Description

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TQ 3180
779-0/1/1048

WATERLOO ROAD, SE1
Church of St John with All Saints

(formerly listed as Church of St John the Evangelist)

19.10.51

GV
II*

Parish church. 1823-1824 by Francis Bedford. One of four churches in Lambeth in Greek revival style, damaged in Second World War, and with Festival of Britain interior of 1951 by T. F. Ford.

Body of church of stock brick with sandstone dressings and spire and columns to portico in Portland Stone. Nave and chancel combined with pedimented portico at west end with three-tier tower ending in obelisk. West front of two storeys: five bays. First-floor windows have square paterae to surrounds and C20 metal panes. Ground floor has five doors with six-panelled doors in similar surrounds. Massive stone pediment with frieze with eleven wreaths and six massive Portland Stone columns. Square tower of three diminishing stages above, clock to lowest stage, round-headed louvred bell openings in Ionic order above with antefixae at corners, then open Doric stage with antefixae at corners with plinth surmounted by obelisk with ball finial and copper cross and plinth containing anthemion design panels and antefixae. Sides continue frieze with wreaths. First floor has six sashes with C20 small pane metal casements. Cambered windows to ground floor. Deep stone plinth. C20 yellow-brick pavilions with stone pediments attached to each side. East end has pediment with circular window. Central tall east window flanked by two bricks. Underneath are a central rectangular blank and two cambered windows.

Internally, of the 1823-1824 phase remain the west gallery on four Doric columns (before the war damage the gallery was on three sides) the mahogany organ case of 1824 by J C Bishop, clock and five rows of pews in the organ gallery. The two curved stone staircases in the west pediment survive. The font is an elaborate C18 marble non-shaped example with putti forming handles and gadrooned font cover. The reredos contains remains of the original marble altarpiece. The rest of the interior was remodelled by T. F. Ford in 1951 to form the church for the Festival of Britain in a Neo-Georgian Style employing an anthemion motif similar to the original interior. Ceiling of five panels with water-lily paterae. Anthemion frieze to cornice with pilasters. Side windows have balconettes. Vestry and south-east chapel have curved corners and anthemion motif. Two unusual two-decker pulpits with flat canopy and curved steps. The most striking fittings of 1951 are the altar painting (Adoration of the Shepherds) and panel over east window (crucifixion) by Hans Fiebusch.

The Festival of Britain (May-September 1951) was a nationwide celebration of United Kingdom arts, industry and technology. It marked the centenary of the Great Exhibition and aimed to encourage a sense of national pride and optimism for the country’s post-War recovery. The main Festival site on London’s South Bank, visited by some 8.5 million people, included the Royal Festival Hall (Grade I) and a suite of pavilions, cafés and sculptures and the Festival Gardens in Battersea Park (Grade II*). A ‘Live Architecture’ Exhibition at the Lansbury estate in east London included several buildings, some of which are listed at Grade II. Festival events were organised by communities across the country, whilst Royal Navy vessel Campania was converted into the Festival ‘Sea Travelling Exhibition.’

Listing NGR: TQ3113380093

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St John's Church, Waterloo at Wikipedia
• St John's Church, Waterloo official website
• Wikidata Q7593564

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)