History of The Church Restaurant in Northampton

St John’s Hospital was opened in 1138 and in the years since then has been providing hospitality in various guises. From its origins as a hospice it also became a soldiers’ burial ground, was confiscated during The Reformation, became part of Northampton’s first railway station, and was re-consecrated as a Catholic Church before its present incarnation as a bar and restaurant. St John’s is the oldest secular building left in Northampton and some of the landmarks from its history are laid out below.

1138	St John’s was built in the days when hospitals were guesthouses for the benefit of the poor, sick and for orphans as well as passing pilgrims on their way to Rome or Canterbury. It was one of four placed close to the main gates of the walled town of medieval Northampton. The buildings consisted originally of a chapel and infirmary (both still existing) and a master’s house that was demolished in the 19th century. The site was dedicated to St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist and manned by a religious community. The community was sustained by the rents from gifts of land donated by wealthy local people.
1154–1162	King Henry II granted the Hospital a Royal Charter, acknowledging its position and purpose. One of the witnesses to this charter was “Thomas the Chancellor” later to become Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Becket.
1460	During the Wars of the Roses, a large Lancastrian army swarmed south overwhelming the Yorkist Earl of Warwick at Northampton. The Battle of Northampton between Lancastrians and Yorkists was fought on the fields of Delapre and many of the 10,000 troops were killed. Some of the bodies were buried in the grounds of St. John’s whilst many others were flushed down the Nene.
1500	During the reformation the land belonging to St John’s was confiscated and the buildings fell into disuse for several centuries.
1872	The land was purchased by The Midland Railway Company. The Master’s House was demolished and the St John’s Street Railway Station was constructed. The hospital and its adjacent chapel were sold to Henry Mulliner who used them for storage and then sold them on to the Catholic Church for £2,500 in 1877.
1997 – 2005	The Richardsons Group purchased the site. During 2004/5 St John’s underwent a complete refurbishment to restore the building and equip it to be a modern restaurant. Finally over 860 years after it was originally built St John’s has reverted to offering hospitality to its guests in its present form - The Church Bar & Restaurant.

Our thanks to the many contributors who have helped to find these historical references.