St. Paul's, Deptford

St Paul’s in Deptford is a fine Baroque parish church built between 1712 and 1730 by Thomas Archer. Archer also designed St John’s Smith Square and Birmingham Cathedral. The church stands on a raised crypt of Portland stone, reached by a flight of stairs. Its most striking feature is a cylindrical tower with a steeple wrapped by a semi-circular portico of four giant Tuscan columns. The body of the church is roughly square, with a pedimented roof and two grand side staircases leading to extra entrances. The church was one of only twelve built under the New Church Commissioners’ plan for fifty new churches. Archer completed the main structure and decoration by 1720, though the building was consecrated ten years later. The tower contains three bells cast by the Whitechapel foundry, the oldest dating to 1772. In the 1970s the crypt became a reggae club, later hosting psychedelic rock nights. A fire in 2000 damaged the east end, destroying much stained glass and blackening the interior. Inside, the church has two side aisles separated by giant Corinthian columns that support side galleries and an organ gallery above the entrance. The east window follows the curve of the apse in a Venetian form, a Baroque trait Archer borrowed from Vanbrugh. The apse projects from the east wall, echoing the steeple’s placement at the west end. The interior walls are articulated by colossal pilasters, and the organ case remains a notable feature despite smoke damage. The overall effect is one of grand symmetry and classical detail.