Church Of St John The Evangelist

The Church of St John the Evangelist is an Anglican church located in Preston, Brighton. The nave was constructed between 1901 and 1902, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons and built by James Longley, with the chancel added in 1926. The church is built of rock-faced stone with stone dressings, and has a tile roof.

The exterior features an east window with geometrical tracery and three louvred lancets above. There are two lancet windows to the north of the chancel, and four to the south. The north and south aisles have ten lancets in pairs between shallow buttresses, topped by a parapet that sweeps up and is interrupted over the buttresses. The clerestories also feature ten lancets in pairs with hoodmoulds, linked by a string course. At the west end, flat-arched entrances lead to the north and south aisles beneath a pointed-arched moulding; the tympanum and angles of this moulding are filled with panels of foliage embracing crowns, and a Y-traceried window sits above. Deep buttresses embrace a narthex, with side entrances piercing the buttresses in the form of flat arches under a pointed arch with a glazed tympanum. A rectangular baptistery has a parapet, and a 2-light window with a cinquefoil above, along with two outer lancets and stepped louvred lancets to the apex. A wooden and lead fleche stands at the meeting of the nave and chancel. The north-east vestry has one pointed-arched and two flat-arched entrances, and a 3-light trefoiled window. An organ chamber is situated above.

Inside, the east window is flanked by a pointed-arched panel on either side, with sedilia to the south featuring simplified mouldings. Vault shafts decorate the side walls, adorned with bosses of foliage. There is a two-bay arcade to the south, now closed, and an organ chamber to the north. Elaborate carved reredos, made of stone, includes three panels; the central panel is higher and depicts the Ascension. The choir stalls likely date from the chancel's construction. The chancel floor is finished with terrazzo work, and a simple chancel screen is present. A multi-moulded chancel arch is set just below the roof. The nave consists of five-and-a-quarter bays with roll-moulded capitals and pointed arches, with a chamfer and inner order. A moulded sill band runs along the clerestory windows. A three-bay arcade leads to the narthex and baptistery, where the font is set back in a top-lit space under a broad segmental arch. The nave and chancel are virtually under one roof, with a five-sided vault featuring panelled ribs and panelling. The polygonal pulpit is decorated with elaborate Gothic work, including engaged colonnettes of green marble, all on a base of clustered columns. The font is made of white marble and depicts an angel holding a shell, and was created by J Whitehead. Original wrought-iron brackets and pendant electroliers are found in the nave.