St John the Baptist, Hoxton

St John's Hoxton
St John the Baptist
with Christ Church, Hoxton
West door of St John's Hoxton
St John's Hoxton
LocationHoxton, London Borough of Hackney
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipEvangelical Protestant
Websitestjohnshoxton.org.uk
History
Founded1826
FounderWorshipful Company of Haberdashers
DedicationSt John the Baptist
Dedicated22 June 1826
Architecture
ArchitectFrancis Edwards
StyleNeo-classical
Years built
1822–26
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseLondon
ArchdeaconryHackney
ParishSt John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton[1]
Clergy
Bishop(s)Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally
(Bishop of London)
Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell
(Suffragan Bishop of Stepney)
VicarRevd Graham Hunter
Arms of King William IV

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]

Situated one mile north of the City of London on New North Road, nearby St John's Hoxton is Silicon Roundabout and also Aske Gardens, named after the parish's major benefactor, City haberdasher Alderman Robert Aske.

In 1826, population growth in London's East End led to St John's being established as a chapel of ease, within the ancient parish of Shoreditch.[3] In 1830 it became the parish church of its own newly created ecclesiastical parish within the diocese of London, though for civil purposes it remained part of Shoreditch, Middlesex.[4]

In 1953 the benefice of St John's Hoxton was reunited with Christ Church, created in 1841 from the north part of the parish.

History

Dedicated to St John the Baptist, its name preserves the memory of Holywell Priory which was dissolved in 1539 by King Henry VIII.[5]

In Victorian London the parish's charitable giving was recognised by social campaigners, such as the philanthropist Charles Booth, for its welfare work in a deteriorating inner-city environment.[6] Many members of the church became missionaries in Africa and Asia, among them the first Bishop of Chota Nagpur, Jabez Cornelius Whitley, whose father, chaplain to the Haberdashers' Aske's Hospital School formerly located in Pitfield Street[7] was the Revd Edward Whiteley (1798–1861). Whiteley was appointed the parish's first vicar by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers as patrons of the living and helped found what became London's largest savings bank (National Savings Bank)[8] to give opportunities to the "local poor", as well as St John's National Schools which still thrive in India.

The maternal great-great-great-grandfather of Catherine, Princess of Wales,[9] John Goldsmith (1827–1888) was married to Esther Jones at St John's Hoxton in 1850.

Present day

The present vicar, the Revd Graham Hunter,[10] serves as a court member of the Haberdashers' Company and assists Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London.[11]

The church is part of the HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) Network and a member of the Evangelical Alliance.[12]

St John's Hoxton featured on the BBC programme Songs of Praise in 2025.[13]

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,[14] Sir John Soane's foremost pupil.

A large and elegant example of a Commissioners' church, its original floor plan remains intact as well as notable galleries and décor, including a stunning painted ceiling[15] executed in the early 20th century by the ecclesiastical architect Joseph Arthur Reeve. St John's Hoxton is a grade II* listed building.[16]

Pipe organ

Built and installed in 1915 by the firm of Thomas Sidwell Jones,[17] the pipe 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,[18] 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

In St John's church tower hangs a ring of ten bells, cast at the nearby Whitechapel Bell Foundry.[19]

Coat of arms of St John the Baptist, Hoxton
Notes
Arms and Crest of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers confirmed by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms, 8 November 1570
Adopted
1446
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
Arms of the Haberdashers' Company, patron of the advowson of St John the Baptist with Christ Church, Hoxton:

See also

St John's Church ceiling

References

Districts within the London Borough of Hackney.
  1. ↑ "nationalarchives.gov.uk".
  2. ↑ "St John's Hoxton". achurchnearyou.com.
  3. ↑ St John's official site https://www.stjohnshoxton.org.uk/about-us
  4. ↑ Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Frederic A Youngs Jr, Volume 1: Southern England, ISBN 0-901050-67-9, Royal Historical Society publication describing the evolution of these units.
  5. ↑ www.british-history.ac.uk
  6. ↑ "booth.lse.ac.uk".
  7. ↑ "cnisynod.org".
  8. ↑ National Savings Bank
  9. ↑ "Ancestry of the Duchess of Cambridge". wargs.com.
  10. ↑ "Churches: Haberdashers".
  11. ↑ "Bishop of London's Health Inequalities Action Group publishes recommendations to tackle health inequalities". 10 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "About Us". St John's Hoxton. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  13. ↑ "BBC One - Songs of Praise". BBC. 22 June 2025.
  14. ↑ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
  15. ↑ "Church of St John the Baptist, Hackney, London". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
  16. ↑ "Church of St John the Baptist". historicengland.org.uk.
  17. ↑ "Biographical Dictionary of the Organ: Thomas S. Jones". organ-biography.info.
  18. ↑ "Biographical Dictionary of the Organ". organ-biography.info.
  19. ↑ Dove's Bell Tower Guide www.dove.cccbr.org.uk
South aspect of St John's Hoxton

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

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