Church Of St John The Evangelist

Church of St John the Evangelist, Walmley Road, Sutton Coldfield

A Neo-Norman church designed by Henry J. Whitling and completed by Daniel R. Hill between 1843 and 1845. The original building consists of a four-bay nave with short chancel, enclosed west porch, and transeptal organ chamber at the south-east. An organ chamber was added by Charles E. Bateman in 1912–13. Extensive reordering took place in 1985–7, when a new nave was constructed to the north.

The church is built of blue-black vitrified or "engineering" brick, probably made in Staffordshire, with red Midlands sandstone dressings and tiled roofs. This combination of materials was briefly fashionable among church builders in the 1840s. The west front is a simple gabled composition with an enclosed porch, a large wheel window above, and a bellcote on the gable. The red sandstone dressings feature Neo-Norman decoration: two orders of columns flanking the west door with chevrons and billet mouldings round the arch. Flat buttresses stand at the outer angles, with flat pilasters between four single-light windows on the sides, each with single columns, cushion capitals and decorated arches. The east end has a triple window with a small rose in the gable, and a large round-arched door opens into the gabled transeptal projection at the south-east, now containing a staircase. This structure was originally a single-storey vestry, heightened and converted to an organ loft in 1912–13. The new church of 1985–7 is of purple brick with paired round-arched openings, red sandstone dressings, clasping buttresses and a blocked eaves cornice, designed in sympathy with the Victorian buildings. Old and new structures are linked by a narrow, unobtrusive lobby of brown powder-coated steel with bronzed glazing.

The interior was completely transformed in 1985–7 by the insertion of a mezzanine floor, lobby, staircase, office and kitchen. To prevent the mezzanine colliding with the chancel arch, the ceiling was cut away in a semicircle and a glazed half-dome inserted around the arch to enclose the upper room, allowing the chancel arch to remain visible. The arch is stepped in profile with two orders of columns bearing scallop capitals, moulded imposts, and on the arch itself, raised bosses on the inner arch, then an order of chevrons, then an outer double band of alternating billets. The triple east window has similar decoration. At mezzanine level, heavy chamfered hammerbeam roof trusses are visible, secured at the joints with iron strapping. The new nave has brick and rendered walls with timber cladding in the sanctuary and roofs.

Most fittings were removed during the 1985 reordering. The principal survival is stained glass, notably the triple east window with brightly coloured and densely patterned glass by William Holland of Warwick, dated 1857. Similar glass appears in the rose window above. The long side windows of the nave contain later 19th-century glass, apparently unsigned, though much is not fully visible because of the inserted mezzanine floor. The chancel contains a few minor Gothic and Classical memorials of circa 1840s to 1860s.

The church was funded in 1843 by Miss Lucy Riland, a relative of the rector of Sutton Coldfield, who offered £1,000 towards its construction, with additional funds provided by Joseph Webster, owner of Penns Mill wire factory. The first architect was Henry John Whitling of Shrewsbury, previously of London, who was active circa 1835–44. His plans proved unacceptable to the building committee, and as Whitling "got into pecuniary difficulties" and left England in 1844, the plans were revised and executed by Daniel R. Hill, best known for designing public works in Birmingham including asylums, workhouses, baths and Winson Green prison. The church was opened by the Bishop of Worcester on 2 September 1845. Neo-Norman, the chosen style, enjoyed a brief period of fashion circa 1840–5. The construction cost was £2,658, to which the Incorporated Church Building Society contributed £200. Hill's alterations probably included the small single-storey vestry at the south-east. This was converted to an organ chamber in 1912–13 by Birmingham architect Charles E. Bateman, at which time new choir and clergy vestries were formed by panelled partitions at the west end of the nave. In 1985–7, more radical changes were made at a cost of approximately £400,000, with a new nave linked at right angles to the north and the old church transformed into halls, offices, kitchen and meeting rooms. The church reopened on 6 December 1987.