St John's, London

St John's is a small residential area in the London Borough of Lewisham in south east London. It covers an area of approximately 0.2 square kilometers (less than 0.1 square miles) around St Johns railway station, and is approximately equidistant from the centres of Greenwich and Lewisham. The border between the London Boroughs of Lewisham and Greenwich skirts the north-eastern edge of the area.

St John's is noted for its late 19th-Century housing, constructed as the Deptford New Town, and protected as the Brookmill Road and St John's Conservation Areas since 1972 and 1976 respectively. It was also the site in 1957 of one of Britain's worst railway disasters.

Note that St John's most correctly refers to the Parish of St John, as still indicated on maps of the area. The parish church lies at the top of the hill, almost adjacent to the railway station which borrowed its name. However, in common with much of modern London, the name has nowadays devolved onto the area immediately surrounding the railway station, leaving the church lying at the southern tip of the area, and most of the residents in the south of the parish associating themselves with New Cross or Lewisham.

History

Deptford New Town was conceived by the Lucas family as an affordable and spacious alternative for the working classes of mid to late 19th century Deptford. Originally from Cumbria, the family made their wealth in South Carolina, where they built and managed water-powered rice mills.

There are a few older buildings - the most notable being the late 18th century Italianate mansion known as the Stone House. St John's Church was built in 1855, designed by PC Hardwicke

St John's station opened in 1871, at a time when housing construction was still in full swing.

Conservation Areas

The Brookmill Road Conservation Area was designated in 1972, and is bordered by Friendly Street, Brookmill Road, the southern and eastern boundaries of the properties on Albyn Road, and the railway line. The St John's Conservation Area, created four years later, covers the area between this and the Lewisham Way.

Both areas are further subject to an Article 4 Direction, preserving the character of the area by prohibiting many kinds of external alterations.

Population

The population of the area is extremely mixed, largely reflecting the huge rise in property prices in recent years. A few houses are council owned, some are let, and most are owner-occupied. In the five years surrounding the arrival of the Docklands Light Railway at Deptford Bridge, house prices in the area quadrupled. This resulted in an unusual mix of wealthy city folk commuting to Canary Wharf and less well-off people who had lived in the area for some time.

The 1957 Railway Disaster

At 6:20pm on Wednesday, 4th December 1957, in dense fog, St John's station was rocked by one of Britain's worst railway disasters, killing 90 people and injuring 176 more.

Due to the adverse weather, trains were late and crowded. The 5.18pm electric train from Charing Cross to Hayes, with 1500 passengers on board, was stationary beneath the railway bridge carrying the line to Victoria, to the east of St John's station. The 4.56pm steam express train from Cannon Street to Ramsgate, carrying 700 people, ploughed into the rear of the standing train at 30mph. The last three carriages of the steam train came to rest before they had even passed out of the station.

The 10-coach electric train in front suffered catastrophic damage as coach 8 was run through and completely destroyed by the coach immediately behind it. The leading coach of the steam train concertinaed into the steam engine in front, throwing both off the tracks to the left and dislodging a column which supported the bridge overhead. The bridge immediately collapsed, completing the destruction of the leading coach, and crushing the second and half of the third.

Further disaster was narrowly averted two minutes later when the driver of the 5.22pm from Holborn Viaduct to Nunhead, travelling on the elevated section, noticed that the bridge was at an angle and stopped his train. Had he not done so, the front coach or perhaps two coaches would have tumbled onto the wreckage below.

The official report [http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Lewisham1957.pdf?PHPSESSID=575b3fa259af78b8c9ab7fc902cee35e] into the incident, published in June 1958, provides exquisite detail, including diagrams of where each carriage came to rest, and images of the collapsed bridge as viewed from the Hither Green side. The report holds Driver W. J. Trew of the steam express solely responsible for the accident.

The report also remarks on the misfortune of the bridge supports being knocked out. This was a particular problem because the bridge crossed at an acute angle, necessitating a much longer unsupported span than for a perpendicular crossing. The report states "I know of no other case in which a bridge has collapsed in this way, but in view of the serious consequences of this accident the problem will be considered in future bridge design." Indeed, overhead photography [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?&q=london&ll=51.467702,-0.019245&spn=0.001469,0.001631&t=k] of the current bridge shows exactly how this was achieved, in a design which has become commonplace for acute-angle crossings.

Future

The area is compact, well-delineated, and protected from excessive development. However it is surrounded by very varied areas.

Greenwich lies to the north, and is rapidly spreading south to fill the under-utilised space along Greenwich High Road, as expensive housing developments are constructed. Greenwich is a tourist hotspot and a centre for entertainment and dining. To the east, but not immediately accessible due to the River Ravensbourne, is Blackheath, a genteel, pretty, and even more sought-after suburb. To the south lies Lewisham, with a shopping centre dissected by major roads, and a hub for public transportation in the form of light rail, heavy rail and bus services. To the north lies Deptford, an old-fashioned yet vibrant area including, according to BBC News Online, London's best shopping street. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4289237.stm]

External links

* [http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/main/st-johns-deptford-new-town-case-study.htm A detailed history of the area]
* [http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=113 Details of the 1957 rail disaster]
* [http://www.sjht.org.uk/ St John's Church]
* [http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/ Lewisham Borough Council]