About St John’s
Here you’ll find information our our parish, the building and its history, and the community that we serve. Please click the buttons below to navigate the page.
Our Parish
St. John’s exists to welcome, worship, and witness God’s love in the community. Our church stands in the heart of Angell Town, the area from which it takes its name. However, the parish boundaries stretch far and wide and include the area east of the Brixton Road to Loughborough Junction and south to Herne Hill. The town centre of Brixton has been neatly carved out of the parish boundary, but the parish still includes the Soweto First Child sculpture and the Police station on Brixton Road, the busy Brixton Village on Coldharbour Lane, the shops and restaurants on parts of Atlantic Road and Railton Road, and the infamous Barrier Block on the Moorlands Estate.
We aim to witness to the love of God in our community within and without our building. In 1853, St. John’s was consecrated on the Angell Town estate to serve a growing suburban centre in Brixton. The aims of the church remain the same, but the area we serve now includes five large inner city estates, three primary schools (St. John’s, Hillmead and Loughborough), one secondary academy (Evelyn Grace), one community horse riding centre (Ebony Horse Club), one busy train station (Loughborough Junction), and the new developments of Brixton Village in the market, and new private housing developments in the south of the parish.
The church today draws its congregation from the local people, and we reflect the diversity of the area in our ages, from teeny tots to older retirees; our household and family status including singletons, partnered households, young families and large extended families; and our wide ranging ethnic and cultural affiliations. Many members are of West African origin, but there are also substantial numbers of folk from Caribbean backgrounds, from East Africa, from India and from the United Kingdom. Some people are lifelong Anglicans, and others have joined the church from other denominations and faith traditions. To all we offer a warm, welcoming atmosphere for worship and fellowship. Our worship is within the inclusive catholic tradition of the Church of England. We try to ensure that the worship is a lively reflection of the people and cultures from whom we are drawn.
The Building
St John’s Church is a grade II listed building. The site of the church was freely given to the Church Building Commissioners by Benedict John Angell in 1852, and the cost of the building was met by William Stone of the Casino, Herne Hill. The architect was Benjamin Ferrey and the contractors were Messrs. H. and R. Holland, whose tender was for £5,302. The church and the vicarage were built on an island site, which the church green between the two.
The church was designed in Perpendicular Gothic style, and faced with Kentish ragstone and Bath stone dressings. At the west end there is a substantial three-stage tower which is battlemented and finished with octagonal corner pinnacles. The battlements have a chequer work pattern of red and cream-coloured stone. The interior is simple, with nave arcades of four plain pointed arches resting on octagonal piers. There is a small organ gallery beneath the tower.
The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on April 30, 1853; a district was assigned in the same year. It has undergone many changes since its consecration in 1853, with renovation in 1877 and the addition of a Parish Room to the north side of the chancel in 1882.
In 1929, the church was graced by the addition of a mosaic of the Madonna and Child (as seen here) by famous mosaicist, Gertrude Martin, whose other works are in Cathedrals in England and Ireland and in the Palace of Westminster. Examples of her work and story can be found on page 16 & 17 of the June 2016 copy of the Westminister Cathedral Magazine.
The church was badly damaged by fire in 1947, following which the church was divided. The nave up to the chancel arch was retained for worship and the chancel, less its north wall, rebuilt as a separate hall.
The Vicars in the 1950s and 1960s were well known for their service to the newcomers in the community. They started a Caribbean Club to welcome the Windrush Generation, and are credited with the beginning of good race relations in the Lambeth Area.
For a more personal story of the Church around this time, please click here to view My Memories of St John’s Angell Town Church 1935 to 1956, by Rosemary Harris (nee Palmer).
After a long period of neglect, the building became unusable for worship, except during the summer months. A successful fundraising programme has enabled repair work to take place on the building to restore it to full use for worship to the designs of Thomas F. Ford. The altar now stands beneath the chancel arch; the east end of the church is now used for parochial purposes.
Now, the church is no longer surrounded by rolling fields and new build Victorian villas, instead it is surrounded by social housing estates. Even with the change in community, St. John’s still stands out as a significant feature of the local area, and contributes to the life of the local community.
The Community: Angell Town and Beyond
St John’s serves one of the most diverse and vibrant communities in England, the Coldharbour ward of Brixton in Lambeth, South London. The area east of Brixton is diverse in every way, bursting with the new energy of incoming residents and businesses from a dizzying variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as well as new Pentecostal and Evangelical Churches. St. Johns Church has stood proudly for over 160 years, not just for ourselves but for the community around us. Indeed, the area and church was developed to accommodate those moving from north of the river Thames, and Brixton and Angell town remains a place of welcome for incomers. During the 1960s, Brixton welcomed migrants from the Caribbean, and St. John’s church was renowned for its welcome to these new members of the community.
Angell Town Estate takes its name from the landowner John Angell, who died in 1784. Angell Town was built up in the early 19th century as a desirable estate for the new middle classes. After the heyday of the 1880’s the area sunk into decline. Most of the old town was replaced in the 1970s by a council estate that combined 1960s-
Once again, Angell Town soon gained a reputation for neglect and decline and became stigmatised as a sink estate. In a scheme notable for the high degree of residents’ participation in the consultative process, the estate was radically redeveloped from the mid-
The parish extends well beyond Angell Town and includes much of Coldharbour ward in Brixton. Angell Town parish does not include the town centre of Brixton, but comprises a significant part of Brixton East including part of Coldharbour Lane, Loughborough Junction railway station and the surrounding streets and housing estates located in the ward. Hence, we serve not only Angel Town estate, but also Loughborough, Moorlands, Canterbury Gardens and Hertford Estates. Each of these areas have their own challenges, and the church works hard to link together the people and the communities through community programmes and projects.
The main hubs of the area are the church and parish school, which are based in the north of the parish close to the Angell town estate. The first parish school was built in 1853 and is located close to central Brixton. A new school was built next to the church in the 1970s for the growing population and the numbers of families coming into the area. By 2014, the building was no longer fit for purpose. By 2016 a new school had been built on the same footprint as the 1970s build, moving away from low rise buildings and portacabins, to a large three form entry, three storey building (image below). Due to size of the new build, the school will work to provide community space for engaging and building community links.
Open Doors: Open hearts
For those who regularly attend St. John’s, being there for the community may seem commonplace, but to a society filled with people who no longer believe, and many who have no sense of belonging to their community, it is vital that we stand with our doors open wide offering God’s great welcome and love. In a society where people are often solely focused on meeting their wants, our church stands as a place offering Jesus to help meet their needs. Generations of people have come in through St. John’s doors, and today people of all ages continue to worship and witness together in our building. They know that in this church, they will find a place of welcome for all, a place where God is worshipped, and faith taught, a place where everyone is valued for who they are and not for what they own and a place where Jesus is served joyfully from year to year. We actively work to ensure that we face outwards through our work with young people in church, our unique parish midwife project, our partnership with the church primary school, London Citizens, and other groups in the local community. We strive to make the world a better place in all we do here at St. John’s through our welcoming, worship, and witnessing.
Other information from our Church Near You Webpage
Incumbent: The Reverend Robert Faulkner
A Church Near You ID (venue number): 526
Built: 1853
Architect: B Ferrey
Style of worship: Modern Catholic
Our Patron: The Bishop
Archdeaconry: LAMBETH (376)
Deanery: Lambeth North (37606)
Benefice: Angell Town St John (37/001CL)
Parish Legal Name: St. John Angell Town (370023)
CofE Church Info: (637023 37/23)
