Church of St John the Divine, Calder Grove

Church of St John the Divine, Calder Grove

This is an Anglican church built in 1892-3 to the design of William Swinden Barber. It is constructed of coursed sandstone bricks with ashlar dressings and a slate roof with clay ridge tiles, executed in the Early English style.

The church is a small building approximately 72 feet long, with a rectangular plan that incorporates a porch at the western end on the north side and a combined vestry and organ chamber attached to the south side.

The exterior is characterized by single and multiple lancet windows throughout, all with quoined surrounds and angled sills. The windows to the west end and nave contain leaded glazing, whilst those to the chancel contain stained glass. The west gable-end elevation is dominated by a large 4-light lancet window, the two centre lancets of which are taller. These original leaded panes are now protected by plastic anti-vandalism covers. Above the gable rises a gableted bellcote containing a single bell of 1893 cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel, London. A cross finial originally surmounted the bellcote but was removed in the early 21st century after becoming unsafe.

The west entrance is formed by a gabled porch attached to the western end of the north side, surmounted by an Alisee Patee circle cross finial. It features a wide Gothic-arched opening with quoined jambs, an integral hoodmould, and later metal gates inserted behind the opening. The porch contains a doorway with quoined jambs and original timber plank-and-batten double doors, and is roofed with a collared-rafter construction.

The nave is lit by two triple-lancet windows on each of the north and south sides, with an additional small lancet at the western end on the north side. A combined vestry and organ chamber projection is attached to the south side towards the eastern end, rising above the eaves in a catslide roof formation. This projection has a 2-light mullioned window and a single-light window to the south wall, both with quoined surrounds, and a doorway to the west return with a heavy stone lintel and plank-and-batten door.

The chancel is lit by two small lancets on the north side and a single lancet on the south side, positioned higher on the wall to reflect the change in interior floor level. The east gable-end elevation has short gableted buttresses to each edge and a triple-lancet window with trefoil-arched and cusped tracery, the centre light being taller and incorporating a trefoil to the top. Above the window is a stepped hoodmould continuing across the elevation, and the gable is surmounted by a floriated cross finial.

Internally, the church has painted-plaster walls with a polished red-deal floor in the nave and a bitumen floor in the chancel, mostly hidden under carpet coverings. The vestry floor, believed to be softwood boards, is also concealed under later carpet. Historic photographs reveal that the walls of the nave and chancel were originally decorated with stencilled paintings by Powell Bros of Leeds. These have been painted over but are believed to possibly survive underneath, with the exception of the west wall, which has been re-plastered. The sister church, St James the Less in New Mills, Derbyshire, has similar stencilling that has been revealed during restoration and conversion works.

The nave and chancel share a collared scissor-truss roof with two king-post trusses. The principal king-post chancel truss features stencilled decoration consisting of foliate work in red and gold to the underside of the tie beam and gold roundels containing fleur-de-lys motifs on the sides of the tie beam, representing the Diocese of Wakefield. The collared trusses in the chancel also bear stencilled decoration with gold fleur-de-lys motifs.

The windows are all recessed internally, with the 3-light windows to the nave set behind a central sandstone column with a simple Gothic carved base and capital. The nave retains its original bench pews of red deal. At the western end is a bell rope that passes through a hole in the roof and descends in front of the west window. At the foot of the west window stands a carved stone font with a columnar shaft and wooden lid, made from stone from Crosland Moor, Huddersfield.

The wooden pulpit features a pierced traceried design and is adorned by a small brass plaque at the rear steps with a dedication to John Mackie. An ornate brass lectern with filigree design was donated by Miss Edith G Mackie, and a carved reader's desk with a traceried front incorporates a First World War memorial inscription on one of the side panels.

The chancel has been re-ordered and retains its carved choir stalls. The original altar has been removed, although the footpace and carved arcaded altar frontispiece survive. A modern altar table has been placed at the front of the chancel, and the original brass communion rails have been moved forward.

The chancel is lit by two stained-glass lancets on the north side depicting St John the Baptist and St John the Divine, and a single lancet on the south side depicting the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus. The stained-glass east window depicts a robed Jesus Christ with bound hands and a crown of thorns in the centre light, with adoring angels in the flanking side lights. A dedication inscription in calligraphic script reads 'To the honour of God and in memory of John Mackie, this window is dedicated by Mary Elizabeth Mackie. A.D. 1893'. A small stained-glass trefoil to the top of the window depicts a roundel containing the Christogram 'IHC' surrounded by floral decoration.

A large Gothic-arched opening on the south side of the chancel contains the organ chamber and leads through to the vestry, which is a plain space with built-in cupboards and a wall safe by Cyrus Price & Co Ltd of Wolverhampton. The organ, funded by the Mackie family, was installed in the early 1900s and is the work of Alfred Kirkland of Upper Holloway, London.

The modern Ordnance Survey map still depicts Sunday School buildings to the south of the church, but these were demolished in 2014.