View source for St John's Blackheath

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox church
| name                   = St John's Blackheath
| fullname               = 
| other name             = St John the Evangelist's Church
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| image                  = Southeast View of St John's Church, Blackheath.jpg
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| caption                = The church from the southeast

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| coordinates            = {{coord|51.4758|0.0187|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} 
| osgraw                 = TQ 40294 77135 
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| location               = Stratheden Road, [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], London SE3&nbsp;7TH 
| country                = England
 
| denomination           = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| previous denomination  = 
| churchmanship          = Evangelical
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| website                = {{URL| www.stjohnsblackheath.org.uk}}
 
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| people                 = 
 
| status                 = [[Parish church]]
| functional status      = Active
| heritage designation   = [[Listed building (United Kingdom)|Grade II]]
| designated date        = 8 June 1973
| architect              = [[Arthur Ashpitel]]
| architectural type     = 
| style                  = [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular]] [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]]
| groundbreaking         = 
| completed date         = 1853
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| parish                 = Blackheath, St John the Evangelist
| deanery                = Charlton
| archdeaconry           = Lewisham and Greenwich
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| diocese                = [[Diocese of Southwark|Southwark]]
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| vicar                  = Eddie Scrase-Field
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| youthmin               = Chloe Ginns
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| parishadmin            = Cathy Livesey
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'''St John's Blackheath''' (formally known as '''St John the Evangelist's Church''') is an all age [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] church in the Vanbrugh Park area of [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], part of the [[Royal Borough of Greenwich]] in southeast London, England.  Built in the 1850s to the design of architect [[Arthur Ashpitel]], it provided "an important visual and spiritual focus" to a rapidly growing high-class residential area.<ref name="NHLE-1289727">{{NHLE|desc=Church of St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, London SE3|num=1289727|grade=II|accessdate=14 January 2014}}</ref>  The church has an [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] character.  There are two services on a Sunday. St John's Blackheath has thriving children's groups and youth groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stjohnsblackheath.org.uk/activities/ |title=Activities - St John's Blackheath |website=www.stjohnsblackheath.org.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121025254/http://www.stjohnsblackheath.org.uk/activities/ |archive-date=2014-01-21}}</ref> 

==History==
The residential area now known as Vanbrugh Park, east of [[Greenwich Park]] and north of the present [[A2 road (Great Britain)|A2 road]], was laid out in the early part of the [[Victorian era]].<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/><ref name="Pevsner246">{{Harvnb|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|p=246.}}</ref>  Architect [[Arthur Ashpitel]] from [[Hackney Central|Hackney]] was commissioned to design a new church for this district, which at the time (prior to the [[Local Government Act 1888]]) was in the county of [[Kent]].<ref name="Homan31">{{Harvnb|Homan|1984|p=31.}}</ref>  It was his only new church in Kent, although he [[Victorian restoration|restored]] the medieval building at [[Ripple, Kent|Ripple]].<ref name="Homan105">{{Harvnb|Homan|1984|p=105.}}</ref>  Work began in 1852 and the church was completed in 1853.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>

Some [[stained glass]] windows in the north aisle were destroyed during World War II and were subsequently replaced.  The interior was altered in 1999; some of the space at the west end was taken up by new facilities such as offices and a kitchen.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>

The church was [[Listed building (United Kingdom)|listed]] at Grade II on 8 June 1973.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>  [[English Heritage]] defines Grade II-listed buildings as "nationally important" and of "special interest".<ref name="EH2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings/|title=Listed Buildings|year=2012|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|access-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126151823/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings|archive-date=26 January 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>  The [[war memorial]] outside the church, designed by J.B.L. Tolhurst and unveiled on 11 November 1922, was separately listed at Grade II on 19 May 2016.<ref name="NHLE-1435117">{{NHLE|desc=War memorial outside the Church of St John the Evangelist, Blackheath, Stratheden Road, London SE3|num=1435117|grade=II|accessdate=23 May 2016}}</ref>

