Christ Church, Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

 is a church of the Anglican

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 denomination situated on the east side of Blackfriars Road

Blackfriars Road

Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side is Southwark tube station, on the corner with The Cut...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. At the time of the foundation there was no bridge at Blackfriars and so no major road connecting the area to the south or to the City.

The parish of Christ Church, Surrey was created by Act in 1682 in the manor of Paris Garden as a result of the gift under the direction of the executors of John Marshall, a member of a Southwark family of “whitebakers”. This was previously part of the St Saviour’s parish. His will, of 1627, provided from 1637 and directed that a new church should be built and a Rector be appointed and paid for in that Manor, the most easterly part of St Saviour's parish. He died in 1631. The church was built in 1671.

This charity still provides for these purposes. The John Marshall Trustees are independent of the parochial charities and the wealth they have accumulated for its objects are distributed over most of the counties of Kent, Surrey (including those parts now in Greater London) and Lincolnshire. The beneficiaries are Rectors of parishes of the Church of England. The first charge on the charity is the maintenance of Christchurch which they have completely rebuilt in 1738. The first had been built on marshy ground, and by the 1720s was in a poor condition and collapsed. By an Act of Parliament dated 1738, the trustees were empowered to demolish the church and rebuild it in an improved enclosure. By 1741 the new Christ Church had been completed in Italian Romanesque style with a clocktower rising in three stages from the ground, surmounted by an octagonal lantern and cupola.

The modern church building was constructed entirely anew, following total destruction, it was Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

ed in 1941, and replaced in 1958.

Marshall is commemorated in the porch of the church by his coat of arms and also the attached church hall is also named after him. It is also the home of the South London Industrial Mission.

Its parish coincided with the manor of Paris Garden, mentioned by Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 in his play Henry VIII as being -at that time- a disreputable place. Its jurisdiction was outside that of the Bishop of Winchester's 'Liberty of the Clink' to its east and the Archbishop of Canterbury's Manor of Lambeth to its west.

Today this is an office location north of Southwark Station on the London Underground Jubilee Line

Jubilee Line

The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground , in the United Kingdom. It was built in two major sections—initially to Charing Cross, in central London, and later extended, in 1999, to Stratford, in east London. The later stations are larger and have special safety features, both aspects...

, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark.