Church Of St John The Evangelist

The Church of St John the Evangelist is a church built between 1788 and 1794, with significant additions and alterations in 1897. It is constructed from squared sandstone with dressed quoins, and the roof is concealed behind a parapet, likely slate. The building has a rectangular three-bay plan, with a two-bay chancel and vestry added in 1897. The design is in a simple classical style, featuring a plain string course, moulded cornice, low parapet, and round-headed windows. A round-headed blind arch sits above the round-headed doorway on the west front, which is finished with a pedimented Tuscan architrave and contains a lunette. Two windows are present on each floor of the two-storey west front, all round-headed with circular tracery, with a round window in the pediment and three circular tie-plates at the first floor. The side walls feature three large round-headed windows set within blind arches, mirroring the design of the front. Two downspouts with rainwater heads lettered ‘17 DW 97’ are on the south side, along with large cruciform tie-plates at each end. The two-bay chancel, built in a matching style, has a Venetian east window, which is a relocated feature. A gate archway on the south side is surmounted by remnants of a late medieval carved stone cross.

The interior retains a triple-arched screen wall at the east end, originally separating a sanctuary recess. This comprises a high semi-circular central arch flanked by lower arches that formerly led to private pews belonging to the Ormerod and Whitaker families. The consecration date of 1794 is recorded in inscribed roundels on the west side of the pier to the Whitaker pew. A gallery at the west end has three semi-circular arches, two blind and one open, with a wooden gallery front divided into four panels by fluted pilasters, each panel containing painted Commandment Tables. A late 15th or early 16th century octagonal oak pulpit features open traceried panels and an embattled top. Four carved oak stalls from the former Blackburn Parish Church (demolished in 1820) are also present, two of which have carved misericords. Various wall monuments dedicated to the Ormerod and Whitaker families are displayed, including a bust of T.D. Whitaker, the historian, and a painting of General Scarlett, a hero of the Crimean War.