Inventory Site Record

St James' s Church was built in 1827-9, the most costly of the churches built after the Commission for New Churches was set up in 1818 following the Napoleonic Wars. Its churchyard was closed for burials in 1855 and used for communal clothes drying until it was converted into a public garden by the MPGA and opened in 1886. A number of tombs remain in the gardens, and among people buried here were those with associations with shipping. A playground with covered slide was provided in 1921 for the children of Bermondsey.

Site location:

St James Road/Thurland Road/Jamaica Road

Postcode:

SE16

What 3 Words:

half.hoping.bumps

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

Southwark

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Playground

Events:

Public transport:

Tube: Bermondsey (Jubilee). Bus: 47, 188, 381.

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Research updated:

01/08/2009

Last minor changes:

14/07/2022

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.southwark.gov.uk

St James' s Church was built in 1827-9, designed by James Savage, and was the most costly of the numerous churches built after the Commission for New Churches was set up in 1818 following the Napoleonic Wars. The railed churchyard was closed in 1855 and was used for communal clothes drying until it was converted to public gardens by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association and opened to the public in 1886. A children's playground was provided with a covered slide with half-timbered tower given 'to the little children of Bermondsey' in 1921.

Within the gardens are a number of chest-tombs and monuments among the grass and gravestones along the boundary wall. A drinking fountain was erected by the wife of Nathaniel Montefiore in 1886 of whom the inscription proclaims that it was 'Truly written that he sought to do the maximum of good with the minimum of notoriety'. Among those buried here were many associated with shipping, including Captain John Williams Hullin, drowned in 1846 on his passage from Messina to London, and Thomas Barrett Hubbard, son of a waterman and lighterman who died in 1846. An obelisk commemorates Mrs Anne Caroline Lucey (d.1863), wife of a wealthy ship and barge owner, whose family vault is in Nunhead Cemetery (q.v.).

Sources consulted:

Ron Woollacott, 'Southwark's Burying Places, Past and Present', Magdala Terrace Nunhead Local History publication, 2001; Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 2: South (Penguin) 1999; 'The London County Council and what it does for London: London Parks and Open Spaces' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1924); Southwark Listed Buildings data

Grid ref:

TQ342793 (534250,179350)

Size in hectares:

(0.917) to be revised by LBS

Site ownership:

LB Southwark

Site management:

Parks

Date(s):

1829; 1886

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII*: St James Church

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Churchyard, Tier Two