It was one of the worst disasters in the history of the UK’s railways, but the St John’s rail crash of December 1957 has no memorial or marker within St John’s.
We want to put that right. St John’s Society members and other locals have been working to put up a plaque near to St John’s station, remembering the 90 who died and honouring the efforts of local people who helped with the rescue.
We’ve got the approval of Network Rail to put the plaque on the wall that leads to the station entrance, near to the postbox.
We’re working with the council for it to be part of Lewisham’s maroon plaque heritage scheme. But there’s no financial support from the council, so making it possible is funding from the Railway Heritage Trust, who are providing much of the cost.
We’re hoping to get the plaque installed and opened in the next couple of months.
There’s certainly local interest, as a talk on the subject by historian Tony Redding saw a packed house at the Brookmill in June 2025. And even though there is a plaque at Lewisham station, it feels like there should be something more fitting at St John’s.
The events we want to remember with a memorial plaque were major national news at the time, right here on our doorstep in St John’s.
The loss of life remains the third highest for a rail crash in the UK. In dense fog, two crowded trains had crashed between St John’s and Lewisham stations. The collision brought down a railway bridge to add to the destruction.
It was December and many of the passengers had been Christmas shopping. There were poignant reports of children’s presents found scattered on the tracks.
It must have been a terrifying shock to our predecessors living in the streets around the station.
There are estimates of approaching 200 people being injured, in addition to the 90 fatalities. But we’ve decided not to include any definite figure for the injured on the plaque, because it’s not known how many walking wounded simply made their own way home and were treated elsewhere.
There is also the question of psychological harm, with no way of knowing about numbers of people who have had long-term trauma as a result of the catastrophic crash.
But we’ve wanted to make sure that the plaque recognises the generous contributions of the local people of St John’s who volunteered to help those caught up in the crash.
It was an important part of the terrible events. In Parliament the shocking news brought a statement in which the government said it wanted to put on record its tribute to the outstanding work done, not only by the emergency services, “but also those living near the scene, who so unselfishly put their houses and their belongings at the disposal of the rescuers”.
“The conditions in the dense fog and darkness were appallingly difficult and distressing, and there can be nothing but praise for all concerned,” said the statement in Parliament in the wake of the crash.
Almost 69 years later, it’s time to add our own tribute.