St John Chambers

St John Chambers is a former parish church, dating from 1854-55 and designed by G.G. Scott. Originally named the Church of St John the Divine, it has been converted into apartments in the late 1980s. The church is constructed of random red-granite rubble with limestone dressings and buff sandstone banding, covered by a slate roof.

The building follows a plan consisting of an aisled nave with a north tower and a corresponding south transept, alongside an aisled chancel. The architectural style largely reflects Scott's preference for the c1300 period, although the character has been affected by modern window frames and skylights added to the steep roof. The west front, facing Ashwell Street, features an elaborate doorway with nook shafts, a band of five cusped lancet windows, and a rose window in the gable. The aisles have pointed windows now fitted with modern domestic window frames. The three-stage tower incorporates angle buttresses, a polygonal north-east turret, and a plain parapet added in the 1950s following the removal of the spire. The lower stage of the tower includes two lancet windows beneath a round window with quatrefoil tracery. The second stage has narrow cusped windows, and the upper stage has two-light bell openings. A four-light window is present on the south transept, while the former chapels in the chancel aisles have three-light east windows and three south windows; the central of these retains its original tracery. The chancel’s east end is a polygonal apse with two-light windows.

The interior has been extensively altered. The church was originally constructed with arcades featuring round piers and foliage capitals, and included glasswork by William Wailes and a wrought-iron screen from 1903 by C.H. Lohr. Built at a cost of approximately £7,000, it was one of the first churches in Leicester built according to ecclesiological principles.

The church is designated at Grade II for its significance as one of the earliest churches in Leicester built under ecclesiological principles by a leading 19th-century church architect. Despite its interior alterations and loss of fixtures, it retains significant external character and detail.