St George the Martyr Southwark
Encyclopedia
St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London
. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark
on Borough High Street
at the junction with Long Lane
, Marshalsea Road
, and Tabard Street.
St George the Martyr is named after Saint George
. According to traditional hagiography
, the saint served as a soldier in the Roman Army
and was killed on the orders of the emperor Diocletian
in 303 for refusing to persecute Christian
s and confessing to his own Christianity
. The earliest reference to this church is in the Annals of Bermondsey Abbey
, which claims that the church was given by Thomas Ardern and Thomas his son in 1122. The date follows the Battle of Acre when the St George myth became adopted by English crusader
s; perhaps the church dedication is related to the Arderns' involvement in the Crusade. This gift included tithes from their manor at Horndon in Essex
and "land of London Bridge returning five solidos". This statement means that this St George's is the first and the oldest church with this dedication in the present London area and it predates Edward III's
adoption of George as the patron of the Garter
by over 200 years. The statement is also the first reference to London Bridge's endowment lands. The present priest was nominated by the City's Bridge House Estates.
On Henry V
's return from the battle of Agincourt
in 1415 he was welcomed by the Aldermen of London on the steps of the church. The 'Agincourt Song' was commissioned as part of the celebration. In this battle the standard with the red cross
was used for the first time. In the same year St George became the patron saint of England.
The west tower dominates views along Borough High Street
from both the north and south due to the curve in the street at this point, where it now meets Great Dover Street
. Originally, a much narrower road to the south of the church called Church Street led into Kent Street (now renamed Tabard Street), the historic route to Dover
. Due to the volume of traffic, Great Dover Street was cut through parallel to Kent Street as part of the road network enhancements associated with the new Westminster Bridge and London Bridge route improvements, in 1750. Tabard Street was subsequently extended through the churchyard on the north side of the church, leaving the church on an island site.
The present church is believed to be the third on this site. There was a Norman
church of unknown appearance, inscribed stones from it where discovered in the second church. This was replaced at the end of the fourteenth century by a church with a bell tower, which may have been from where Antonin de Wyngaerde surveyed at least part of his plan view of London, which includes a drawing of the church, but slightly out of position as might occur if drawn onto the perspective latterly. The church also appears to be that in William Hogarth
's engraving of Southwark Fair made in 1733, a year before it was demolished. The church was rebuilt in a Classical style
to the designs of John Price between 1734 and 1736, partly funded by £6,000 from the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
. The major City Livery Companies and the Bridge House Estates also supported this rebuilding, their arms decorate the nave ceiling and stained glass.
The red brick and Portland Stone
structure of the church has suffered from considerable subsidence
damage, and the nave was declared unsafe in 2000, although services continued in other parts of the building. In September 2005, St George the Martyr received funding via the Heritage Lottery Fund for repairs and refurbishments, which involve complete underpinning
of the building, and the lowering of the floor levels in the crypt to create additional space. A large number of lead Georgian coffins were removed from the crypt to allow the works to take place. Subsequent archaeological investigations of the ground beneath the church found substantial Medieval and Roman structures. The destruction of some archaeological remains before a fuller excavation could be completed led to controversy.
The church was closed for restoration works between September 2005 and March 2007. During this time the congregation worshipped at nearby Guy's Chapel
. The new 'crypt', in fact a church hall created by the underpinning works, provides a new conference venue in central London.
Services at St George's resumed on Palm Sunday
1 April 2007. The present priest in charge is the Reverend Ray Andrews.
The church has strong associations with Charles Dickens
, whose father was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea
prison. The surviving wall of the prison adjoins the north side of the churchyard. Dickens himself lived nearby, in Lant Street
, lodging in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George's. This was during the darkest period of his life when, as a teenager, with his father in prison, he had to work in the 'blacking factory', and his literary career must have seemed an impossible dream. Later, he was to set several scenes of the novel Little Dorrit
in and around St George's Church. There is a small representation of Little Dorrit in the east window of the church.
It is also a recognised church of the City of London Company of Parish Clerks
and the guild
church of the Guildable Manor. From 2008 the annual Quit Rents ceremony, before the Queen's Remembrancer has taken place there.
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...
. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...
on Borough High Street
Borough High Street
Borough High Street is a main street in Southwark, London running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, which runs from London to Portsmouth.- Overview :...
at the junction with Long Lane
Long Lane, Southwark
Long Lane is a major road in Southwark, south London, England.At the northwest end is a complicated junction with Borough High Street, Marshalsea Road, Tabard Street, and Great Dover Street. The historic St George the Martyr church, with Dickensian connections, is at this junction, now standing on...
, Marshalsea Road
Marshalsea Road
Marshalsea Road is a major street in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road. At the southeast end is Borough tube station on Borough High Street. Continuing across the street are Long Lane and Great Dover Street...
, and Tabard Street.
