CHURCHES
The church of ST. OLAVE
(fn. 1) was
granted by William de Warenne and
Gundreda his wife to the priory of
St. Pancras, Lewes. The gift was confirmed by
William son of the donors between 1089 and 1138, (fn. 2)
and by Ralph Archbishop of Canterbury in 1121. (fn. 3)
Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester from 1205 to
1238, gave licence for the appropriation of the church
by the convent for the use and refection of the guests.
A saving clause guarded the maintenance of a vicar
who was to be presented by the monks and instituted
by the bishop. (fn. 4) In the reign of Henry III the
master and brethren of the hospital of St. Thomas,
Southwark, released to the priory all their right in
the church, with reservation of a rent of 2 marks to
be paid by the brethren of London Bridge if these
obtained possession of St. Olave's. (fn. 5) A conveyance
from the priory must have been in contemplation, but
it did not take place. The annual value of the
church was £6 in 1291. (fn. 6) In 1327 a papal mandate
directed the Bishop of Winchester to relax sixty days
of enjoined penance to all who contributed within
three years to the repair of St. Olave's, injured by the
tide which beat against the walls and had carried
away bodies from the graveyard. (fn. 7) There is mention
in 1330 of the wharf of the churchyard, (fn. 8) which may
have been constructed during a process of embanking
the river. In 1534–5 it appears that the church
was no longer impropriate; the clear annual value of
the rectory was £68 4s. 9d. and the priory received
only an annual pension of £4. (fn. 9) The advowson was
granted in fee in 1538 to Thomas Lord Cromwell. (fn. 10)
A rent from the church was included in property
given in 1541 to Anne of Cleves. (fn. 11) In 1543, after
Cromwell's forfeiture, the presentation to the rectory
was made by the Crown. (fn. 12) Such right was said in
1544 to belong to the king 'by the grant of Lady
Anne of Cleves.' (fn. 13) The benefice has since been in
the gift of the Crown. (fn. 14)
In 1617 the church was repaired and beautified at
the cost of the parishioners. (fn. 15) There was conflict of
opinions within it during the sitting of the Long
Parliament. In 1641 the churchwardens petitioned
the House of Lords against their illegal prosecution
for removal of the altar rails. They stated that
many hundreds of the parishioners had refused to
come to the sacrament while the rails remained and
that they had taken them quietly away and disposed
of them for the benefit of the parish, after they had
vainly sought to prevail upon the parson to prevent
their tumultuous demolition. Another petition from
the curate complained of the violent conduct of
certain parishioners who, after five hundred persons
had received the sacrament on their knees, insisted
that he should administer it to them while they sat,
and threatened if he refused to drag him about the
church by the ears. (fn. 16) In 1697 the church was again
repaired and a gallery was made to accommodate the
boys of the parochial free school. In 1720 it had an
organ and 'a very good parsonage house situate in the
churchyard,' on which much cost had lately been
bestowed. (fn. 17) It was stated in 1737 that part of the
church had fallen down and the rest was ruinous.
An Act of Parliament therefore enabled the levying
of rates for its rebuilding. Burials in the church and
chancel were forbidden at the same time. (fn. 18) The
new church was completed in 1740. (fn. 19) It consists of
a small chancel, a nave with aisles and a vestibule and
north-western tower, constructed of Portland stone
and designed in the classical style, closely approximating Wren's St. Dionis Backchurch. Internally the
aisles are separated from the nave by Ionic columns
and are fitted with galleries. The whole of the west
bay of the church is cut off to form vestibules and
staircases, and the tower stands in the northern part
of this, at the north-west of the building. The
church contains a wooden sword-rest dated 1674
and bearing the City arms and the Southwark mark.
In 1817 it was said that the tithes did not suffice
to maintain the rector and that the rectory-house was
out of repair and inconveniently situated. An Act
of Parliament therefore ruled that certain trustees
should pay to the rector £600 a year instead of tithes,
and should provide him with another residence. (fn. 20)
The church was damaged by a fire in 1843. (fn. 21)
In 1526 there were brotherhoods of Our Lady
and of St. Clement and a sisterhood of St. Anne
in St. Olave's Church. An aisle was dedicated to
St. Anne. (fn. 22) Mr. G. R. Corner states that four aisles
and chapels of the pre-Reformation church were
dedicated to Our Lady, St. Clement, St. Anne and
St. Barbara, respectively. The gild of the Name of
Jesus is said by the same writer to have existed in
the 15th century. (fn. 23) In 1533 the brethren and sisters
were incorporated, and received power to elect
annually four wardens and to acquire land to the
value of £40. (fn. 24) In 1546 certain persons, who may
have represented the gild, were enabled to enfeoff the
rector and church of St. Olave of land opposite to the
church and on the west side of the holding of
the priory of Lewes. (fn. 25) A vestry or church-house of
the parish was built on part of this site, and is
frequently called Jesus House. The Jesus Brotherhood, in whom, under Mary, the old gild appears to
have been revived, deliberated in 1557 on the amount
they would contribute to the rebuilding of the churchhouse. Its disposition for the holding in it of the
free school was ordered by the vestry in 1561; and
the free grammar school of the parish occupied this
site until it was demolished, in 1831, to allow the
approach to new London Bridge. (fn. 26) Part of the land
granted in 1546 became the Flemish burial-ground. (fn. 27)
The property was surveyed in 1652 as a late
possession of the Crown, in right of a lease granted by
Elizabeth in 1558 The churchwardens claimed it
as held by them for the use of the poor and for the
little churchyard, and the survey was vacated by
Parliament. (fn. 28)
There is a modern ring of three bells by C. & T.
Mears, 1844.
The plate comprises four silver-gilt cups and paten
of 1630, a silver-gilt paten, two flagons and almsbasin of 1688, a silver-gilt flagon of 1639, spoon
strainer of 1697, and several pieces of modern plate.
The registers are in eleven books as follows:
(1) to (3) baptisms and burials 1685 to 1778,
marriages 1685 to 1753; (4) baptisms and burials
1779 to 1812; (5) to (8) marriages 1754 to 1778;
(9) to (11) marriages 1779 to 1812.
The church of ST. GEORGE THE MARTYR
was granted to the monks of Bermondsey by Thomas
de Ardern and Thomas his son in 1122, and confirmed to them by Henry I. After the surrender of
the monastery the advowson remained in the Crown. (fn. 29)
In 1629 the church steeple and gallery were
'repaired, new pewed and beautified' and the
south aisle enlarged by the parishioners and others.
The present church was completed in 1736. (fn. 30) The
vestry was select in 1756. (fn. 31) In 1816 an Act of
Parliament allowed the purchase of land in New Alley,
Shaw's Court, Bangor Court, Church Street, White
Street and Wilmott's Buildings for the extension of
the churchyard. (fn. 32) This has recently disappeared
during a process of widening the roads. The
income of the benefice was derived from a rate
of which the collection caused so much trouble that
in the time of Bishop Thorold the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners and the civil vestry agreed that each
should contribute £5,000 to the endowment of the
living, and thus secure to the incumbent £300 a year,
in place of the £480 which he had received from the
rate. The Corporation of London and the Lord
Chancellor, the patrons of St. Margaret Pattens, Rood
Lane, consented to allot £300 a year out of the income
of the latter benefice to the rectory of St. George, on
condition that the Court of Common Council acquired
the right of presenting the rector at one turn out of
three. Accordingly the present incumbent was
presented by the court in 1897, and the augmentation of the living was duly received in 1906, when
the first vacancy in the rectory of St. Margaret
Pattens occurred. (fn. 33)
The church has a ring of eight bells by Abraham
Rudhall, 1718, and a sanctus bell of 1738 by
T. Lester.
The plate consists of a silver cup of 1559, another
of 1640, the gift of Thomas Dudson, a silver paten,
two flagons and an alms-basin of 1696, a paten of
1711, a paten of 1716, two silver plates of 1743,
and one or two pieces of modern plate.
The registers are in fourteen books: (1) all entries
1602 to 1664, interrupted by (2) all entries 1653
to 1657; (3) and (4) the same 1665 to 1714,
interrupted by (5) baptisms 1696 to 1722, burials
1696 to 1727, marriages 1696 to 1732; (6) baptisms 1733 to 1757, burials 1728 to 1757, marriages
1733 to 1753; (7) to (9) baptisms and burials 1758
to 1812, interrupted by (10) the same 1784 to
1800; (11) to (14) marriages 1764 to 1812.
In 1511 protection for one year was allowed to
deputies of the gild of the Virgin Mary and of
St. George in this church, who had been sent into
various parts of the country to collect alms. (fn. 34) The
treasurer of the royal chamber paid on St. George's
Day in 1529 I mark for the king's grace to the
fraternity of St. George in Southwark, (fn. 35) of which the
wardens, in 1549, held a tenement in the borough
called Ye Ramme. (fn. 36) At the time of the dissolution
of gilds this brotherhood maintained one chantry
priest in St. George's Church, and its property was of
the yearly value of £6 2s. 8d. The Leathersellers
of London supported at that date another chantry in
the church, served by one chaplain, worth £7 6s. 8d.
annually. (fn. 37)
The church of ST. MARGARET was granted to
the priory of St. Mary Overy by Henry I, (fn. 38) and
confirmed to that house by William, Bishop of
Winchester from 1107 to 1129, by Henry II, and
between 1501 and 1514 by Richard Fox, Bishop of
Winchester. (fn. 39) There is no record of the appropriation of the church to the prior and convent, but in
1291 their spiritual possessions included the annual
value of the rectory, which was 13 marks. (fn. 40) In 1536
an Act of Parliament was passed for the enlargement
of the churchyard. (fn. 41) It was said in 1573–4 to be in
the middle of the king's highway, and not to supply
room for burials. (fn. 42) The priory at its dissolution was
in yearly receipt of £42 4s. as the value of the
rectory, out of which sum 9s. 8½d. was paid for procurations and synodals. (fn. 43) After the parish had been
united to that of St. Mary Magdalene, the site of the
church was sold by the Crown to John Pope in 1545,
with the proviso that the justices might still hold in
the building the sessions of gaol delivery, as the king
had appointed. (fn. 44)
In 1449 licence was received by certain parishioners
for the incorporation of a gild of the Assumption of
Our Lady, of which the brothers and sisters should
annually elect two or three wardens. (fn. 45) The commodities of the brotherhood were transferred in 1540
to the church of St. Saviour. (fn. 46)
Bishop Peter des Roches of Winchester built in the
church of the priory of St. Mary Overy, between
1212 and 1239, a spacious chapel dedicated to the
honour of ST. MARY MAGDALENE. The parish
of that name was apparently formed soon afterwards
out of the adjacent territory, and the chapel, which
stood on the south side of the quire of the priory
church, became its church, but was pulled down in
1822. In 1291 the prior and convent held the
rectory of St. Mary Magdalene, which was worth 6
marks a year. (fn. 47) It probably was always impropriate
to this house. When the parish was united to that of
St. Margaret the church of St. Mary Magdalene
formed part of St. Saviour's Church. The Act of
union stipulated that the foundation of John Scragges,
leatherseller, in the parish church of St. Mary
Magdalene should be maintained. (fn. 48)
The Parliament of the thirty-first and thirty-second
years of Henry VIII ruled that the parishes of
St. Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret should be
united and should enjoy the church of the dissolved
monastery of St. Mary Overy, henceforth to be called
ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH. The latter dedication
was that of Bermondsey Abbey, and it did not entirely
supersede the dedication in honour of St. Mary. The
preamble to the Act states that the church of the
monastery was very great and was costly of maintenance, and that inhabitants of both parishes already
resorted to it, for St. Margaret's Church was prostrate
and had been converted to another purpose. The
parishioners were directed to elect four or six churchwardens. (fn. 49) These were in 1543 four in number;
and they then received a lease of the rectory for
twenty-one years. (fn. 50) Subsequent and similar leases
were made to the churchwardens. (fn. 51) Between 1551
and 1553 the rectory was held by Bishop John
Poynet, (fn. 52) probably as a partial compensation for his
relinquishment to the Crown of the see of Winchester. The grant of the rectory to the churchwardens in 1589 stipulated that they should provide
£60 a year for the stipend of two chaplains who
should serve the church. (fn. 53)

St. Mary Overy. Argent a cross indented gules with a lozenge gules in the quarter.

See of Southwark. Argent a cross indented gules with a mitre gules in the quarter.
In 1554 Stephen Gardiner, assisted by Bonner and
Cuthbert Tunstall, consecrated in this church the
new Bishops of Lincoln, Rochester, Chester, St. David's
and Gloucester. (fn. 54) Gardiner's funeral was conducted
here in the following year. (fn. 55) Robert Horne, Bishop
of Winchester, appointed in 1566 a select vestry for
the parish and prescribed certain rules, to which all
the parishioners were alleged to have assented. As a
consequence thirty of them acquired ability solely to
elect the churchwardens at such times as they chose.
