St John St SP1, St Johns Close SP1, St Johns Court SP2, St Johns Square SP2

The roads dedicated to Saint John are in Wilton, Milford and the centre of Salisbury.

• Saint John Street runs between Catherine Street and Exeter Street,
• Saint Johns Close is on a relatively new – possibly 1980s – estate in Milford, and
• Saint Johns Court and Saint Johns Square are in the same next to each other in Wilton.

St Johns Close in Milford

I don’t know why the Close in Milford is dedicated to Saint John

Saint Johns Court and Saint Johns Square in Wilton

The Square and Court in Wilton are probably named after the Hospital of John the Baptist which seems to date back until at least 1195 (¹) (although it was then called, it seems, St James), and still exists as the old people’s home St John’s Priory(²)

Saint Johns Street in Salisbury

It could be that there is some connection between St John Street and St Johns Chapel, at the other end of the Close. St John Street leads in approximately the right direction – but on the face of it the length of Exeter Street which seprates the street from the area of Saint John’s Chapel would seem to make it unlikely.

St John St in 1950. Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith. Click to buy

The Saint Johns

There were a great many Saint Johns:

• St. John the Almsgiver
• Sts. John and Paul
• St. John Baptist de la Salle
• St. John Baptist de Rossi
• St. John Capistran
• St. John Climacus
• Blessed John Colombini
• St. John Damascene
• St. John Fisher
• St. John Francis Regis
• St. John Joseph of the Cross
• St. John Nepomucene
• St. John of Beverley
• St. John of the Cross
• St. John of God
• St. John of Sahagun
• St. John Rigby
• St. John Roberts
• St. John the Baptist
• St. John the Evangelist
• St. John the Silent
• St. John Twenge

Footnotes

1. Hospitals – St John the Baptist, | British History Online [↩]
2. Sheltered housing / retirement housing: St John’s Priory: Wilton [↩]