Church Of St John The Baptist

Church of St John the Baptist, now converted to flats. Built 1915–16 to a design by JD Coleridge. The timber roof was destroyed by incendiary bombs during the Second World War and restored in 1951 by Paul Coleridge. The Lady Chapel was restored in 1963 by Arthur Llewellyn-Smith. The building was converted to 40 flats in 1986–87, a conversion which has maintained the integrity of the original internal elements.

The church is constructed of red and grey bricks laid in Flemish bond with Welsh slated roofs. The plan comprises a 5-bay aisled nave, a 1-bay chancel with an apsidal sanctuary, a Lady Chapel on the south side of the chancel, a vestry on the north side, and a former entrance on the west side of the nave with an apsidal baptistry at the centre.

The west face of the nave features a low apsidal baptistry with a round brick stepped arched window at the centre, flanked by late 20th-century doors set under flat brick arches. To either side are 3 tiers of late 20th-century windows each set under a round brick arch. Stepped buttresses flank the nave corners. The nave itself has 3 narrow recessed windows with stepped brick jambs and round arches, with the centre window taller than the flanking windows.

The south face includes a former porch at the far left with a facing stone coped gable and a round brick arched entrance with late 20th-century brick infill and window. Flanking round-headed brick window openings also feature late 20th-century brick infill and windows. Two tiers of late 20th-century windows are set under rounded brick arches. A low lean-to roofed aisle between the porch and the projecting former chapel on the right has a late 20th-century tall brick round-headed opening at the centre. The roof over this opening has been removed, exposing the nave columns with late 20th-century brick wall infills containing 3 tiers of windows each set under a flat brick arch. To left and right of centre are late 20th-century recessed panels with stepped brick round arches, each with a window and two tiers of smaller flanking windows. The far right features the projecting former chapel with a stone coped facing gable, corner buttresses, an original brick arched window opening with late 20th-century brick infill, a recessed 2-leaf late 20th-century door, windows, and 3 round brick arched recessed windows. The nave has 6 paired brick round-arched clerestory windows, each pair set within a recessed brick panel, with a small late 20th-century window below each pair set under a flat brick arch. The north face is similar to the south face. The east face has an apsidal sanctuary to the chancel, flanked by the facing stone coped gables of the chapel and vestry.

The interior arcades to the nave have stepped brick piers with plain stone capitals, now preserved within the 1986–87 conversion. The former sanctuary has a low open arcade of brick piers with plain stone capitals and rounded brick arches. The semi-dome of the apsidal sanctuary has a mosaic ceiling depicting Christ on the cross with St Mary and St John the Evangelist, created in 1935 by Philip Suffolk. Stained glass in the former south chapel, dating from 1918–54, was made by Karl Parsons and depicts the Nativity. An east window in the south wall was created by Edward Woore.