St John the Divine, Kennington

St John the Divine stands in Kennington, a short walk from Oval tube station and the cricket ground. Built between 1871 and 1874 to designs by George Edmund Street, it is a Grade I listed building in the Decorated Gothic style. The church’s red-brick walls are trimmed with stone dressings, and its 61-metre spire is the tallest in south London. John Betjeman called it the most magnificent church in South London. The interior once featured ornate fittings by George Frederick Bodley, including carved stonework, wrought iron altar rails and stained glass by Clayton and Bell. The church lost much of its Victorian interior in a 1941 bombing raid. Restoration under H. S. Goodhart-Rendel reopened it in 1958. A 1994 spire restoration added new grotesques and gargoyles, some showing caricatures of the Queen, Prince Charles and Archbishop Michael Ramsey. Surviving stained glass includes work by Charles Eamer Kempe and bold modern windows by W. T. Carter Shapland. Behind the altar, Brian Thomas painted murals in 1966, one a pietà framed with thorns. The nave holds a life-size bronze Kelham Rood by Charles Sargeant Jagger, moved here from Willen. Above the north door hangs a Korean icon dedicated to Bishop Charles John Corfe. Services follow Anglo-Catholic tradition with daily Mass, incense and decorated robes. The Sisterhood of St John the Divine takes its name from this parish.