Christ Church Southwark

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Christ Church, Southwark, is a church of the Anglican denomination situated on the west side of Blackfriars Road, London. At the time of the foundation there was no bridge at Blackfriars and so no major road connecting the area to the south or to the City.The current church was built in 1958, following total destruction of the previous building in 1941, during the London Blitz. It has been Grade II listed since 2010.WindowsThe church has two large sequences of stained glass, one of 1959 by Kenneth Bunton, the other of 1984 celebrating the church's 25th anniversary by John Lawson, both showing features of life within the parish. The first range memorably includes a London Transport bus. The latter range includes buildings as diverse as Sampson House, the Lloyds Bank Computer Centre, Sea Containers House, the Kirkaldy Testing Museum and a J Sainsbury supermarket. Some of the industries and commercial businesses depicted in the 1984 glass have since left the area.HistoryThe parish of Christ Church, Surrey was created by Act in 1682 in the manor of Paris Garden as a result of the gift under the direction of the executors of John Marshall, a member of a Southwark family of “whitebakers”. This was previously part of the St Saviour’s parish. His will, of 1627, provided from 1637 and directed that a new church should be built and a Rector be appointed and paid for in that Manor, the most easterly part of St Saviour's parish. He died in 1631. The church was built in 1671.