St John Clerkenwell

St John Clerkenwell is a former parish church in Clerkenwell, now used as the chapel of the modern Order of St John.

Clerkenwell Green and St James’ Church
Credit: Nevilley

It is housed in a rebuild of the church of Clerkenwell Priory (the principal English house of the medieval Order of St John, or Knights Hospitaller), purchased by the fifty new churches.

The church was restored and improved by a Mr. Griffith in 1845. In 1878 one of the large painted windows at the east end still survived, as did remains of Prior Thomas Docwra’s church in the south and east walls, and capitals and rib mouldings of the former church underpinned the pews. In 1868 its living was a rectory valued £260, in the patronage of the lord chancellor.

In 1931, because of falling attendances, the parish was united with that of St James, Clerkenwell, and St John’s ceased to be a parish church. It was then handed over to the modern Order of St John to be its chapel, which it remains.

The church was largely gutted by bombing in 1941, and was rebuilt in 1951-8 by the architects John Seely and Paul Paget. The crypt of the medieval priory church survives in the present structure.

The outline of the round church consecrated in 1185 is marked out in St John’s Square in front of the church; to the south of the church is a Garden of Remembrance on the site of a 16th-century chapel.

Read the St John Clerkenwell entry on the Wikipedia...

Main source:	Wikipedia
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

C Hobbs

Long Lane, EC1A

Added: 31 Jan 2024 23:53 GMT

George Gut (1853 - 1861)
George Gut, Master Baker lived with his family in Long Lane.
George was born in Bernbach, Hesse, Germany and came to the UK sometime in the 1840s. In 1849, George married an Englishwoman called Matilda Baker and became a nauralized Englishman. He was given the Freedom of the City of London (by Redemption in the Company of Bakers), in 1853 and was at that time, recorded as living at 3 Long Lane. In the 1861 census, George Gut was living at 11 Long Lane.

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Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
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LOCAL PHOTOS

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Smithfield Market TUM image id: 1620388545 Licence:	"Cheapside and Bow Church" engraved by W. Albutt (1837) First published in The History of London: Illustrated by Views in London and Westminster. Steel engraved print after a picture by T.H. Shepherd. Credit: W. Albutt TUM image id: 1507465321 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The third Grand Theatre, Islington (1903). This was built on the site of the former Philharmonic Hall and two previous Grand Theatres TUM image id: 1587741263 Licence:	The old wooden Temple Bar Credit: Walter Thornbury TUM image id: 1523115955 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Islington Horse and Cattle market at the turn of the twentieth century. TUM image id: 1556878421 Licence:
The Grand Theatre, Islington High Street (1903) The new Grand Theatre - the fourth theatre on the site - was opened on 26 December 1900 with a production of the pantomime ’Robinson Crusoe’. The Huddersfield Daily reported the next day: "Nearing the end of the first performance of ’Robinson Crusoe’ at the Grand Theatre, Islington, on Wednesday, a fire broke out. From all parts of the house an alarm was raised. All present rose to their feet as large pieces of inflammable material were seen dropping from flies. The fire-proof curtain was promptly lowered, and the band struck up the National Anthem. The actors and actresses crowded into the stage boxes. Mr. Jones, playing ’Friday,’ clambered on to the stage from the front and appealed to the audience not to rush for the doors as there was no danger. Then Mr. Charles Townley, the author, came forward explaining that the management, owing to the electric installations not being completed, had used gas batten, and one of the sky borders had unfortunately caught fire. The officials had shown their efficiency by the celerity with which the fire had been extinguished. This is the fourth fire that has occurred at this theatre, and Wednesday’s was the first performance given since the building was gutted some few months back." Thankfully the fire was quickly put out and the performance continued, and the Theatre would go on to stage pantomime, drama, and variety productions until it was renamed the Islington Empire in 1908. TUM image id: 1557151038 Licence:	The Angel, Islington (c.1890) TUM image id: 1557162442 Licence:	Saint John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, the main gateway to the Priory of Saint John of Jerusalem. The church was founded in the 12th century by Jordan de Briset, a Norman knight. Prior Docwra completed the gatehouse shown in this photograph in 1504. The gateway served as the main entry to the Priory, which was the center of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (the Knights Hospitallers). Credit: Henry Dixon (1880) TUM image id: 1557226611 Licence:	Illustration of Fleet Market Credit: William Henry Prior TUM image id: 1530111646 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Sadler House on the Spa Green Estate from Rosebery Avenue (2011) The ’organic’ connection between old and new buildings intended by architect Berthold Lubetkin at Spa Green. Credit: Wiki Commons/Grantham9 TUM image id: 1655931145 Licence: CC BY 2.0
At the corner of Clerkenwell Road and Goswell Road sits the Hat and Feathers. It was built on the site of an earlier tavern around 1860 for owner James Leask. It was designed by William Finch Hill who specialised in music halls and pubs. Credit: Ewan Munro TUM image id: 1637770947 Licence:	Mount Pleasant Sorting Office on the north-east corner of Farringdon Road (1910). The present building is on the site of the Coldbath Fields Prison where the punishments were particularly cruel in that they were not only long and physically hard but also pointless. The pub at the back used to open at 9am to serve postal workers. TUM image id: 1620296515 Licence:	View looking upwards of the stairway at Bevin Court. Bevin Court (1946-54) designed by Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton. Credit: Wiki Commons/Steve Cadman TUM image id: 1681034288 Licence:	Amen Court, EC4M TUM image id: 1493474208 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Clerkenwell Green (1898) The water fountain shown here became public toilets. TUM image id: 1620298544 Licence: