Church Of St John The Evangelist

The Church of St John the Evangelist is a church built around 1842 to 1843 by architect William Wallen from Huddersfield. The tower was rebuilt around 1895 by A. Child from Calverley, and the porch was added in 1898. The church features a four-stage west tower, a south porch, a nave, a chancel, and a north transept, all designed in the Gothic Revival Early English lancet style.

The exterior includes a plinth and a sill band. The tower has a gabled porch on the south side, with angle buttresses that have gabled offsets. The second stage of the tower features a single light window flanked by smaller blind windows, while the third stage has a five-light window with two belfry lights. The fourth stage is adorned with clasping buttresses topped with pinnacles, and there is a clock face on each side, along with a Lombard frieze and parapet. The nave consists of six bays defined by gabled buttresses and has a corbel table and a coped gable. The lower two-bay chancel has a three-light east window with a blind vesica above and offset angle buttresses, topped with a coped gable and a cross. The north transept, attached to the first bay of the chancel, features twin gables.

Inside, the church has a single vessel with a six-bay queen-post roof and a west gallery supported by slender cast-iron columns. The chancel is accessed through a pointed arch that rises from shafted columns. The pews and choir stalls are decorated with Early English style tracery. An octagonal carved oak pulpit, dating from around 1900, was added at the same time as linenfold panelling in the sanctuary. An elaborate reredos was created by Messrs. Healey from Bradford. Additional panelling was added to the chancel around 1938. Notably, there is an unusual portable font, which is on a modern stand and is initialled and dated 1667 E. W., referring to Elkanah Wales, the vicar in the 17th century.

The site for the church was donated by Thomas Thornhill of Fixby Hall, Huddersfield, who was the Lord of the Manor of Calverley and a benefactor of the church.