusades, to its present commitment to providing first aid and care in the community through the St John Ambulance Brigade and running an Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem. The museum is a member of the London Museums of Health & Medicine. [1]

Contents

Building

The Museum is based in St John's Gate, Clerkenwell, a 16th-century gatehouse in London, England that once formed the entrance to the Priory of Clerkenwell. This dates back to the 11th century and was once the English headquarters of the Order of St John. From here Hospitaller Knights went out to the Holy Land and later to Cyprus, Rhodes and Malta. They served in hospitals treating pilgrims, and fought to defend Christian interests in the Holy Land and the Mediterranean.

Tours take visitors to the oldest surviving part of the Medieval Priory, the Norman crypt, as well as the 16th century church above.

They then return to the Gate House, which after the Dissolution of the monasteries was put to many uses, with Shakespeare, Dr Johnson, Hogarth and Dickens all taking part in its story. The Gate was eventually bought back by the Order in the late nineteenth century, and is now beautifully decorated with heraldry, stained glass, gilding and carving to create glowing interiors, designed by John Oldrid Scott. Here visitors can see the fine furniture and painting collections.

The Museum in the Gate House tells the story of the history of the Order of St John and St John Ambulance. The Museum completed a renovation in November 2010. It was supported by funders such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and was designed by leading architects Donald Insall Associates, who had previously written the building's Conservation Plan. Exhibition design company Metaphor undertook the internal exhibit design. This redevelopment has given the Order's internationally significant collection the context it needs, including updating interpretative techniques, bringing more of the collections out of storage, and improving conservation conditions.

Order of St John collections

The collections of artefacts from the history of the Order of St John are extremely varied, covering all aspects of the history of an Order founded in the eleventh century and operating in most European countries.

There are archaeological finds, architectural fragments and social history material relating to the Priory site; seals and numismatics, including an important collection of Crusader coins; arms and armour, mainly European plate armour but also an example of Turkish Ottoman mail; drug jars, mortars and weights from the Hospitallers' pharmacy in Malta; decorative arts (portrait medals, ceramics, glass, silver, furniture, jewellery, insignia, textiles, ecclesiastical vestments) reflecting the tastes of the European aristocrats who joined the Order and became significant patrons of the arts.

The painting collection includes religious art, particularly images of patron saint of the Order, St John the Baptist, portraits of Grand Masters, Knights and clergy, sea and landscapes, depicting naval battles and views of Malta; prints and drawings include portraits of the Knights, topographical views and maps showing the famous fortifications on their island homes, as well as prints of the English Priory and the surrounding area of Clerkenwell.

St John Ambulance collections

St John Ambulance has a history spanning over 125 years and covering over 40 countries worldwide. It was founded by the British Order of St John and inspired by the medical traditions of the Hospitallers. Its story is told in a new exhibition.

Equipment ranges in size from examples of early ambulance transport to a Victorian nurse's miniature first aid kit. There are training books written in numerous languages and first aid information comes in many forms, from cigarette cards to pop-up books and even on bandages.

Uniform includes ceremonial attire, a 1922 cadet uniform and A.R.P gas suit, and posters and advertisements feature uniform of many periods. The collection of medals, trophies and decorative certificates give a real sense of members' achievements and include one certificate made by a forger inside a prisoner-of-war camp. Banners and textiles commemorate special St John occasions.

Personal memorabilia tell what it was like to belong to the movement in different times and places. Nurse Nesbit's cartoons record the lighter moments of serving in a First World War hospital. In an album, Lyn Brown put down her reactions as one of the first people to enter the newly liberated Belsen camp in 1945.

The film archive provides a glimpse into SJA's involvement with the film industry and a huge photographic collection gives insights into individual lives and social change, as well as the changing organisation. Oral histories, particularly strong on the Second World War, also cover topics as diverse as first aid in the depression of the 1930s, setting up a division in Zanzibar in the 1950s and the work of a welfare officer in the Gulf War of 1991.

Opening hours

Getting there

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clerkenwell</span> Human settlement in England

Clerkenwell is an area of central London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John's Gate, Clerkenwell</span>

St John's Gate, in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, now within central London, is one of the few tangible remains from Clerkenwell's monastic past. It was built in 1504 by Prior Thomas Docwra as the south entrance to the inner precinct of Clerkenwell Priory, the English headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St John.

The Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller is a collection of charitable organisations claiming continuity with the Russian Orthodox grand priory of the Order of Saint John. The order emerged when Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 during the expedition to Egypt. The Grand Master at the stronghold of Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch failed to anticipate or prepare for the threat. The Order continued to exist in a diminished form and negotiated with European governments for a return to power. The Emperor of Russia gave shelter the to the largest number of Knights in St Petersburg and this gave rise to the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and recognition within the Russian Imperial Orders. In gratitude the Knights declared Ferdinand von Hompesch deposed and Emperor Paul I was elected as the new Grand Master. The continuous Order was also approved by the Papacy, but due to British fear of Russian taking presence in the Mediterranean and because many knights were Orthodox the Order became de facto the traditional Order but de jure not recognised similar or at par with the formation of the 19th-century Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)</span> British royal order of chivalry constituted in 1888

The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedicated to St John the Baptist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maltese cross</span> Heraldic cross

The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four "V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. The Maltese cross actually has 12 points It is a heraldic cross variant which developed from earlier forms of eight-pointed crosses in the 16th century. Although chiefly associated with the Knights Hospitaller, and by extension with the island of Malta, it has come to be used by a wide array of entities since the early modern period, notably the Order of Saint Stephen, the city of Amalfi, the Polish Order of the White Eagle (1709), the Prussian order Pour le Mérite (1740), and the Bavarian Military Merit Order (1866).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)</span> German Protestant branch of the Knights Hospitaller

The Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem, commonly known as the Order of Saint John or the Johanniter Order, is the German Protestant branch of the Knights Hospitaller, the oldest surviving chivalric order, which generally is considered to have been founded in Jerusalem in 1099.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John Ambulance</span> Name of multiple first aid organisations

St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the international Order of St John and its priories.

The Knights of Justice or Professed Knights, form the first of the three classes of members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta together with the professed conventual chaplains. They make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. "They are religious in all respects and they comply with the universal and particular norms that concern them."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. John Ambulance Canada</span>

St. John Ambulance in Canada, or SJA (French: Ambulance Saint-Jean Canada, is a confederation of St John Ambulance Provincial and Territorial Councils under mandate by the "St John Councils Regulations 1975" of the Royal Charter, Statutes and Regulations of the Order of St John. Each Council is governed by a Board of Directors under Provincial or Territorial incorporating legislation together with the St John Ambulance Priory in Canada, incorporated under the federal Canada Not For Profit Corporations Act. The Priory provides support services to the Councils and manages the Order of St. John in Canada. The Councils deliver the mandate of training and community services and are responsible for their own governance, operations and management.

St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI), previously known as the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, is a charitable voluntary organisation in Ireland. For constitutional reasons it is not a full member association of the Venerable Order of Saint John and the international St. John Ambulance movement, but rather is classed as an "associated body". The organisation is dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid. It is engaged in first aid training to the public, providing first aid and ambulance cover at public events, patient transport and community services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knights Hospitaller</span> Medieval and early-modern Catholic military order

The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller, was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem until 1291, on the island of Rhodes from 1310 until 1522, in Malta from 1530 until 1798 and at Saint Petersburg from 1799 until 1801. Today several organizations continue the Hospitaller tradition, specifically the mutually recognized orders of St. John, which are the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John, the Order of Saint John in the Netherlands, and the Order of Saint John in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John Singapore</span> Military unit

St John Singapore is a voluntary secular organisation in Singapore established in 1877 which provides training in First Aid and Home Nursing. It is affiliated with the Order of Saint John based in the United Kingdom. Its ambulance members and nursing members perform voluntary first aid coverage duties during national events and other events. It comprises 3 sub-organisations, namely the St John Brigade Singapore, St John Association Singapore, St John Fellowship Singapore.

Guy Stair Sainty, is a British art dealer and author on nobility, royal genealogy, and heraldry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clerkenwell Priory</span>

Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, in Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, and was thus their English headquarters. Its great landholding near London until Protestant monarch Edward VI of England was in the former north of Marylebone: St John's Wood which it had farmed out on agricultural tenancies as a source of produce and income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John Clerkenwell</span>

St John Clerkenwell is a former parish church in Clerkenwell, London, its original priory church site retains a crypt and has been given over to the London chapel of the modern Order of St John. It is a square, light-brick resurrection of the small church of Clerkenwell Priory – the crypt of which is beneath – without a spire or tower. Its three centuries of former decline reflected the disbandment of the medieval Order of St John, or Knights Hospitaller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John Ambulance Cymru</span>

St John Ambulance Cymru is a charity dedicated to the teaching and practice of first aid. It is part of the Order of Saint John.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commanderies of the Order of Saint John</span> Wikimedia list article

The Order of Saint John was organised in a system of commanderies during the high medieval to early modern periods, to some extent surviving as the organisational structure of the several descended orders that formed after the Reformation.

The Priory in the United States of America is one of the establishments of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. It is one of eleven international priories and the representative of the Order in the United States of America. The main purpose of the Priory is to provide for the financial support of the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group. It also contributes to other projects of the Order of St John around the world, responds to special appeals for disaster relief, and maintains a volunteer service corps that serves veterans in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

References

  1. "Medical Museums". medicalmuseums.org. Retrieved 26 August 2016.

This article uses material and images taken, with permission, from the museum's website.