Church Of St John

The Church of St John is a chapel of ease constructed between 1858 and 1859, designed by A.D. Gough of London. It is built of hammer-dressed stone with ashlar dressings, featuring shaped tile roofs with plain tile bands, crested ridge tiles, and coped verges. The church comprises a five-bay nave and a south porch, a north-west tower with a broach spire, a two-bay chancel, and single-cell north and south chapels. The architectural style is primarily late 13th century, with pointed windows generally featuring cinquefoil-headed lights, geometrical tracery, and hood moulds terminating in heads.

The north-west tower has four stages. It includes a pointed north door and a two-light window to the west. A semi-octagonal projection to the east holds a single trefoil-headed window set within a pointed arch, with moulded eaves featuring ballflower ornament and leading to a hipped stone slate roof. The second stage has single trefoil-headed windows under pointed arches with hood moulds, while the third stage features blind quatrefoils within circles on each side. The belfry stage has two-light louvred openings. The nave’s windows are three-light and are divided by buttresses. The south porch is gabled and constructed from timber on a stone plinth, with shaped and fretted bargeboards. The chancel features a pointed east window of five lights, the central light broadened and incorporating a rose window. A blind pointed trefoil is set within a circle on the gable, with single-light north and south windows. The north and south chapels have single-light windows to the east and west, and two-light windows to the north and south, with square heads and cinquefoil-headed lights. An octagonal projection to the west of the north chapel holds single trefoil-headed windows set within pointed arches.

Inside, a pointed chancel arch has a chamfered outer arch and a marble inner arch of two orders; the inner arch springs from marble shafts with naturalistic foliage to the capitals and corbel bases, with ballflower ornament between the orders. Pointed squints provide views into the flanking chapels. Three-bay arcades feature pointed arches with cinquefoil cusping. Arch braced collar roofs with braced king posts and decorative cusping are present in the nave and chancel, with arch braces springing from marble shafts with foliated caps and corbel bases. Fittings include an octagonal stone font with panelled sides, a full set of pews, an octagonal wooden pulpit with carved foliage and ballflower ornament, and choir stalls with poppyheads. An altar rail is supported by wrought iron stands with foliage brackets.