==Architecture==
St John the Evangelist's Church is "a local landmark" and "a focal point" in a prominent position: it stands on an island surrounded by roads and housing, and is clearly visible in the streetscape especially from the west.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/><ref name="Southwark-032J">{{cite web|url=http://www.southwark.anglican.org/parishes/032j|title=Charlton Deanery: Blackheath, St John the Evangelist|publisher=[[Diocese of Southwark]]|year=2014|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116101101/http://www.southwark.anglican.org/parishes/032j|archive-date=16 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>  It is built of [[Kentish Ragstone]], a local material, and has a roof of Welsh [[slate]].<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/><ref name="Pevsner246"/>  The plan consists of a [[nave]] with aisles on both sides, an aisled [[chancel]] with a lower roofline and flanked by a [[vestry]] and an organ chamber, porches on two sides, and a tower and the west end.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>  This is topped with a "good" tall spire whose lowest stage is concealed by a [[parapet]].<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/><ref name="Pevsner246"/>  The tower is [[buttress]]ed at each corner and has windows with decorative [[tracery]], clock faces, a [[pinnacle]]d upper stage and a stair turret in one corner.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>  The architectural style is largely [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular]] [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]],<ref name="Homan37">{{Harvnb|Homan|1984|p=37.}}</ref> which was out of fashion by the 1850s, although there are some [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated]] [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] elements.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/><ref name="Pevsner246"/>  The architect Arthur Ashpitel, who worked extensively in Kent, was associated with Anglican evangelicalism; this may have led him to use the Perpendicular style, which was popular with that movement.<ref name="SPC-AAA">{{cite web|url=http://www.sussexparishchurches.org/spc_V31/architects-and-artists/320-architects-and-artists-a|title=Architects and Artists A|last=Allen|first=John|date=21 May 2008|work=Sussex Parish Churches website|publisher=Sussex Parish Churches (www.sussexparishchurches.org)|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116102550/http://www.sussexparishchurches.org/spc_V31/architects-and-artists/320-architects-and-artists-a|archive-date=16 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Inside, the fittings date mostly from the late 19th century and include a [[rood screen]] and [[reredos]] by H.S. Rogers.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>  The west-end gallery installed by D. Drury in 1898<ref name="Homan37"/> was removed during the 1999 reordering.<ref name="NHLE-1289727"/>  The firm of [[Heaton, Butler and Bayne]] designed many of the stained-glass windows.<ref name="Pevsner246"/>

==Services and administration==
There are two Sunday services, 10.15am and 6.00pm including a morning [[Eucharist]]ic service at 8.00am on the 2nd Sunday of the month, using the [[Book of Common Prayer]].<ref name="morning-communion">[http://www.stjohnsblackheath.org.uk/sundays/ Sunday Services], St John's Blackheath.</ref>

The [[Church Pastoral Aid Society]] holds the [[Advowson|patronage]] of St John the Evangelist's Church.  The population of the parish was estimated at 4,962 in 2001.  It is within the [[Deanery#Anglican usage|Deanery]] of Charlton and the [[Archdeacons in the Diocese of Southwark#Archdeacons of Lewisham and of Lewisham and Greenwich|Archdeaconry of Lewisham]] in the [[Anglican Diocese of Southwark]].<ref name="Southwark-032J"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed heights=150px>
Tower of St John's church - geograph.org.uk - 3075447.jpg|Tower
St John's clock - geograph.org.uk - 3075451.jpg|Clock
St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Chancel - geograph.org.uk - 4177730.jpg|Altar and chancel
St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - East end - geograph.org.uk - 4177728.jpg|Nave
St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Font - geograph.org.uk - 4177761.jpg|Font
St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Organ - geograph.org.uk - 4177760.jpg|Organ
St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Pulpit - geograph.org.uk - 4177777.jpg|Pulpit
St John the Evangelist, Stratheden Road, Blackheath - Roof - geograph.org.uk - 4177771.jpg|Ceiling
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* [[Diocese of Southwark]]
* [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last1=Cherry|first1=Bridget|last2=Pevsner|first2=Nikolaus|authorlink2=Nikolaus Pevsner|series=The Buildings of England|title=London 2: South|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|location=London|edition=2nd|year=2002|orig-date=1983|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufSsUlkWKaYC&pg=PA246|isbn=0-300-09651-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Homan|first=Roger|title=The Victorian Churches of Kent|year=1984|publisher=Phillimore & Co. Ltd|location=Chichester|isbn=0-85033-466-7}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stjohnsblackheath.org.uk St John's Blackheath website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Johns Blackheath}}
[[Category:Blackheath, London]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1853]]
[[Category:19th-century Church of England church buildings]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Church of England church buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich|Blackheath]]