St John the Baptist
Holland Park, Greater London
Exquisite detail and craftsmanship throughout the whole building.
St Clement is a Grade II listed church because it is “a very skilful if unusual example of an Anglo-Catholic church of the 1860s”. The vast wooden roof is supported by scissor braces and held up by slender iron column. St Clement's was built from the personal resources of its first vicar, Arthur Dalgarno Robinson. He devoted the majority of his life to alleviating the extreme poverty of the area, and the church was designed not to overpower the neighbouring modest homes, but to sit within them as a source of succour and strength. The parish today is in the poorest 8% in the country according to a recent report by the Church Urban Fund. This reflects the level of poverty in North Kensington where St Clement's, now sandwiched between the Great West Road and its approach road, is based.
