Church Of St John The Evangelist

Church of St John The Evangelist, Dudley

A church built in 1838-40 to the design of William Bourne and constructed by J. & W. Holland of Dudley. Substantial additions and alterations were made by Davies and Middleton in 1872-3. The building is of limestone rubble with Gornal sandstone dressings and a machine-tile roof. It comprises a nave with aisles and galleries, a chancel, vestry and organ chamber, with staircases to either side of the western tower providing access to the galleries.

The tower features a western door with hood mould, above which is a blocked lancet. The belfry stage has paired lancets with louvred openings on each side. The tower originally had a battlemented parapet, now replaced with a plain parapet. Enclosed staircases flank the west face of the tower, both containing ranks of lancet windows that rise diagonally in line with the stair flights. Each staircase has an external doorway allowing direct gallery access; the southern staircase also connects internally to the rear of the nave.

Both flanks of the aisles are lit by lancet windows with bays divided by ashlar buttresses with offsets. Above this sits a later clerestory level featuring two quatrefoil lights to each bay. The later chancel has a lower roofline than the nave and an eastern window of three lancet lights, with single lancets to either flank. The lean-to vestry to the south and organ chamber to the north are attached; the vestry has a doorway at its left side.

The interior nave contains seven bays marked by arcades of stone piers with heavily carved capitals of 1872-3, supporting the clerestory. The gallery fronts feature a miniature arcade added at the same period. The central roof has simple trusses with arched braces, while the areas above the galleries retain half-trusses with cusped timbers and angled struts, adapted from the original 1838-40 roof. Fixed pews in the nave have incised quatrefoils to their ends. The pulpit bears carved figures of the evangelists. The chancel contains painted choir stalls with arcaded decoration, a piscina, sedilia with three seats, altar rails and reredos all with carved decoration. A wrought iron screen was added in 1888, and stained glass fills the east window and lateral lancets. A font designed by Thomas Grazebrook was added to the nave in 1905. Encaustic tiles cover the nave and chancel floors except the altar steps, where they have been removed. At the time of survey in February 2009, the altar and some panels of stained glass depicting episodes from the life of St John the Evangelist by James Powell & Sons had been removed for safekeeping.

Two churches were built in Dudley simultaneously to similar designs by Bourne: St John the Evangelist and St. James's, Eve Hill. Joint fundraising for both included a Grand Bazaar lasting two days in July 1837 in the grounds of Dudley Castle. An undated engraving held by the Parochial Church Council documents the church's earlier internal appearance, showing side galleries supported by metal columns with plain panelled fronts, no clerestory, and a roof with wide queen post trusses with cusped timbers.