Church Of St John In Grounds Of Whittingham Hospital

Church of St John in grounds of Whittingham Hospital

St John's Anglican Church was designed by Henry Littler of Manchester and built in 1873 by Cooper & Tullis for Whittingham Mental Hospital at a cost of £4,632. The church is constructed of rock-faced sandstone with sandstone dressings beneath slate roofs.

The building is rectangular in plan with an apsidal east end and a north-east steeple. The buttressed east chancel contains three windows, each with three cusped lights and arches springing from moulded columns to the apse, with simpler single-light windows to its west end. A gabled sacristy with north door featuring decorative metal strap hinges and a three-light window is attached to the west end of the chancel. The east end of the nave has a plate-traceried rose window.

The nave extends over seven bays along its long axis and possesses an unusual clerestorey with a large gableted wheel window in the centre, flanked by stepped triple-light windows under a hipped gablet on either side. Small triangular cusped lights are positioned in the intermediate bays. Buttressed north and south aisles feature Tudor-arched windows recessed with two or three segmental-headed lights, with centrally-placed buttressed porches. The south timber porch door has decorative metal strap hinges.

The west end has a lean-to narthex with a central arcaded six-light window (currently boarded externally) flanked by gabled porches with timber doors featuring decorative metal strap hinges. A later flat-roofed boiler house is attached to the junction of the narthex and north aisle. The west wall of the nave has a large partly-boarded five-light traceried window flanked by buttresses.

A tall two-stage tower with spire stands at the junction of the north aisle, nave and chancel. The lower stage is square with angled buttresses, a two-light window to the west face and small quatrefoils to the north and west faces. The second stage is octagonal with tall lancets in the cardinal sides. An octagonal spire continues from the second stage and is topped by a weather vane in the form of a cockerel.

The chancel interior has a tiled floor, stained glass windows and an arched scissor-braced roof supported by wall posts on moulded corbels. The apse roof is similarly supported by wall posts on moulded corbels with panels between the rafters displaying Morris-style coloured painting of angels bearing lettered ribbons. Some oak choir pews, the altar rail and altar remain in situ. An arch on the north side of the chancel leads to the base of the tower where the vandalised remains of the organ are located. A door in the south chancel leads to the sacristy, now badly water damaged.

The nave is wide and lofty with flanking seven-bay aisle arcades with two-centred arches chamfered in two orders. The arcades are carried on coupled iron columns with spandrels on the walls above decorated with Morris-style stencilled coloured paintings. An octagonal pulpit remains in situ, though most pews have been removed or dismantled for removal. Exposed glazed floor tiles are visible at the east end of the nave and beneath carpets on either side. The nave has an unusual kingpost roof with principal rafters carried below collar level by short struts from the backs of arch-braced inner frames supported by wall posts on moulded corbels. Windows throughout the nave are of clear glass.

The church served the patients and staff of Whittingham Mental Hospital until the hospital closed in 1995, after which it remained unused. During the early 21st century most of the church's seating was removed and the building has suffered periodically from vandalism and theft of lead, causing water ingress. Security fencing was recently erected to prevent unauthorised access. The church was listed at Grade II in 1986.