Tombs in the churchyard of St John-at-Hackney
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Tombs in the churchyard of St John-at-Hackney by Marathon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Image: © Marathon Taken: 19 Nov 2014
It is thought that a church and surrounding churchyard has been here since before the Norman Conquest. However, no records survive of any building before 1275. The Church of St John-at-Hackney was designed by James Spiller. Work began in 1792 to the north-east of the existing church of St Augustine, which was by then too small for the rapidly increasing population of Hackney. The main structure took more than two years to complete. On 15th July 1797 the church was consecrated and dedicated to St John. In March 1798 the body of the old church of St Augustine was demolished and several of the tombs removed to the new church. The tower was kept and remains to this day. The church of St John can just be glimpsed through the trees on the left. What is especially noteworthy about the churchyard is the wonderful collection of tombs, some of which are seen here. For a fuller account of the history of the two churches see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_John-at-Hackney and http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=HAC039