St James, Bermondsey
St James, Bermondsey
St James’s, Bermondsey, is a Grade II* Waterloo church on Thurland Road, designed by James Savage and built in 1827–29 as one of the Commissioners’ churches funded after Waterloo.
- Location
- Bermondsey, Greater London
- Country
- England
- County
- Greater London
- City / town
- Bermondsey
- Address
- Thurland Road, Bermondsey, Greater London, SE16 4AA
- Postcode
- SE16 4AA
- Built
- 1827–29
- Consecrated
- 7 May 1829
- Architect
- James Savage
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- James
- Diocese
- Southwark
- Parish
- St James, Bermondsey
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Neo-classical (Greek Revival)
- Materials
- Stock brick with yellow stone dressings; pitched slate roof
- Opening hours
- The church is open to visitors on Weekday mornings from 10am to 1pm, on Saturdays 11am to 1pm; and on Sundays from 9.30am to 4.30pm.
- Access
- Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England records a rectangular two-storey church of 1827–29 by James Savage in stock brick with yellow stone dressings and a pitched slate roof. The five-bay west end has a tetrastyle Ionic portico of unfluted columns with pediment; north and south elevations are of eight bays with clerestory and aisles. A two-stage tower rises at the west: a square Doric-pilastered lower stage with louvred bell openings, and a Baroque upper stage with groups of three columns at the angles supporting urns, the spire topped by a gilt ball and a flying gilt dragon weathervane. The interior, altered in 1965, retains a gallery on three sides with Ionic columns, a deeply coffered ceiling, an 1829 Bishop and Son organ, and a painting of the Ascension in the reordered sanctuary. The listing calls it the most expensive of the London Commissioners’ churches.
The parish history states that land was bought in 1821, the first stone laid in 1827, and the church consecrated on 7 May 1829 by the Bishop of Winchester to hold about 2,000 people. A separate parish was formed from St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, in 1840. The church is in the Diocese of Southwark.