St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe is one of the parts of London which has retained its village atmosphere. By the Thames and in view of central London, it has a charming pub, the Angel, and some pleasant parkland. It is quiet, too, the only noise coming from the occasional cyclist, the birds' singing and the river lapping against the steps.

The church is tall and elegant, far grander than anything a real village might expect. This is the church, though not the same building, of Christopher Jones, who captained the famous Mayflower in 1620, upon whose boards the fleeing puritans sailed for a new life in the new world. In 1710, locals petitioned Parliament for a new building, the current one 'which standing very low and near the banks of the Thames, is often overflowed, whereby the foundation of the church and tower is rotted and in great danger of falling'. Although the petition was refused, they set to work in planning for the new structure regardless.

Rotten foundations and falling structures sound very much like the Church of England and several other denominations today. The strong currents of worldly wisdom have been admitted and not resisted; the ground has become soft and the structures all awobble. Like the good folk of early eighteenth-century Rotherhithe, I pray another rebuilding and reformation occurs soon.