These officers were accused in the first decade of the
17th century of granting leases of the property of the
church for their own benefit, wasting the parochial
funds in feasts and banquets, and involving the church
in dangerous lawsuits. A Bill was introduced in the
Commons to transfer the right of electing the churchwardens to the two preaching ministers and all
parishioners who were taxed at £3, and the management of the property of the church to two of the
churchwardens, whom the former body should appoint
and should cause to enter into a bond and to render
accounts. No extraordinary payments were to be made,
no leases granted and no action in reference to the
property taken, without the agreement of 'the major
part of the multitude.' (fn. 56) These provisions did not
become statutory. In 1605 a lease of the rectory for
fifty years was granted to John Elphinstone, (fn. 57) a
'Scottishman' in the queen's service. The parish
was subsequently sued by the grantee in the Exchequer
Court upon surmise of an intention to oppose his
right. In the ensuing years many entries were made
in the vestry minutes as to the business between the
parish and 'the Scottish gentleman.' In 1608 it was
decided that in consequence of the late extraordinary
payments every vestryman should 'spend his own
money at a dinner this day.' (fn. 58) Finally, however,
the parish, in the person of Philip Henslowe of the
Rose Theatre and the Bear Garden and of three
other 'ancients of the vestry,' bought the fee simple
of the rectory. (fn. 59) The advowson appears to have
passed with the rectory from 1545 to this date and
afterwards. In the following reign the parish paid to
the Crown £100 as the result of a Chancery suit in
regard to an alleged undervaluing of the property they
had acquired. (fn. 60) In 1641 certain persons had been
imprisoned for pulling down the altar rails of the
church. (fn. 61) A petition of the churchwardens to the
Council in 1655–6 for power to assess the parishioners
for the repair of the church was dismissed. (fn. 62) In 1670,
however, the Act which constituted Christchurch
parish declared that the revenue of the rectory, which
did not exceed £100 a year, was inadequate to the
maintenance of the building and the two ministers.
It enacted, therefore, that all property in the parish
should thenceforward be tithe free, and that the churchwardens and overseers might levy a yearly rate not
exceeding £350. But of this each chaplain must
receive £100 a year, the masters of the grammar
schools must be paid and the church repaired. In
1816 this Act was amended by another which
repealed the limitations of the total amount levied,
and allowed a rate which should not exceed 1s. in the
pound; £300 a year was assigned to either chaplain. (fn. 63)
Burials in the churchyard of St. Saviour's and in Cross
Bones burial-ground within the parish were forbidden
in 1853. (fn. 64) In 1868 yet another statute ruled that,
after the occurrence of the next vacancy, the church
should be served by one chaplain and that a curate
should be provided. (fn. 65) In 1883 the compulsory
church-rate was abolished; the title of rector was
granted to the incumbent, who was relieved from the
burden of providing a curate; the bishop of the
diocese became patron of the benefice; and the vestry,
constituted under the Metropolitan Local Management Act, were directed to elect the five churchwardens
known as the warden of the great account, the renter
warden, the college warden, the bell warden and
Newcomen's warden, while the rector appointed the
rector's warden. (fn. 66) The Ecclesiastical Commissioners
in the same year made grants towards the augmentation of the incumbent's stipend and the provision of
a curate. (fn. 67) In 1897 the church was reopened after
its restoration (see below) with a collegiate constitution. Its chapter was ordained to consist of the
Bishop of Rochester as dean, the Bishop of Southwark
as sub-dean, four canons who held respectively the
offices of chancellor, precentor, missioner and lecturer
or catechist, and five laymen, who were the treasurer,
the assistant treasurer, the warden of the great account,
the rector's warden and the chapter clerk. This was
in preparation for the long-desired bishopric of South
London, of which the church was to become the cathedral. In 1904 St. Saviour's became, by force of statute,
the cathedral church of the diocese of Southwark. (fn. 68)
The chapter consists of the dean, who is the bishop of
the diocese, the sub-dean, six canons, who include the
chancellor, the precentor and the canon missioner, four
lay members and twenty-four honorary canons. The
bishops suffragan of Kingston and Woolwich are
members of chapter, the latter being sub-dean.
The church stands on the west side of the Borough,
immediately to the south of London Bridge. Although
there appears to have been a religious house on this site
from a remote period, the first certain statement that
can be made with regard to the present church is
that in 1106 William Pont de l'Arche and William
Dauncey refounded the priory for canons regular of
the Augustinian order and that Bishop Giffard was
associated with them, building the nave after 1107,
when he returned from exile. Of this early work
there are a few remnants, the north transept walls
as high as the sill string of the triforium retaining
a little early detail; a fragment of an apsidal chapel
opening from this transept, which was discovered in
1847, and the round-headed north-east door of the
north aisle are of the 12th century, while the north-west door of the same aisle and the wide recess to the
west of it are of late 12th-century type. A heterogeneous collection of 12th-century fragments of detail
lying in the west end of the nave and north aisle all
belonged to the nave and aisles. They date apparently
from all stages of the century, and some are exceedingly
rich, but there is no possibility of conjecturing their
exact original position.
In 1207 the church was almost wholly destroyed
by fire. The north wall of the nave, north aisle,
the lower part of the north transept and the lowest
stage of the tower appear to have escaped total
destruction, while the quire, south transept (if it had
ever been built), upper part of the tower and the
nave above the piers called for complete rebuilding.
Bishop Peter des Roches of Winchester undertook the
task, and it is probable that he used the old nave
piers, casing them with Caen stone and remodelling
them to the prevalent fashion. From the great size
of the westernmost piers of the old nave, it seems
likely that the Norman church had had, or had been
intended to have, a western as well as a central
tower, or a great narthex. On the completion of
the nave and aisles, the quire, with its aisles, and
south chapel (the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene) and retro-quire were built, and lastly the north
transept was remodelled on the old shell, which
remains standing to the present sill level. This work
was still incomplete in 1273. In the mean time
the remains of the Norman central tower were left
standing, probably to the full height of the crossing
arches, and the piers were made good as they were
needed for the progress of the new work. At the
end of the 13th century the east and west crossing
arches of the new work were inserted, and during the
first quarter of the 14th century the north and south
arches were completed, the arcade above the crossing
being added not long after. About this time the
Lady chapel was added to the east of the retro-quire.
The south transept was built concurrently with the
north and south crossing arches. At the extreme end
of the century a fire did some damage to the nave,
and in the subsequent repairs larger windows were
inserted, and it seems likely that the flying buttresses
were removed. In the 15th century Cardinal
Beaufort repaired the east and south sides of the
south transept, inserting the plain continuously chamfered arcade between the vaulting shafts. In 1469
the alterations in the reign of Richard II had their
natural result in the fall of the vault, which was
replaced by an elaborate wooden roof of low pitch,
with richly moulded timbers and carved bosses, by
Prior Burton (1462–86). This roof bore no relation
to the former vaulting supports and rested on carved
stone corbels. At the same time the vault of the
north transept was replaced by a similar roof, and
possibly that of the south transept also, though no
memory or trace of such a roof now remains.
