Church Of St John The Evangelist

The Church of St John the Evangelist, built between 1834 and 1835, is now used as both a church and assembly rooms. It is believed to have been designed by Lewis Vulliamy, with the chancel added in 1894 by W.B. Colbram and the west tower completed in 1903 by Austin and Paley. The church features squared sandstone construction, with the chancel being rockfaced and the tower having a snecked finish, all topped with a slate roof. Designed in an Early English style, the wide five-bay nave, which was originally a galleried auditorium, includes shallow buttresses and a large lancet window in each bay. The added chancel matches this style and has a triple lancet window on the east side.

The stout west tower has a square plan and consists of three unequal stages, with the upper half set back. It is adorned with broad clasping pilaster-strips and a moulded arched west doorway, which is accessed by five steps and protected on one side by modern wrought iron railings that incorporate symbols of local history and economy, such as a shuttle, mine winding gear, and cattle. Above the doorway are coupled lancet windows with hoodmoulds, small chamfered windows for the ringing chamber, and single small arched belfry louvres, flanked by roundels, topped with a set-back parapet featuring corner cops.

Inside, the church was laterally partitioned in 1973 to create two-storey assembly rooms at the west end. The galleries were removed in 1902, and plaster was taken down in 1929. However, moulded arches leading to the chancel and organ house, as well as elaborate open-work roof trusses, remain. The church has historical ties to the Hargreaves and Thursby families of Ormerod Hall, who were colliery proprietors and significant contributors to the building's various stages.