St John's Church Egham

Experience Hope

The Church

The Church

About the church building

The church is a comfortable carpeted building with movable chairs. It can seat around 300 people on the ground floor with room for an additional 100 in the balcony. There is a raised stage area at the front with a baptism pool available underneath.

The history of the church building

There has been a church on the present site since 637 AD! It was a plant from Chertsey Abbey. 
 
The first was a wooden structure. Then, in 1150, another structure housed 400 people (the base of which can still be seen in the crypt). In 1817, this structure was in very bad condition, so it was decided that another should be built which would house up to 1100 people.
 
The Lych-gate was the north door of the previous church. When it was taken down in 1817 it went to a home in Bakeham Lane until 1938 when it was returned and put up again as the main entrance to our church yard. It was dedicated to Lady Bruce Porter by her husband It was fully restored in 1984
 
Both the church and the lychgate are Grade II* listed structures.
 
Interesting fact: John Wesley preached in Egham during his English ministry in about 1744.

Notable monuments in the church

The Magna Carta baronial shields have been displayed in the narthex since the 1999 liturgical reordering. Prior to that time, they were displayed on the pillars within the nave. The Baronial shields were produced and given to the church in 1936. They were on the balcony area rather than the pillars. 

Another notable monument inside the church is that of Sir Felton Ewell Bathurst Hervey [1782 to 1819]. He served the office of military secretary to Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, and was at his side in the Battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815. He was Wellington’s representative at the negotiations for the surrender of Paris and signed the convention of St Cloud on 3rd July 1815 

One of those buried in the churchyard is Frederic Cournet, a former French naval officer and political exile. Cournet fought in the last duel to take place in England, in 1852 at nearby Englefield Green. His opponent was compatriot Emmanuel Barthélemy who fled to England after taking part in the 1848 June Days Uprising. Cournet was wounded and died some hours later. Barthélemy was found guilty of manslaughter and served seven months in prison, however he was hanged in London in 1855 after killing two other men.