Between 1520 and 1528, in the episcopate of
Bishop Fox, and possibly at his expense, the two
upper stages of the tower were built, and the
splendid altar-screen was built by him with two
small doors through it to the retro-quire.
After the Dissolution the retro-quire was let as a
bakehouse, and at one time had pigsties within its walls.
The main part of the priory church having become
the parish church, the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, hitherto the parish church, was thrown open
to the south quire aisle by cutting arches through the
south wall of the aisle. Before this time the chapel
had only been accessible from the south transept.
In 1578, however, some repairs were executed, and
during the 17th century various internal fittings were
added. The Lady chapel was redeemed from secular
use in 1624, but in 1676 its eastern end was burnt
down, in a fire which destroyed a great part of
Southwark, and was badly rebuilt. In 1703 Bishop
Fox's screen was defaced to make a flat surface for
the fitting of a 'classical' wooden reredos. A large
pulpit, galleries, &c., were fitted. A huge organ was
also set up and 'the old monuments . . . all refreshed
and new painted.' Other alterations and repairs, of
the same character, were made between 1734 and
1764. The bells were recast and added to in 1735.
In 1821 the quire was restored by Gwilt, and in the
following year the Magdalene chapel was destroyed.
In 1830 the transepts were restored by Wallace and
Bishop Fox's reredos was restored, that of 1703 being
removed, and in the same year the Lady chapel was
pulled down. In 1831 the nave was unroofed, and
after seven years of exposure to the weather was
pulled down in 1838. In 1832 the retro-quire,
then called the 'Lady chapel,' was restored by Gwilt.
In 1839 the new nave was begun, a pseudo-Gothic
structure, which was completed in little more than a
year, and in 1889, after the transference of Southwark
to the see of Rochester, was pulled down to make way
for the present splendid nave, completed in 1897, by
Sir Arthur Blomfield, on a design which is almost a
reproduction of the 13th-century nave. At the
same time the great window of the south transept was
altered to its present form and sundry other windows
were renewed or altered. The organ chamber was
added in 1897, in which year the church was
reopened.
Work upon the structure at present in progress
includes the refacing of the upper stages of the tower
with ashlar, in place of the chequered flint and stone
with which it was formerly adorned.
The building now consists of a quire with aisles
and retro-quire, north transept with an eastern
chapel, and south transept with an eastern organ
chamber, central tower, nave and aisles, and a range
of modern vestries along the whole of the north side
of the church from the transept westwards.
The quire is of five bays, with triforium and
clearstory. It has a modern east window of three
lancets in a rising arcade of five arches of 13th-century character, through whose shafted jambs the
clearstory passage runs. This window replaces one
erected by Bishop Fox (in 1520–8), which was of
five plain lights in a four-centred head, and had over
it a wide casement with trefoil-headed panels
alternating with carved pelicans in the soffit. Below
this window the whole of the east wall is occupied by
Bishop Fox's screen, which is completely restored, and
altered in many respects from its original design, by
Wallace. It is about 30 ft. high, and contains three
tiers of eleven niches each, the central one of each
now being much larger than the rest. The original
portions are of Caen and firestone, the restoration in
Painswick stone. The cornice has a row of demi-angels, with a Tudor flower cresting above. The
niches are canopied and have foliated bases within
them. The cornice below the uppermost tier is a
row of angels set close together. Above the lowest
tier the cornice is interrupted, and four of the niches
are much reduced in height by the introduction of two
depressed ogee-headed doors leading to the retro-quire.
The niches are gradually being filled with sculpture.
The few surviving fragments of the original
sculptures include several humorous subjects, together
with Bishop Fox's rebus—a man chasing a fox, and
repetitions of his favourite symbol, the pelican 'in
her piety.'
The sides of the quire, though original 13th-century
work, are almost wholly restored. The piers on both
sides are alternately octagonal and circular, and at the
ends of the east wall of the quire are three-quarter
circular columns, while against the crossing piers at
the west are half-octagonal responds. The north side
is richer in detail and a little earlier than the south,
for while on both north and south triple-clustered
attached shafts support the quire vault on the inner
and the aisle vaults on the outer faces of the piers,
the inner orders of the north arcade are supported on
attached shafts but in the south arcade are tapered
corbels. The capitals and bases are well but simply
moulded throughout, the mouldings of the capitals on
the south side being somewhat later in type than those
on the north. The arches are richly moulded on
both sides of the quire. The triforium, the passage
of which runs continuously round the church except
the east wall of the quire, where, however, it was only
broken by Fox's screen, has in the quire an arcade of
four bays in each main bay, except the easternmost on
each side, where there are three, a small portion of
blank wall occupying the easternmost space. The
jambs of the arches next the vaulting shafts, which are
banded by the triforium string, have on the north side
a dog-tooth moulding, but are plain on the south.
The shafts of the arcade, with moulded bells, capitals
and bases on low square plinths, are set against plain
jambs supporting shouldered cross arches. In the
middle of each main bay is a doorway to the top of
the vaulting over the aisle. Similar doorways still
exist in the east wall, but are now blocked by Fox's
screen, and only visible from the retro-quire vault. In
each bay of the clearstory is a high central arch on
shafts, set against jambs which are tied to the outer
wall halfway up by transverse blocks of stone, rising
into the head of the cell, and a very narrow arch on
either side of it with low heads, of irregular shape
owing to the lower level of the capitals of their outer
jamb shafts. The central arches, which stand in front
of the lancet windows, are of a pointed horse-shoe
shape. Many of the bases in both triforium and
clearstory have leaf spurs. The clearstory windows
have external jamb shafts.
The capitals of the vaulting shafts, which are well
moulded, have abaci formed by the continuation of
the clearstory string. The vault, which is quadripartite, was mostly renewed in 1822. The ribs
are well moulded, but the wall ribs die into the
vault-shell before reaching the capital.
The aisles and retro-quire, which are all of one
design, with very slight variations, are vaulted, each
aisle being of five quadripartite bays, while the retroquire, which has three rows of clustered columns,
lining with the north arcade, axis and south arcade
respectively of the quire, is divided into twelve similar
bays, a slight distortion occurring in the westernmost
row of four bays, where the thickness of the east wall
of the quire narrows the two central bays from east
to west. The aisle vaults with their triple shafts are
largely original, but the retro-quire vault from just
above the springers dates from Gwilt's very faithful
restoration. The triple shafts in the aisles are
attached and of stone, but the retro-quire piers have
four detached Purbeck marble shafts round a square
pier. Almost all the windows in the aisles and retroquire are wholly renewed. The same applies to the
15th-century newel at the north-east angle, which
was partially rebuilt in the 17th century, but restored
to its original form by Gwilt.
