Former Church Of St John

The former Church of St John, built in 1890 by J S Crowther for Rowland Winn, 1st Lord St Oswald, is now used as an arts centre. Constructed from rock-faced blocks of local Frodingham ironstone with Ancaster limestone ashlar dressings and carved details, it features a slate roof and is designed in the Gothic Revival style. The building includes a west tower, a 5-bay aisled nave with a north porch, a south transept, and a 3-bay chancel with a vestry on the south side.

The 4-stage tower has buttresses, an ornate west entrance with a pointed arch and setback carved oak doors, traceried windows, clock faces on each side, and twin 2-light belfry openings beneath a panelled battlemented parapet with crocketed finials. The nave features 3-light aisle windows between buttresses and paired 2-light clerestory windows. The ornate north porch has a blocked doorway surmounted by niches and pinnacles. The chancel is adorned with 3-light windows and a 4-light east window, while all openings, except for a rose window in the transept-end, are pointed with Early Perpendicular style tracery. The building is richly decorated with elaborate corbel tables, gargoyles, battlemented parapets, and crocketed finials throughout.

Inside, the nave arcades are supported by octagonal piers with castellated capitals. The roofs of the nave and chancel are hammer-beam style with carved angel corbels. Notable interior features include an ornate octagonal marble font, a carved pulpit, vicar's stall, choir stalls, altar rails, and a screen. The chancel is now screened off by a glazed partition from around the 1960s. The church was declared redundant in April 1984 and is recognized as an accomplished late Victorian Gothic Revival church, showcasing a very high quality of workmanship and a sophisticated use of local ironstone.