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St John the Divine, Billericay

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From the 'small, decaying market town' that Kelly's Directory described in 1874, Billericay has grown substantially, especially in the post-WWII years, and now has a population of about 35,000. What is left of the historic town centre is fairly overwhelmed I'm afraid, but as with other similar Essex towns things are more interesting out in the low-rise suburbs, not least because of a range of post-war churches. St John sits in Outward Green, which was created as an overspill estate for the London Borough of Walthamstow in the early 1960s. St John came along after most of the estate was completed in 1967, a square single-storey church adjoining a similar slightly smaller church hall. It would appear no different to a doctor's surgery or an infant school of the time were it not for an impressive and imposing copper-covered pyramid roof over the church, set at an angle of forty-five degrees to the square and rising to a height double that of the church below. It is perhaps not out of scale, but physically it could not be any bigger. Complete with a tall pinnacle, it leaves no doubt as to the purpose of the building. Inside, you enter a large single space, the altar and sanctuary set in one corner so that what is effectively the nave opens out and then narrows again. When I came here on the day of the Essex Historic Churches Trust's Ride and Stride event the chairs had been stacked away, giving the effect somewhat of being in a school gymnasium. Incidentally, I should put on record quite how welcoming the people were here. It was already midday, but I was their first cyclist visitor of the day. The couple on duty were so lovely that I did not feel I could refuse their offer of coffee and a biscuit. I liked this church, and not just because of that. Simon Knott, January 2022 Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

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