One lancet in the north aisle retains its original
internal jamb shafts. In the accompanying plan,
however, they are all indicated in their original dates,
as all were scrupulously reproduced in their old form
and detail by Gwilt. On the north side are four
lancets of the original form and two windows of three
lights of 14th-century insertion. The western of
the two is of the full width of the bay, and the
13th-century buttress is cut back slightly to clear it
externally. In the first and third bays of the south
side are renewed lancets, and in the second and fourth
(the latter between two deep 13th-century buttresses)
are three-light 14th-century windows, that in the
fourth bay infringing upon a buttress in the same
way as the window just mentioned in the corresponding bay of the north side. Westward of this fourth
bay on the south the wall had no openings, and
against its south side stood the 14th-century parish
church. Openings were made in the 16th century,
but blocked on the destruction of the church in 1822.
These bays are now occupied by a modern south door,
and by two arches made in 1897 when the organ
chamber was built.
Each bay of the east wall of the retro-quire
contains three lancets in an arcade formed by their
heads and shafted jambs, the latter enriched with dogtooth. The third from the north is entirely modern,
filling the space formerly entering the Lady chapel,
and the remainder are wholly renewed. In the
north bay is a modern piscina, copied from one of
the 13th century, of which traces remained here.
Two bays of fine 14th-century blind tracery fill
the heads of the wall arcade of the retro-quire at the
back of the quire east wall. Below are the doorways through Fox's screen, with segmental rear arches
panelled in the soffit.
The present crossing piers are undoubtedly those
of the 12th-century tower, modified in the 13th and
14th centuries, and, as it were, flayed of all their
original surface in the process. The crossing arches
were all of the same width, approximately that of the
present north and south arches, but the eastern and
western openings were widened by cutting away the
12th-century jambs to a flat surface and inserting
arches whose orders die into this surface, except the
innermost, which rest on long moulded corbels with
head stops, the eastern pair being somewhat earlier
than the western. The orders are square with edge-rolls—a 12th-century type—with a roll between
hollows introduced on the inner faces, and a hood
mould of 13th-century type. Probably a good many
stones of the old arches were recut and used in the
rebuilding.
The jambs of the north and south arches, though
all their detail is of the 14th century, are substantially
the 12th-century jambs recut in situ. On the north
side the jambs have five thick shafts rising from a solid
plinth some 10 ft. high, and with hollow chamfered
angles between them. These shafts are probably
12th-century square pilasters with edge-rolls, recut.
The plinth may be a 14th-century casing to form the
abutment of a stone screen shutting off the transept.
The arches themselves are wholly of 14th-century
work, though the mouldings are approximated to
those of the east and west arches. The southern arch
is identical with the northern, save for the omission
of the high plinth, the shafts descending to separate
octagonal plinths at the pavement level.
Above the crossing is an arcade communicating with
the roofs of the quire and nave, and reached by the
newel in the north-east pier, which also leads to the
triforium, and, by way of the quire aisle vault, to the
clearstory by a newel at the north-east angle of the
quire. This arcade is of late 14th-century date, and
has four arches in each face, the centre ones coupled.
The detail is slovenly.
The north transept walls are of the 12th century
to the sill level. On the north side it opens by two
round 12th-century arches, so masked by the 13th-century wall arcade as to appear segmental. Within
the east bay of the wall arcade on the north wall is a
short length of 12th-century moulding, and below it
to the east a large square 13th-century aumbry with a
blind trefoiled head rebated for a door and retaining
hinge marks and bolt holes. In the west bay a small
12th-century window is visible externally. On the
east and west walls between the bays of the wall
arcade, which, with its Purbeck marble shafts and
capitals and well-moulded acute arches, runs round
the three walls of the transept, rise the Purbeck marble
shafts of the 13th-century vault, which is now represented by a sham vault of wood and plaster. The
arcade is continued southward to the crossing piers,
to form the openings to the quire and nave aisles. In
the latter case the 12th-century wall of the transept
projects well into the archway, and retains its original
abacus moulding with a small hatchet pattern and the
spring of a 12th-century half-arch.
The arch to the quire aisle is differently distorted,
for, while the northern half of it is normal, the
southern half is cramped against the crossing pier, and
with its mouldings breaks down the face of the
pier perpendicularly to the capital from about half its
height; within it is an unbroken arch resting on
corbels. The southern shafts of both these arches to
the aisles are not of marble but are cut in the angle
of the crossing piers, and approximate so closely to the
type of the shafts of the north and south tower arches
as to indicate that the work at this point was continuous from the 13th to the 14th century.
The triforium of the north transept has three
windows on the east and west sides. Those next to
the crossing are plain lancets, their lower portions
filled with coped blockings containing pointed doors
to the tops of the aisle vaults. The top of this blocking slopes at the pitch angle of the aisle roofs. The
remaining four windows are of two lights of the 13th
century but wholly restored. The four-light north
window dates from 1898. There is no clearstory.
The chapel on the east side of the transept (the
Harvard chapel) is almost wholly modernized, (fn. 69) but
the curve of an apse on the outside of its north wall
indicates it as one of the earliest parts of the church.
The northern of the two round arches mentioned
above contains many original stones in its head and
jambs, roughly axe-tooled, and the capitals have an
incised leaf ornament. In the north-east angle of
the chapel are fragments of a 12th-century shafted
jamb, indicating the early abolition of the apsidal
termination, and built on to the apse wall outside are
a shafted jamb and part of an arch of what appears
to have been the 12th-century cloister. The rest of
the chapel is wholly refaced. On the south side a
15th-century wooden doorway with its original door
leads to the north quire aisle.
The south transept was built concurrently with
the completion of the crossing arches. Its triple
vaulting shafts are of stone, and exactly resemble
those of the north and south tower arches. On the
east side the north bay contains an opening to the
modern organ chamber. The next bay is filled by
a plain, continuously-chamfered arch of the 15th
century, and a similar arcade of two arches fills the
south wall. These arches are the work of Cardinal
Beaufort, who 'rebuilt' (i.e. repaired or completed)
the transept, and whose arms, with a cardinal's hat,
are carved on a block of stone let into the middle
vaulting shaft on the east side. There is a large
modern doorway in the south bay of the east wall.
The triforium windows, of a good early 14th-century
type, are of three lights, with geometrical tracery
and shafted jambs and mullions. The south window
dates from the most recent restoration. Externally
it descends below the interior sill level, the lower
portions of the lights being blind. The modern
vault is of wood and plaster.
The arches to the quire and nave aisles are similar
to the corresponding arches of the north transept,
but are of course wholly of 14th-century detail, and
are not cramped or distorted in any way.
