In the shadow of the Shard: extraordinary church tower flat for sale near London Bridge with a grisly history and a bed behind bars
A derelict 300-year-old church tower, converted into an extraordinary seven-storey, one-bedroom home, is for sale in south London.
The £1.8 million home has a bedroom behind bars and an enclosed spiral staircase, which is not for the claustrophobic.
Macabre decorative touches include a skull resting on a pile of books in a glass case and a clown’s head balanced on the tip of a rifle.
The apartment also shares the premises with the Old Operating Theatre Museum, exploring the grisly history of the operating theatre, which predated anaesthetics and antibiotics.
There is also a dim sum restaurant, Duddell’s, on the lower floors of the building.
The Grade II* listed church was built in 1703 by Thomas Cartwright, a master mason who worked with Christopher Wren.
At that time, the Southwark bell tower would have been one of the tallest structures in the neighbourhood, but nowadays it is well and truly dwarfed by its near neighbour, the Shard.
St Thomas’ Church was originally part of the medieval St Thomas’ Hospital, built in 1212. The entire structure was rebuilt in 1702 in the red-brick, white accented style still in evidence today.
The building fell out of use as a church in 1899 and was converted into a chapter house for Southwark Cathedral.
It was damaged during construction of the Jubilee line extension in the mid-Nineties and was placed on English Heritage’s at risk register, but was refurbished into office space in 2007.
It has since been converted into a home by Building Services Design (BSD), with the building’s layout and listed status presenting some unique challenges.
“The apartment – which is in a stunning location with views over The Shard, HMS Belfast and the River Thames – is a seven-storey building with a lift that only goes as far as the fourth floor.
“From there, all other floors can only be reached by the original spiral staircase, surrounded by the bell tower’s original exposed brickwork,” says Ian Sullivan, senior mechanical engineer at BSD.
As a result, all furniture, plants and services had to be craned into the apartment before the windows were installed.
Despite its lengthy history, the apartment has modern comforts including smart underfloor heating, energy efficient LED lights and an intercom system from the ground floor to the kitchen and bedroom areas.
The property is a two-minute walk from London Bridge Station, Borough Market and the River Thames.
It is is on the market for £1.8 million. There is also the option to buy the management of the Operating Theatre and Duddell’s Cantonese restaurant, housed on the lower floors of the building, for an additional £8 million.
