St John the Baptist, Hoxton

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St John's Hoxton
St John the Baptist
with Christ Church, Hoxton
Hoxton holy trinity 1.jpg
West door of St John's Hoxton
St John the Baptist, Hoxton
Location Hoxton, London Borough of Hackney
CountryUnited Kingdom
Denomination Church of England
Website stjohnshoxton.org.uk
History
Founded1826
Founder(s) The Haberdashers' Company
Dedication St John the Baptist
Dedicated1826
Architecture
Architect(s) Francis Edwards
Style Neo-classical
Administration
Province Canterbury
Diocese London
Parish St John the Baptist with
Christ Church, Hoxton [1]
Clergy
Bishop(s) Sarah Mullally
(Bishop of London)
Joanne Grenfell
(Suffragan Bishop of Stepney)
Vicar(s) Graham Hunter
Curate(s) Caroline Taylor
Archdeacon Peter Farley-Moore
(Archdeacon of Hackney)

The Church of St John the Baptist, Hoxton, usually known as St John's Hoxton, is an Anglican parish church in the Hoxton area of the London Borough of Hackney. [2]

Contents

In 1826, population growth in the East End led to St John's being established as a Chapel of Ease, within the parish of Shoreditch. [3] In 1841 it became the church of a new independent ecclesiastical parish, though it remained part of Shoreditch for civil purposes. [4]

Nearby is Silicon Roundabout, [5] and also Aske Gardens, [6] named after the parish's major benefactor, City alderman and haberdasher Robert Aske.

St. John's Church ceiling St John the Baptist, Crondall Street, Hoxton - Ceiling (geograph 2624648).jpg
St. John's Church ceiling

Parish history

Dedicated to St John the Baptist, its name preserves the memory of a local priory dissolved by King Henry VIII. [7]

Robert Aske's legacy still benefits the parish and associated primary school, [8] while Haberdasher Street [9] like Aske Gardens, [10] remain in the memory of his original generosity. [11]

One of the 18th-century residents of Hoxton Square, [12] the Revd John Newton, composed the popular hymn "Amazing Grace". [13] 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. [14]

"Amazing Grace" (music pub. 1847) New Britain Southern Harmony Amazing Grace.jpg
"Amazing Grace"
(music pub. 1847)

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. [15] Many members of the church [16] became missionaries in Africa and Asia, among them the first Bishop of Chota Nagpur, the Rt Revd Jabez Cornelius Whiteley, whose father, Chaplain to the Haberdashers' Aske's Hospital School formerly located in Pitfield Street [17] [18] was the Revd Edward Whiteley: to give opportunities to the "local poor", [19] the parish's first vicar founded what became London's largest savings bank [20] and St John's National Schools [21] which still thrive in India.

The maternal great-great-great-grandfather of Kate Middleton (now the Princess of Wales), John Goldsmith, was married to Esther Jones at St John's Hoxton in 1850. [22]

The present vicar, the Revd Graham Hunter, serves as an Assistant of the Haberdashers' Company and helps Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, pioneer the CofE's Health Inequalities Action Group (HIAG) bringing together faith leaders. [23]

Architecture

Completed in 1826, St John's is a Regency church in the classical style, and the only one built to the design of the celebrated architect, Francis Edwards, [24] Sir John Soane's foremost pupil. A large example of a Commissioners' church, its original floor plan remains intact as well as notable galleries and décor, [25] including a painted ceiling [26] executed in the early 20th century by the architect Joseph Arthur Reeve. [27]

Pipe organ

Built and installed in 1915 by the firm of Thomas Sidwell Jones, [28] the organ sits in the choir gallery retaining its original late-Georgian wooden case with an elaborate façade displaying the arms of William IV.

Last restored in 1934 by Henry Speechly & Son, [29] St John's organ is known to voice the following stops:

Choir
Gamba8'
Dulciana8'
Lieblich Gedackt8'
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 Gedackt8'
Salicional8'
Voix Celeste8'
Principal4'
Mixture3'
Cornopean8'
Oboe8'
Pedal
Open Diapason16'
Bourdon16'
Bass Flute8'

Bells

There is a ring of ten bells, cast at the nearby Whitechapel Bell Foundry. [30]

Coat of arms of St John the Baptist, Hoxton
Arms of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.svg
Notes
Arms and Crest of the Haberdashers' Company confirmed by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms, 8 November 1570
Crest
On a wreath Argent and Azure issuing from Clouds two naked Arms embowed holding a Laurel wreath all Proper
Escutcheon
Barry wavy of six Argent and Azure on a Bend Gules a Lion passant guardant Or
Supporters
On either side a Goat of India Argent flecked Gules membered Or
Motto
"Serve and Obey"
Symbolism
Coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers:
patron of the advowson of St John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton

See also

References

Districts within the London Borough of Hackney. Hackney districts.gif
Districts within the
London Borough of Hackney.
South aspect of St. John's Hoxton St John the Baptist, Hoxton - geograph.org.uk - 1507811.jpg
South aspect of St. John's Hoxton

Notes

Commons-logo.svg Media related to St John the Baptist Church, Hoxton at Wikimedia Commons

51°31′50″N0°5′0″W / 51.53056°N 0.08333°W / 51.53056; -0.08333

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