Parish of St John the Evangelist, Red Lion Square , Church of England

In 1854, a Royal Commission on Spiritual Destitution reported Holborn as one of the most overgrown and neglected parts of London. The district comprised some 6000 inhabitants. A mission priest, William Thornhill Webber, was appointed as curate in charge of Saint John's in 1864. Meetings were held in "an upper room over a small inn" in Hand's Court until funds could be raised to build a church. In 1869 a temporary church was erected, later becoming a clergy house and a girls' school. The foundation stone of the new church was laid by a chief benefactor, Lady Marian Alford, in 1872. The architect was Keith Young. In 1955 the benefice was united with that of Saint George, Bloomsbury.