St John’s Wood All Saints

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St John’s Wood All Saints During the Middle Ages, St John’s Wood really was a wood, which took its name from the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem who owned the land. There was a small settlement on the bourne or river that flowed to the south, with a church dedicated to St Mary from about 1400. This became known as St Mary on the Bourne - later shortened to St Marylebone. London itself began to expand northwards from Westminster in the 17th century as far as the new Road - now known as Marylebone Road. The area that now forms Regent’s Park was farmland until the Prince Regent employed his architect, John Nash, to build the grand terraces that still dominate the park. A proposal to build a royal palace in the middle of the park was abandoned in favour of building the present Buckingham Palace at the beginning of the 19th century. Westminster City Council first bought the plot of land, which now forms the burial ground behind St John’s Wood Church in 1808, and the church itself was built to accommodate the growing population of the neighbourhood by the Vestry of St Marylebone Church in 1814. The architect was Thomas Hardwick who also built the new church at St Marylebone shortly afterwards. Thomas Lord moved his cricket ground to St John’s Wood at the same time, and he offered his new Pavilion for the celebrations connected with the consecration of the completed church on Tuesday 24th May 1814. In 1886 the burial ground was closed and in 1889 St John’s Wood Chapel became part of the parish of Christchurch Cosway Street. In 1952 the Chapel became a parish church replacing St Stephen’s, Avenue Road, which had been damaged in the war.

[Adapted from St John's Wood All Saints website.]