On the nave side of the western crossing piers are
the 13th-century attached shafts of the east bays of
the old nave arcades, and of the western faces of the
arches to the transepts. That to the north transept
is, owing to the projection of the transept west wall,
much narrower than on the transept side. In the
south-east angle of the south aisle is an original
vaulting shaft of 13th-century date.
The ancient remains in the nave and aisles are
few and scattered. In the north aisle at the extreme
east end the return of the wall from the south-west angle of the transept is of the 12th century,
and includes the external shafted jambs of a fine
12th-century doorway, the 'Prior's door,' which has
several times been blocked and again uncovered.
The head is now gone, but was in existence at the
beginning of the last century. Enough remains to
show that there was an incised zigzag on the innermost continuous orders, and that the remaining three
orders, supported by banded shafts with foliated
capitals and moulded bases, were decorated with a
cheveron between two varieties of foliated mouldings,
separated by roll fillets. The sill of this door is now
about 18 in. below the level of the nave floor. In
the transept wall, just to the east of the door, is a
square 12th-century holy water stone of unusually
large dimensions, in a round-headed niche.
At the west end of the nave is the 'Canon's door,'
with a simply incised segmental head and plain
jambs, and west of it a segmental-headed niche with
shafted jambs, both of the late 12th century and
much restored. The whole of the lower courses of
the west wall of the nave and aisles is of the 13th
century, and portions of the attached responds of the
nave arcade are also old. The arcading on this wall,
with deeply-moulded arches supported on Purbeck
marble shafts, for which are substituted once in every
three arches a peculiar heavily moulded corbel, is a
reproduction of an original feature; three bays of
original arcading of the same pattern survive in the
south wall of the south aisle west of the south doorway. The fine west doorway of the 15th century
formerly existing in the old nave has not been
reproduced.
In the step of the arch from the north aisle to the
transept is a movable stone, beneath which is preserved the original floor level, about 15 in. below
the present level.
The nave is built on the original 13th-century
foundations. It is of seven bays, with massive columns
alternately circular and octagonal, and indeed closely
resembles the quire in all the details of its three
stages. The vault has heavy Bath stone ribs, and
the shell is striped in chalk and green firestone. The
triforium passage is not run through the jambs, but
is continuously accessible from over the aisle vaults
by a door in the back wall of each bay.
The monuments are numerous, but not of great
interest. In the retro-quire is a broken 14th-century
floor slab incised with the inscription 'Alein Ferthing
gis[t- ici Dieu de son a]lme eit merci +' in
Lombardic letters. This slab was brought here from
the site of St. Margaret's Church in 1833. Alan
Ferthing was six times member of Parliament for
Southwark, and probably died of the Black Death in
1349.
Against the west wall of the retro-quire is the altartomb of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, 1626, with a
coloured effigy. This tomb was moved hither from
the Lady chapel when the latter was destroyed, and
originally had a canopy, which was destroyed in the
fire of 1676. In a 15th-century canopied tomb
recess in the north quire aisle is a 13th-century
wooden recumbent effigy of a knight in mail with a
long surcoat. His legs are crossed, and he is represented in the act of sheathing his sword. The face
and other portions of the figure are restored, and it
is covered with yellow paint. It appears to have
been originally coloured after nature. Its original
position and the person whom it commemorated are
unknown, but it is conjectured to have been a
member of the Warenne family.
Next to this tomb recess is another exactly like it.
Both the recesses are coloured. To the west of these
is the coloured monument of John Trehearne, servant
to Queen Elizabeth and 'gentleman Portar' to
James I, with half-length figures of himself and his
wife in an architectural setting, with the arms of
Trehearne behind and an inscription between them.
On the plinth below are the figures of his six
children.
In the east bay of the north arcade of the quire is
the canopied 'table' tomb of Richard Humble, 1616,
and his two wives, with their kneeling figures beneath
the arched canopy, and figures of his children in
relief on the side panels, the whole painted in
imitation of marble.
In the north transept are several elaborate 18th-century monuments, notably that in the west bay of
the north wall, of 'Dr.' Lionel Lockyer, 1672,
whose epitaph commemorates the virtues both of
himself and his patent pills, radiis solis extractae, and
the elaborate monument on the west wall to William
Austin, 1633, his wife, 1623, and his mother, Lady
Clarke, 1626.
Lying in the retro-quire is the wasted effigy from
an unidentified memento mori tomb.
The most important monument, historically, in the
church is that of John Gower, the poet, and a benefactor to the church, which is now restored to its
original position in the second bay of the north aisle
of the nave, the site of the chantry chapel of St. John
the Baptist founded by him. It is of the early 15th
century, with a canopied recess containing the effigy
of the poet, his head resting on his three works, the
Speculum Meditantis, Vox Clamantis, and Confessio
Amantis. The feet rest on a lion. He wears a
chaplet of four roses, a collar of SS, and a jewel of a
hart lodged, the badge of Richard II. The canopy, of
three cusped ogee heads with crockets and finials, is
carved with groining, resting at the back of the recess
on cherubs' heads. On the wall of the recess at the
foot are the arms and crest of Gower. The front
of the tomb and the spandrels between the ogees have
trefoil-headed panelling. At the back of the recess
were originally three figures of Charity, Mercy and
Pity, with inscribed scrolls. These have disappeared.
The monument is much painted, and has a modern
painted inscription along the sunk upper edge of the
plinth. Another modern inscription, painted on a
portion of a 17th-century slate tomb-slab, superseded
the figures at the back of the recess, and now after
temporary disuse is about to be restored to this
position.
There are now twelve bells, all of 1735, recast
by Samuel Knight from the metal of the 15th-century
peal of eight, with the addition of 64 cwt. The
two largest bells have been somewhat reduced in
weight since 1735. The 15th-century bells in 1424
numbered seven, and were named St. Nicholas,
Vincent, St. Lawrence, Anna Maria, Stephen, Maria
and Augustine. A bell was added in that year and
the peal renamed, Christ, St. John the Evangelist,
All Saints, Gabriel, St. Lawrence, Augustine, Mary
and St. Trinity.
The plate includes two silver cups of 1690, two
reproductions of the same of 1719, given by Samuel
Wight, a silver paten of 1689, and two of 1804, a
silver flagon and two alms-basins of 1719, and a
spoon strainer of 1716, also some modern plate
belonging to the collegiate foundation.
The registers are in twenty-two books: (1) to (6)
baptisms 1570 to 1720, burials 1570 to 1722,
marriages 1570 to 1724; (7) to (10) baptisms
1721 to 1812; (11) to (13) burials 1723 to 1812;
(14) to (22) marriages 1725 to 1812.
