St. John's Hoxton
St. John the Baptist
with Christ Church, Hoxton
West door of St. John's Hoxton
LocationHoxton, London N1
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
Websitestjohnshoxton.org.uk
History
Founded1826
Founder(s)The Haberdashers' Company
DedicationSt John the Baptist
Dedicated1826
Architecture
Architect(s)Francis Edwards
StyleNeo-classical
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseLondon
ParishSt 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
ArchdeaconPeter 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 Hackney, London N1.[2]

Nearby is Silicon Roundabout,[3] and also Aske Gardens,[4] named after the parish's major benefactor, City alderman and haberdasher Robert Aske.

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.[5]

Robert Aske's legacy still benefits the parish and associated primary school,[6] while Haberdasher Street[7] like Aske Gardens,[8] remain in the memory of his original generosity.[9]

One of the 18th-century residents of Hoxton Square,[10] the Revd John Newton, composed the popular hymn "Amazing Grace".[11] 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.[12]

"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.[13] Many members of the church[14] 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[15][16] was the Revd Edward Whiteley: to give opportunities to the "local poor",[17] the parish's first vicar founded what became London's largest savings bank[18] and St John's National Schools[19] 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 Church in 1850.[20]

The present vicar, the Revd Graham Hunter, serves as an Assistant of the Haberdashers' Company.

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,[21] 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,[22] including a painted ceiling[23] executed in the early 20th century by the architect Joseph Arthur Reeve.[24]

Pipe organ

Built and installed in 1915 by the firm of Thomas Sidwell Jones,[25] 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,[26] 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'
Coat of arms of St John the Baptist, Hoxton
Notes
Arms and Crest of the Haberdashers' Co. 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 St. John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton

See also

References

Districts within the
London Borough of Hackney.
South aspect of St. John's Hoxton

Notes

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

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

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