CHARLES H. WELCH
34
There were some rather coarse comments on Saturday nights when the carillon of St. James's rang out the tune:
`There is no luck about the house
Since my old man's away' for alas!
A staggering drunken man was no uncommon sight in those early days, and on Saturday nights in particular.
At that time we youngsters had no ideas as to good or bad architecture but the following extracts from an article
in the Daily Telegraph may be worth preserving:
St. James's Church, in Jamaica Road, Bermondsey, one of the best examples of the 19th century architecture of
Savage, is in danger of demolition.
John Betjeman, The Daily Telegraph Architectural Correspondent writes:
St. James's, Bermondsey, was designed and built by James Savage, in 1827-29. It is a grand building on a
prominent site in a wide churchyard. It was built of London stock brick with a Bath stone steeple surmounted by
an enormous dragon as weather vane.
Outside, the church owes much to Vanbrugh, with its solemn blind arches and entrance front. It cost £21,000 to
build, a lot of money in that time and half of it subscribed by the people of Bermondsey.