The small parish of ST. THOMAS APOSTLE
was formed out of the precinct and possessions of
the hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury which
once were in St. Olave's parish. (fn. 70) A tablet in the
church ascribed its foundation to Edward VI in
1552, (fn. 71) and absence of references to the parish in all
but one of the earlier records supports this statement.
In the charter to the City of 1550 there is, however,
a mention of the parish 'late called St. Thomas's
Hospital and now called the King's Hospital.' (fn. 72)
It is probable that the district served by the hospital
church had come to be regarded as extra-parochial.
In 1624 the inhabitants of the precinct and site of
the hospital claimed that for 400 years no tithes had
been paid from the land on which their houses
stood. (fn. 73) In 1552 Edward VI sold to the Mayor,
commonalty and citizens of London the house and
site of the late hospital, its church, belfry and churchyard, all the houses, buildings and land in its precinct,
and the rectory called the parsonage of St. Thomas,
with tithes, oblations and profits. Out of the revenue
of the premises the grantees must maintain two
ministers who should celebrate divine services and
administer the sacrament to the poor, the officers and
the servants of the hospital, and to the parishioners
of St. Thomas. (fn. 74) This grant apparently created the
parish, the invocation of the church being changed
from St. Thomas the Martyr to St. Thomas the
Apostle. A sum of £2,479 10s. 10d. was spent by the
City of London in repairing and rebuilding the hospital
and church up to 1553. (fn. 75) In 1633 the steeple was repaired and 'enriched with a very fair turret.' (fn. 76) The
church was rebuilt in 1702 at an expense of £3,000
provided by the coal duty. It is a rectangular building
of red brick with rusticated stone angles, standing on
two parallel brick vaults. The church is lit by a
range of four round-headed windows in the south
wall and a similar range with square heads above the
gallery. Beneath the latter runs the colonnaded
cloister of the hospital. The tower at the south-west corner is four stages high and contains one bell.
The plate, now disused, is in the keeping of the
governors of the hospital. It comprises a paten of
1705, flagon of 1777 and cup of 1806, all of silver.
There are twelve books of registers: (1) to (5)
baptisms and burials 1614 to 1688, 1691 to 1730,
marriages 1614 to 1653, 1658 to 1670, 1664 to
1687, 1691 to 1730; (6) and (7) baptisms 1731
to 1812; (8) and (9) burials 1731 to 1812; (10) to
(12) marriages 1731 to 1812.
In 1862 the St. Thomas' Hospital Act ruled that
of the two beneficiaries one should be chaplain of
the hospital and the other should be minister of the
parish and reside within a quarter of a mile of the
church. The parish had in 1898 a population
which did not exceed 500, and therefore it was united
to that of St. Saviour. The church was conveyed to
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and became the
chapter-house of St. Saviour's after that church had
acquired a collegiate constitution. (fn. 77) The Corporation
of London, as governors of the hospital, were released
from all obligations with regard to the benefice, and
the advowson of the united parishes was vested in the
patrons of St. Saviour's. (fn. 78)
In 1627 John Marshall bequeathed to certain trustees
£700 out of the revenues of his property for the erection of a new church in the parish of St. Saviour and
a house to be a dwelling for its minister. In 1644
the parishioners in a petition to the House of Lords
urged that, although their church was very large and
was fitted with galleries and pews, it was so built
that all for whom there was space could not hear
with profit, and, therefore, many resorted elsewhere. (fn. 79)
Finally in 1670 an Act of Parliament made Paris
Garden the parish of CHRISTCHURCH. William
Angel had in the same year conveyed to the trustees
a convenient site for the church and churchyard on
which £700 and more had been expended. The
grantees were empowered to raise further £400 on
John Marshall's estate for the completion of the church
and the payment of £100 to the impropriators of St.
Saviour's. The patronage was vested in the trustees, and
the eventual income of the minister was fixed at £60
a year. (fn. 80) The church was mainly completed in 1671. (fn. 81)
In 1694 an Act of Parliament enabled the
parishioners to levy rates for the maintenance of their
minister, and empowered the trustees to build (fn. 82) a
steeple and furnish it with bells. The marshy
ground on which the church was situated rendered
the foundations so insecure that the building, which
was slightly made of brick, speedily deteriorated. In
1721 it was stated to be in 'a very decaying condition,' 'the churchyard, by reason of the great increase
of the inhabitants, had become incapable to receive
their dead,' and 'the graves both within and without the church were filled with water as soon as
dug.' (fn. 83) An Act of Parliament was obtained in
1738 which empowered the trustees to expend a sum
of money in their possession on the demolition of
the church, its rebuilding, and the inclosure of an
additional piece of ground for the churchyard. (fn. 84)
The present church was built between this date and
1741, and has lately undergone restoration. (fn. 85) In its
original state it was roofed in one span with flat
plaster ceiling, and consisted of a plain oblong building, with galleries on three sides, without a projecting chancel. The interior, which was completely
remodelled a few years ago, is now divided into
nave and aisle by arcades of five bays, the piers of
which are composed of red sandstone shafts with
pedestals, bases and capitals of white freestone. The
arches are of brick and stone disposed alternately.
The original pulpit, considerably lowered, still
remains, and a portion of the gallery has been left at
the west end. The floor of the chancel, an entirely
new addition to the original building, is raised two
steps above the nave, from which it is divided by a
stone balustrade with wrought-iron gates. The
style of the restoration is Italian Romanesque. Externally the walls of the nave and of the tower at the
west end are those of the original structure. The
materials are brick with stone quoins and stone
dressings to the window openings, of which there are
two ranges of six on either side. The tower rises in
three stages from the ground, and is surmounted by a
leaded octagonal lantern and cupola, the base of
which contains the clock.
There is a peal of eight bells, the first six being by
James Bartlett, 1700, No. 7 by Catlin, 1741, No. 8
by John Warner & Son, 1796.
The plate is modern and consists of two silver
chalices, one of which has a jewelled base, a silver-gilt paten and a red glass flagon, mounted with
silver, all bearing the date mark of 1881. There
is also a small private communion set and there are
two modern brass alms-dishes.
The registers previous to 1813 are in thirteen
separate volumes. The baptisms are in three:
(i) 1671 to 1751; (ii) 1752 to 1789; (iii) 1790
to 1812. The burials are also in three: (i) 1671
to 1751; (ii) 1752 to 1795; (iii) 1796 to 1812.
The marriages are in seven: (i) 1671 to 1753; (ii)
1754 to 1761; (iii) 1762 to 1770; (iv) 1771 to
1780; (v) 1781 to 1791; (vi) 1792 to 1806; (vii)
1807 to 1812.
