Church Of St John

The Church of St John, located on St John's Road, was built between 1851 and 1853 by Sir John William Ramsden, 5th Baronet, in memory of his father. The architect was William Butterfield. The church is constructed of ashlar and features steep-pitched slate roofs with coped gables and lean-to aisle roofs that are parapeted. It has a five-bay nave with small circular windows in the clerestory, a chancel, and porches on the south-west and north-west sides. Notable architectural details include fine Geometrical tracery, particularly at the east and west ends, and a four-stage tower in the south-east corner that has impressive traceried bell-openings, an openwork parapet, and octagonal corner pinnacles. The tower is topped with an octagonal spire that has three stages of gabled lucarnes, a crocketed finial, and a weathervane. Inside, the church features a collar-braced roof with lower struts that incline slightly inward, an ashlar font, and a pulpit made of massive, elemental forms. The wooden furnishings are characteristically simple, with bench ends that create the illusion of being slightly tilted.