St John on Bethnal Green

You are looking at a structure with a surprising political origin. St John on Bethnal Green was funded by a parliamentary grant designed to celebrate the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo. In the early nineteenth century, the government feared that a rapidly growing and impoverished population might turn toward revolution. By commissioning this church, they hoped to provide a spiritual anchor to keep the working class civilized and orderly. Because of this connection to the victory over Napoleon, the structure is famously known as a Waterloo church.