TALK From the Ashes: The Rebuilding of The Priory Church of St John

An evening lecture for the London Festival of Architecture 2025, in partnership with the St John Historical Society.

Seely & Paget are well-known for commissions such as Eltham Palace (1936), but the post-war reconstruction of the bombed remains of the Order of St John’s Priory Church is one of their lesser known, and to date, unstudied commissions. Early-career Heritage Consultant Esmé Coppock MA (Hons) FSAScot will lead the reappraisal of this space, which lends itself to the discussion of characteristics in aesthetic and approach, typical of Seely & Paget’s conservation architecture.

This talk is part of a broader conversation to reconsider the work of this prolific architectural firm, often maligned, in the lead up to its 2026 centenary. Architecture and heritage professionals and students, Londoners and those with an interest in history will have an opportunity to gain a new perspective on an unassuming building of great historical importance and interest, as well as the post-war landscape of the new discipline of conservation architecture in London.

Esmé Coppock MA (Hons) FSAScot, read Architectural History and Heritage at the University of Edinburgh and wrote her dissertation on the architectural partnership Seely & Paget, a prolific twentieth-century firm. Esmé is a Heritage Consultant with Iceni and consults on a range of historic sites across the UK, supporting projects in sensitive heritage contexts to achieve planning consent.