St James
Bermondsey, Greater London
The great west doors of St James's church have been wide open to the people of Bermondsey since 1829.
A later church was destroyed in wartime bombing and replaced by the present church by H S Goodhart-Rendel.
In the words of the list entry, this is ‘an impressive building and a fine example of Goodhart-Rendel's work, showing his use of polychrome brickwork, inspired by High Victorian churches and his powerful use of concrete to achieve a manipulation of sculptural form and spatial and exciting arrangement’.
The plan form and some of the detailing shows a clear influence of Bentley’s Westminster Cathedral. The church is little altered and contains a number of original and later furnishings of note.