St. John's Church

Hyde Park

London, England

St. John's Church

London, England

"The  Cmmissioners for Building New Churches... asked  Charles  Fowler to draw up ... plans which he did expeditiously by 1829.  His plan for St John’s -- a 13th Century style Gothic church -- It took three years to build and on the 26th January 1832 the Lord Bishop of London, the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Charles James Blomfield, consecrated St John’s Chapel, also known as the Connaught Chapel.uary 1832  It was designed to seat 1500, with 700 free seats and the rest rented – the pews in all churches used to be rented for annual charges.  The total pew rentals in St John’s, which were paid to the wardens to cover expenses, were valued at £681 a year.

                                      St. John's Church, London England

"The church as we know it today is not the one we would have seen in 1832 or even at the turn of the 20th Century. The interior was darker; it was lit with candles, then gas lamps, and finally electric lighting in the late 1800s. There was a triforium, or balcony over each of the side aisles as well as over the entrance. Between the wooden pews, there was a row of paired chairs going down the nave leading up to the chancel. St John’s had a capacity of 2,200 people with 1,500 subscription seats and 700 free seats in the triforium. The pulpit, with its spiral staircase, was in front of the left row of pews attached to the rood screen, now at the entrance of the church. The baptismal font was located at the northwest corner.  The high altar, from St Michael’s Star Street was originally in the north transept in front of the organ, which was The Lady Chapel until the reordering in 2011. 

"After the Second World War the parish and the church fell on hard times when the area became less desirable and people moved to the suburbs. The church was even occasionally closed between 1962 and 1965...

"In 2011 the old Victorian heating system was replaced and the pine pews (which came from America) were sold or auctioned off to raise funds for the beautiful new floor. The rood screen was relocated to the area behind the seating to create a narthex. Additional changes include the installation of toilets on the south side of the porch, while a much-needed kitchen was re-fitted on the north side. 

"St John’s has long had a strong association with music in London.  It employs eight choral scholars and an organ scholar per year, drawn from the best London conservatories." (Link.)

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Photos: Taken by Lina in 2020 while she was living and working in London, England.

Linc: https://www.stjohns-hydepark.com/moreaboutus/2016/7/21/history-of-st-johns-hyde-park

  

 

                        Catholic Church of St. Monica, Hoxton Square ,       

                                              London England

 Catholic Church of St. Monica

Hoxton Square, London England

Church Plaque

"Step inside our church on Hoxton Square, an oasis of calm tucked away in cutting edge cool Shoreditch. 

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"Statues of St Augustine and St Monica stand to the left and right of the high altar, waiting to greet all visitors.

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"A grade II listed 19th century church built between 1864 - 1866, our building is an example of Edward Welby Pugin's work.

Sanctuary

"The outside of the church is distinctive of a typical Pugin design.  The description on historicengland.org.uk is apt - "... a rare surviving composition of church, school and priory by an important architect who here produced a cheap building that nevertheless has considerable distinction"

"To put the quote into context, the Pugin Society estimated that the cost of a typical unendowed urban church ranged between £3000 - £10000, depending the size and date of building. In contrast, the Cobh Cathedral, begun in 1867, cost £235000 by the time it was completed in 1915. (L"ink 1.)

Front Window of Church

"Saint Monica (c. 332 – 387 AD) was an earlyAfrican Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine " (Link 2.)

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Photos: Taken by iPhone in December 2020 by Lina  whitle living and working in London, England. 

Link 1:  https://www.stmonicaschurchhoxton.org/about-us

Llink 2:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Monica

                                             

                                                                        Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)