Church Of St John

The Church of St John is a building of 1876-7, designed by T R Saunders of Ventnor, constructed in the Early English style. A tower was added in 1911 in a Gothic style, along with some furnishings. The church is built of coursed stone rubble with slate roofing, except for the shingled roof of the tower. The building comprises a four-bay nave, a two-bay chancel, and a south-west tower of three stages crowned with a pyramidal roof, featuring lucarnes and a metal weathervane. A clock face is present on the upper stage of the tower, and the bell stage has triple lancet windows with drip-moulding. The west gable end features a triple lancet window, with the central light being taller and incorporating colonnettes and ballflower corbels. The nave north and south sides have arched windows with paired lancets and oval lights above, separated by buttresses. The chancel east window is a triple lancet, with a taller central light, drip-mouldings and ballflower corbels, and offset corner buttresses. Later stone additions obscure the north and south walls of the chancel.

Inside, the nave features a kingpost roof with arch braces supported on stone corbels. The chancel arch has paired colonnettes, and the chancel itself has a wooden ribbed barrel-vaulted roof supported on stone corbels, with an encaustic tiled floor. Principal fixtures include a wooden reredos from 1898, featuring trefoiled painted panels and wooden panelling, alongside a 1911 east window depicting the Assumption. Side windows are by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, while a 1952 window at the west end is by Lawrence Lee. Additional furnishings include a small octagonal stone font, wooden pews, a pulpit, and choir stalls.

A stone war memorial stands to the south-west of the tower, consisting of a cross mounted on a tapering octagonal shaft with a gabled projection displaying trefoil panels located near the top, and settled on a square plinth with a curved top, inscribed with the names of the fallen. Three steps lead up to the memorial.

The tower was constructed in 1911, funded through public subscription, to house a clock gifted to the parish by Henry Charles Millett, R.N., a Crimean veteran. The Church of St John is designated at Grade II for its architectural design, featuring the work of local architect Saunders and the later addition of a matching tower. It also holds significance for its interior features, particularly the original fittings and stained glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.