In 1756 the vestry was general. (fn. 86) Burials in the
churchyard were forbidden in 1853. (fn. 87) In 1883 the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners made a grant towards
the provision of a parsonage-house, and augmented
the stipend of the incumbent, conditionally on his
employment of a curate. (fn. 88)
In the beginning of the 18th century the buildings
and population of the parish of St. Olave had so
increased that the commissioners for erecting fifty new
churches within the district of the bills of mortality
bought a site on Horsleydown for a church and a
graveyard. In 1732 the new church of ST. JOHN,
Horsleydown, had been completed. In 1733 it
was consecrated, and in the same year an Act of
Parliament created the parish. A sum of £3,500
was granted for the purchase of property to provide
the maintenance of the rector. The parishioners
whose tenements were of the yearly value of £10
were appointed to be rated, and to constitute, with
the rector, the vestry. The patronage was vested in
the Crown. The benefits of St. Olave's school were
continued to persons who now belonged to the parish
of St. John. (fn. 89)
The church consists of an apsidal sanctuary with a
nave and aisles formed by the columns supporting
galleries. Externally the church is built of Portland
stone, and is of the plainest design. The west
elevation has a broken pediment, from the middle
of which rises a square tower surmounted by a
small balustraded temple.
The bells are ten in number, nine by Chapman &
Mears, 1783, the tenth by William Mears, 1784.
Nos. 8 and 9 were the gift of Sir Richard Hotham, kt.,
and Nathaniel Polhill, members for the borough, and
the tenth was the gift of Thomas Hoggarth.
The plate is a modern set presented in 1857 by
Mrs. John Barren.
The registers are in fifteen volumes: (1) to (4)
baptisms, (5) to (8) burials, (9) to (15) marriages,
1732 to 1812.
In 1824 it was stated that, whereas in 1786 a large
part of the parish consisted of vacant ground, many
small houses of trifling value had since been built, of
which the sites, owing to the increased value of land,
were rated as being worth £10 a year, and that the
occupiers of these claimed the privileges of vestrymen.
A select vestry was therefore created by Act of Parliament, to consist of thirty persons rated at not less
than £16 a year, who should be elected by all who
paid £10 or more annually in rates. (fn. 90) Burials in
the churchyard and vaults were forbidden in 1853. (fn. 91)
The district chapelry of ST. PETER was formed
from St. Saviour's in 1840, and the church, erected
then, consists of a chancel, vestry, aisleless nave and
west tower. The materials are white brick with
cement dressings, and the roofs are covered with
slates. The patrons are the Hyndman trustees.
The church of the district chapelry of ST. MARY
MAGDALENE, formed out of the parish of St.
George in 1843, is built in the pointed Gothic style.
It consists of a chancel, a north organ chamber and
corresponding south chapel, a nave, north and south
transepts, north and south aisles, a west entrance
porch, a north-west vestry and a west bell-cote containing one bell. The patronage of this church is
vested in the rector of St. George's.
The district of ST. MARK, Horsleydown, was
formed from St. John's in 1844, but was dissolved
in 1885.
The chapel of ST. JUDE was built in 1806 by
the Philanthropic Society in connexion with their
school for criminal boys and the children of convicts.
A district was assigned to it out of the parish of St.
George in 1850. The building consists of a continuous chancel and nave in four bays, north and
south aisles, a north organ chamber and vestry, a
south porch and a small bell turret at the south-east
corner of the chancel. It is built in a free Gothic style,
and is externally faced with red brickwork with stone
dressings, while inside the building is treated in red
and yellow brickwork, though the piers to the nave
arcades are stone. The living is in the gift of trustees.
The district chapelry of ST. STEPHEN was formed
from St. George's parish in 1853. The church is
a curiously planned cruciform structure set with the
sanctuary to the north-east. It consists of a central
space forming the nave, with four moderate arched
recesses forming the chancel, transepts and western
part of the nave, the three last containing galleries.
The advowson of St. Stephen's is vested in trustees.
The district chapelry of ST. PAUL'S was formed
from St. George's parish in 1858. The church in
Westminster Bridge Road is a small building of 13th-century style. The advowson is vested in trustees.
The church of the district chapelry of ST.
MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, which originated in the Kent Street Mission, is a small stone
building in 13th-century style, consisting of a continuous nave and chancel in five bays, a north aisle,
a north vestry and west bell gable containing one
bell. This chapelry was formed in 1867 out of the
parish of St. George, and the patronage is vested in
the rector of the mother church.
The church of ST. ALPHEGE is a red brick
building at the north-east corner at the crossing of
Lancaster Street with King John Street. The chapelry
was formed out of St. George's parish in 1872. The
church, which is in the 'pointed' style, is entered
from both the south and west. Above the apex of
the west gable is a small bell turret. The patronage
is vested in trustees.
The district of ALL HALLOWS was formed out
of Christchurch and St. Saviour's in 1875, the
patrons being the trustees of Keble College. The
church consists of a chancel built circa 1878 and a
nave, north and south aisles and north-east Lady
chapel built circa 1893. The general style of the
building is of the 13th century, and the material red
brick with stone dressings, plastered inside. There
is a bell-cote situated above the chancel arch.
There are at present in Southwark a considerable
number of places of worship other than those of the
Established Church. The Roman Catholic cathedral
of St. George is in St. George's Road. It occupies
a site in the Lambeth Road bounded on three sides
by streets. The principal entrance is at the south-west end through a partly built tower. The nave
has lofty arcades of eight bays a side, but no clearstory.
The aisle walls contain large traceried windows, and
are divided into bays externally by carved and gabled
buttresses. The building is of stock brick with stone
dressings in a florid 14th-century style. The church
of the Most Precious Blood is in Worcester Street,
Southwark Street, and that of Our Lady of La Salette
and St. Joseph is in Melior Street.
The Baptists have chapels in Borough Road and
Maze Pond. Surrey Chapel in Blackfriars Road
belongs to the Primitive Methodists and the Blackfriars Mission and Stamford Street Chapel to the
Unitarians. The Peculiar People have chapels in
Camden Row, London Road, and in Lancaster Street,
Borough Road. There is a Welsh Congregational
church in Southwark Bridge Road. The Pilgrim
Fathers' Memorial Church in the New Kent Road,
near the corner of Tabard Street, has a traditional
origin in a congregation of Protestant Separatists who
met in 1592 'in the house of Roger Rippon in
Southwark.' It claims with more likelihood descent
from a congregation which existed in 1616, and from
which some of the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated. In
1641 some of this same congregation, from Deadman's Place, were cited before the House of Lords. (fn. 92)
The Independent congregation which received a
licence in Winchester Yard in 1672 may be the
same. In Globe Alley there was a large meeting of
Presbyterians in 1669 and in 1676, to which Richard
Baxter ministered. (fn. 93)
Archbishop Sheldon had information of eleven
conventicles in Southwark in 1669, and five were
licensed in 1672.