This was one of the original post-Conquest churches in the town, located on the east side of French Street slightly north of Broad Lane. It may have been in existence before the Conquest as it was granted to a William Fitz-Osbern, probably by William I, before 1071. The parish was always small, bounded on the south by the sea front, on the west by Bugle Street, on the north by Vyse Lane (in the Middle Ages it reached one property short of this line) and on the east by an irregular line bounding the properties in French Street from those in High Street. Before the early 17th century the parish included properties on the west side of Bugle Street, south of Bull Hall.
By the 17th century the church was in a ruinous condition and was demolished in c.1708, the parish afterwards being combined with that of St. Lawrence. The site of the church became a burial ground for the united parishes. No plan of the building has survived but a study of the site revealed it to have been an irregular cross. A tomb and memorial to Richard Taunton, originally (from 1752) in the church yard, were moved to Holy Rood in 1958.
St John's Churchyard. Tomb of Richard Taunton.
Photograph, 1941
St John's Churchyard. Tomb of Richard Taunton.×
Further reading:
History of Southampton, by Rev. J. S. Davies, p370-382. (HS/h)
Medieval Southampton, by Colin Platt, passim. (HS/h)
Churches in and Around Southampton, by Cuthbert Monk, p55-61. (HS/j)
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