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St John the Baptist, Hoxton

Coordinates: 51°31′50″N 0°5′0″W / 51.53056°N 0.08333°W / 51.53056; -0.08333
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St John's Hoxton
St John the Baptist
with Christ Church, Hoxton
West door of St John's Hoxton
Map
LocationHoxton, London Borough of Hackney
CountryEngland, United Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipEvangelical Protestant
Websitestjohnshoxton.org.uk
History
Founded1826
Founder(s)Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
DedicationSt John the Baptist
Dedicated22 June 1826
Architecture
Architect(s)Francis Edwards
StyleNeo-classical
Years built1822–26
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)
Vicar(s)Revd Graham Hunter
ArchdeaconVen. Peter Farley-Moore
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[3] and also Aske Gardens,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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

History

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Dedicated to St John the Baptist, its name preserves the memory of a local priory dissolved in 1539 by King Henry VIII.[7]

A family relative of Sir Thomas Seymour MP who lived at Hoxton, Robert Aske's legacy still benefits the parish and associated primary school,[8] while Haberdashers' Place[9] and Haberdasher Street[10] remain in the memory of his original generosity.[11]

A celebrated 18th-century resident of Hoxton Square,[12] the Revd John Newton, composed the popular hymn Amazing Grace.[13] Mary Wollstonecraft, the writer and philosopher, was born at Hoxton. The organ builder John Mander lived in Hoxton, whose son Noel Mander rebuilt St Paul's Cathedral's organ[14] and was the founder of Mander Organs.[15]

"Amazing Grace"
(music pub. 1847)

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.[16] Many members of the Church[17] 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[18][19] was the Revd Edward Whiteley (1798–1861).[20] 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)[21] to give opportunities to the "local poor",[22] as well as St John's National Schools[23] which still thrive in India.

The maternal great-great-great-grandfather of Kate Middleton (now the Princess of Wales),[24] John Goldsmith (1827–1888) was married to Esther Jones at St John's Hoxton in 1850.[25]

Present day

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The present vicar, the Revd Graham Hunter,[26] serves as a Court member of the Haberdashers' Company and assists the Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London,[27] pioneer the CofE's ecumenical Health Inequalities Action Group (HIAG) bringing together multi-faith leaders.[28]

The church is part of the HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) Network and a member of the Evangelical Alliance.[29]

St John's Hoxton featured on BBC Songs of Praise in 2025.[30]

Architecture

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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,[31] 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,[32] including a stunning painted ceiling[33] executed in the early 20th century by the ecclesiastical architect Joseph Arthur Reeve.[34][35]

St John's Hoxton is a Grade II* listed building.[36]

Pipe organ

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Built and installed in 1915 by the firm of Thomas Sidwell Jones,[37] 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,[38] St John's organ is known to voice the following stops:

Choir
Gamba 8'
Dulciana 8'
Lieblich Gedackt 8'
Viol d'Orchestre 8'
Flute 4'
Piccolo 2'
Clarinet 8'
Great
Bourdon 16'
Open Diapason No. 1 8'
Open Diapason No. 2 8'
Clarabella 8'
Dulciana 8'
Principal 4'
Harmonic Flute 4'
Twelfth 2.2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Mixture 3'
Trumpet 8'
Swell
Double Diapason 16'
Open Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedackt 8'
Salicional 8'
Voix Celeste 8'
Principal 4'
Mixture 3'
Cornopean 8'
Oboe 8'
Pedal
Open Diapason 16'
Bourdon 16'
Bass Flute 8'

Bells

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In St John's Church tower hangs a ring of ten bells, cast at the nearby Whitechapel Bell Foundry.[39]

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
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

[edit]
St John's Church ceiling

References

[edit]
Districts within the
London Borough of Hackney.
  1. ^ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
  2. ^ www.achurchnearyou.com
  3. ^ www.hoxtonmix.com
  4. ^ www.hackney.gov.uk/aske-gardens
  5. ^ St John's official site https://www.stjohnshoxton.org.uk/about-us
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ www.british-history.ac.uk
  8. ^ www.st-john.hackney.sch.uk
  9. ^ www.londonremembers.com
  10. ^ www.london-footprints.co.uk: Hoxton route
  11. ^ www.british-history.ac.uk
  12. ^ www.visionofbritain.org.uk
  13. ^ www.oxforddnb.com
  14. ^ www.stpauls.co.uk
  15. ^ www.mander-organs.com
  16. ^ www.booth.lse.ac.uk
  17. ^ www.familysearch.org
  18. ^ www.chronicleworld.org
  19. ^ www.cnisynod.org
  20. ^ www.academic.oup.com
  21. ^ National Savings Bank
  22. ^ www.lse.ac.uk
  23. ^ www.brunel.ac.uk
  24. ^ New England Historic Genealogical Society
  25. ^ www.lma.gov.uk
  26. ^ www.haberdashers.co.uk
  27. ^ www.bishopoflondon.org
  28. ^ www.london.anglican.org
  29. ^ "About Us". St John's Hoxton. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  30. ^ www.bbc.co.uk
  31. ^ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
  32. ^ www.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk
  33. ^ www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk
  34. ^ www.funpalaces.co.uk
  35. ^ www.royalacademy.org.uk
  36. ^ www.historicengland.org.uk
  37. ^ www.organ-biography.info
  38. ^ www.organ-biography.info
  39. ^ Dove's Bell Tower Guide www.dove.cccbr.org.uk
[edit]
South aspect of St John's Hoxton

Notes

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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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