Church of St John is a Grade II listed building in the Watford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 7 January 1983. Church. 2 related planning applications.
Church of St John
- WRENN ID
- woven-plaster-grove
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Watford
- Constituency
- Watford MP: Matt Turmaine (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 7 January 1983
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St John, Sutton Road
- OS grid reference
- TQ 111 967
- Coordinates
- 51.65853, -0.39385
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St John, built between 1891 and 1893 by Eley E White of Christopher and White, is a tall stone Gothic church designed in the style of J L Pearson. Although the tower and spire were never constructed, the church features rubble stone walls and an overall slate roof, with a slim lead fleche above the chancel arch. The structure includes a four-bay nave that is slightly narrower than the three-bay chancel, and six-bay aisles that end one bay short of the east end.
At the west, there is a narthex with a gabled south-west porch, and a small gabled porch is located in the south aisle. The corners of the nave and the east corner of the aisles are adorned with square turrets that are panelled and topped with steep pyramid caps. The aisles, narthex, and chancel are supported by buttresses with set-offs.
The church features lancet windows, with pairs in the tall clerestory and single lancets in the chancel. The west window has three lights with quatrefoils in the head, flanked by single lancets, while the east window consists of three lancets. The south-west porch has a moulded arch, with the mouldings dying into piers and five stepped lancets above, interrupted by a string course. Inside, the nave has an open timber roof, and the chancel is stone vaulted with quadripartite ribs. The clerestory openings are shafted with shaft-rings, and the east window is elaborately treated with three cusped arches on ringed shafts that screen the lancets behind. Additionally, there is a large stone reredos and an elaborate timber rood-screen.
Local climate
Church of St John sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 86% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 85% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 61% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 3 transactions since 1999
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings