Church Of St John

The Church of St John is a Grade I listed church built between 1818 and 1823, possibly designed by C.R. Cockerell or by its builder, William Woods. It is constructed of stucco with a slated roof and showcases a classical style.

The exterior features a five-bay aisled nave with a symmetrical west front that has a slightly projecting central bay topped with a pediment. This bay is accentuated by pilasters at the corners and is flanked by small wings that contain blind windows and have parapets that rise towards the central pediment. A prostyle portico with a penthouse roof leads to an architraved doorway with panelled double doors. On either side of the entrance are architraved round-arched windows on the ground floor and architraved oculi above. The pediment is adorned with a clock, and above it sits a rectangular bell cupola supported by columns at the corners, featuring an entablature and round-arched louvred openings.

Inside, the church is particularly impressive, with panelled galleries on three sides supported by two orders of slim cast-iron columns with enriched capitals. The roof is tunnel-vaulted and features simple coffers. The reredos is Corinthian in style, with a distyle-in-antis design, inscribed entablature, and architraved, pedimented doorways in the outer bays. The east window is of Venetian type, framed by a pilastered architrave and filled with patterned stained glass, including the eagle of St John. The north and south walls are punctuated by segmental-arched windows with splayed soffits above and below the galleries, while the rear of the galleries has corresponding round-arched openings to allow light to filter through. The church also contains box pews with umbrella stands on the doors.

Historically, the church was built to serve the new middle-class development in the area. In 1916, Leslie Wright purchased the freehold and leased it to the congregation for a nominal rent. Upon his death, he requested that the church not be sold as long as there was a congregation to support it. St John's remains the only proprietary chapel in the diocese of London that is self-supporting.