The church's website [visit link]
gives some background history with respect to the church:
"In 1821 James Weller Ladbroke Esq. (died 1847) started,
with his architect Thomas Allason (1790-1852) to plan an estate covering the
land that lies both east and west of what is now the southern end of Ladbroke
Grove.
Notting Hill was just too far west for a large-scale
development to be a commercial success in the 1820s and 1830s, and so between
June 1837 and June 1841 much of this land was used as the Hippodrome
race-course.
The hill that is now occupied by St John’s Church was
used by spectators as a natural grandstand.
By 1841 the pressure for development had returned, and
in their 1843 plans the architects for both the eastern and western sections of
the estate placed a church at the top of this hill. The architectural commission
for St John’s was probably the result of a compromise; the church would be sited
in the western section of the estate, but it would be the responsibility of the
architect for the eastern section, John Hargrave Stevens.
St John’s Church, a Grade II listed building, is the
centrepiece of the Ladbroke estate. Prominently situated at the top of a high
knoll, the church, with its spire and with the land falling away on three sides,
can be seen to advantage from many locations in the North Kensington area. The
church, which is dedicated to St John the Evangelist, was designed to
accommodate 1,500 worshippers, of whom 1,100 would pay pew rents, and 400 would
be "free sittings".
St John's is designed in the Early English style, and
the spire is markedly similar to that of St Mary’s Church in Witney,
Oxfordshire. The foundation stone was laid on 8 January 1844 by the Ven John
Sinclair, Vicar of Kensington and Archdeacon of Middlesex. St John’s was the
first of 19 new parish churches built in Kensington during Sinclair’s long
incumbency (1842-1875).
During 1844 a "sacred edifice ornamental to the
neighbourhood and honourable to its promoters" was constructed. The church was
consecrated by the Bishop of London, Dr Charles James Blomfield, on Wednesday,
29 January 1845. In 1845 the ceilings were "adorned with painted symbols of the
evangelists, and scripture sentences rubricated".
In January 1845, with the exceptions of Nos 2-4
Lansdowne Crescent and two terraces of houses on Ladbroke Grove, St John’s and
its then vicarage (now No 63 Ladbroke Grove) stood in relative isolation, and
looked out to the north and west on open fields. It was thought at the time that
the church had been placed too far out in the country. However, developers on
the Ladbroke estate were very active at this time, and within three years nearly
all of the houses south and west of the church had been built.
During the 1980s the parish decided to create a
purpose-built parish centre at basement level under the western end of St
John’s. Construction work, which involved the engineering challenge of
temporarily supporting the western part of the church on concrete piles while
the new centre was excavated out, was completed in 1994. The new parish centre
was opened for parish use on 3 July 1994, and officially dedicated by the
present Archbishop of York, the Most Rev David Hope who was then Bishop of
London, on 29 January 1995, the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the
church."
A plaque, erected on a post in the church grounds, tells the
passer-by:
Royal Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea
St. John's Church
was built in 1845 in the early
English
Gothic style by John Hargrave Stevens and
George Alexander. This
site on the summit
of Notting Hill had formerly been a view-
point for
spectators at the centre of the
Hippodrome race
course.
The church is Grade II listed with the entry at the English
Heritage website [visit
link] advising:
"Church. 1845 by j H Stevens and G Alexander. Built of
Kentish ragstone coursed rubble with Bath stone ashlar. Early English style.
Aisled nave, transepts, crossing tower and broached stone spire 150 feet in
height, lower chancel of 2 bays.
INTERIOR: Arcade of thick columns and boarded roof. West
gallery with trefoil-headed balustrading. Original pews remain to nave and west
gallery. West window has quatrefoil of mid C19 stained glass. Octagonal stone
font at west end of nave. North wall of nave has lancet window with stained
glass of St Cecilia, artist unknown. Original glazed octagonal light over
crossing. Original wooden pulpit resited in north transept. East window by C E
Kempe of 1890 depicting Christ flanked by St Michael and St Gabriel. Reredos
designed by Sir Aston Webb with figures designed by Emmeline Halse. Chancel
retains encaustic tiled floor, tesselated floor and marble steps. Several wall
monuments, including one to Philip Edward Webb, son of Sir Aston Webb, with
rebus of spiders webs. This church forms the pivot of the Ladbroke Grove planned
layout."
The church website [visit link] lists the
days and times of services:
"Sunday
8.00 Holy Communion
10.30 Sung
Eucharist
12.30 Tagalog Mass
17.30 Evensong (Last Sunday includes
Healing)
Monday - Friday
8.45 Morning Prayer
17.00
Evening Prayer
Wednesday
12.30 Holy Communion
Saturday
17.30 Tagalog Mass"