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SP0488 : The Railway

St Chrysostom's, Hockley

Facing The Railway public house on the opposite corner of Park Street and Musgrave Road, from 1889 to 1974 there stood St Chrysostom's Church, designed by John Cotton (with, it is said, some later assistance from William Henry Bidlake) in the Early English style with an angled chancel, low-aisled nave, double transepts, a southwest baptistery and an uncompleted northwest tower, all built in brick. Nikolaus Pevsner's collaborator Alexandra (now Lady) Wedgwood visited in 1966 while researching for The Buildings of England and commented on the "good external detail" - perhaps she was unable to gain access to the interior? Services ceased in 1972 and the building was finally demolished in 1974. The fine 18th-century organ case which had been acquired from another church was moved to the nearby St Philip's Cathedral where it is still in use.

This was one of a handful of English churches dedicated to St John Chrysostom, a 4th-century Byzantine archbishop noted for his eloquent preaching (his Greek nickname means "golden mouth"). A prayer written by him is still included in the Church of England's prayer books.