St George the Martyr is named after Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
. According to traditional hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
, the saint served as a soldier in the Roman Army
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
and was killed on the orders of the emperor Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
in 303 for refusing to persecute Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s and confessing to his own Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. The earliest reference to this church is in the Annals of Bermondsey Abbey
Bermondsey Abbey
Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Most widely known as an 11th-century foundation, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century, and was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site of Bermondsey Market, Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast...
, which claims that the church was given by Thomas Ardern and Thomas his son in 1122. The date follows the Battle of Acre when the St George myth became adopted by English crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s; perhaps the church dedication is related to the Arderns' involvement in the Crusade. This gift included tithes from their manor at Horndon in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and "land of London Bridge returning five solidos". This statement means that this St George's is the first and the oldest church with this dedication in the present London area and it predates Edward III's
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
adoption of George as the patron of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
by over 200 years. The statement is also the first reference to London Bridge's endowment lands. The present priest was nominated by the City's Bridge House Estates.
On Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
's return from the battle of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
in 1415 he was welcomed by the Aldermen of London on the steps of the church. The 'Agincourt Song' was commissioned as part of the celebration. In this battle the standard with the red cross
St George's Cross
St George's Cross is a red cross on a white background used as a symbolic reference to Saint George. The red cross on white was associated with St George from medieval times....
was used for the first time. In the same year St George became the patron saint of England.
The west tower dominates views along Borough High Street
Borough High Street
Borough High Street is a main street in Southwark, London running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, which runs from London to Portsmouth.- Overview :...
from both the north and south due to the curve in the street at this point, where it now meets Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street is in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough tube station is at this location. At the southeast end is the Bricklayers' Arms roundabout and flyover...
. Originally, a much narrower road to the south of the church called Church Street led into Kent Street (now renamed Tabard Street), the historic route to Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
. Due to the volume of traffic, Great Dover Street was cut through parallel to Kent Street as part of the road network enhancements associated with the new Westminster Bridge and London Bridge route improvements, in 1750. Tabard Street was subsequently extended through the churchyard on the north side of the church, leaving the church on an island site.
The present church is believed to be the third on this site. There was a Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
church of unknown appearance, inscribed stones from it where discovered in the second church. This was replaced at the end of the fourteenth century by a church with a bell tower, which may have been from where Antonin de Wyngaerde surveyed at least part of his plan view of London, which includes a drawing of the church, but slightly out of position as might occur if drawn onto the perspective latterly. The church also appears to be that in William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
's engraving of Southwark Fair made in 1733, a year before it was demolished. The church was rebuilt in a Classical style
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
to the designs of John Price between 1734 and 1736, partly funded by £6,000 from the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, with the purpose of building fifty new churches for the rapidly growing conurbation of London...
. The major City Livery Companies and the Bridge House Estates also supported this rebuilding, their arms decorate the nave ceiling and stained glass.
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
structure of the church has suffered from considerable subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
damage, and the nave was declared unsafe in 2000, although services continued in other parts of the building. In September 2005, St George the Martyr received funding via the Heritage Lottery Fund for repairs and refurbishments, which involve complete underpinning
Underpinning
In construction, underpinning is the process of strengthening and stabilizing the foundation of an existing building or other structure. Underpinning may be necessary for a variety of reasons:*The original foundation is simply not strong or stable enough....
of the building, and the lowering of the floor levels in the crypt to create additional space. A large number of lead Georgian coffins were removed from the crypt to allow the works to take place. Subsequent archaeological investigations of the ground beneath the church found substantial Medieval and Roman structures. The destruction of some archaeological remains before a fuller excavation could be completed led to controversy.
The church was closed for restoration works between September 2005 and March 2007. During this time the congregation worshipped at nearby Guy's Chapel
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
. The new 'crypt', in fact a church hall created by the underpinning works, provides a new conference venue in central London.
Services at St George's resumed on Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
1 April 2007. The present priest in charge is the Reverend Ray Andrews.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, whose father was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea
Marshalsea
The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...
prison. The surviving wall of the prison adjoins the north side of the churchyard. Dickens himself lived nearby, in Lant Street
Lant Street
Lant Street is a street south of Marshalsea Road in Southwark, south London, England.-Overview:At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road and at the southeast end is Borough High Street. Close by, just to the north in Borough High Street, is the historic St George the Martyr church, where...
, lodging in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George's. This was during the darkest period of his life when, as a teenager, with his father in prison, he had to work in the 'blacking factory', and his literary career must have seemed an impossible dream. Later, he was to set several scenes of the novel Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
in and around St George's Church. There is a small representation of Little Dorrit in the east window of the church.
It is also a recognised church of the City of London Company of Parish Clerks
Parish Clerks Company
The Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks is one of the companies of the City of London. For historical reasons it has no livery originally because parish clerks were minor clerics, that is, in Holy Orders...
and the guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
church of the Guildable Manor. From 2008 the annual Quit Rents ceremony, before the Queen's Remembrancer has taken place there.
See also
- List of churches and cathedrals of London