Chapel of St John the Evangelist

Chapel of St John the Evangelist

This is a Chapel-of-Ease built in 1625 by the Protestant John Packer to commemorate the return of Prince Charles from Spain, and specifically to celebrate that he did not marry the Catholic Infanta, as recorded in an inscription. The chapel has undergone several campaigns of work: restoration in 1757 by William Camfield, early 19th-century improvements (with a weathervane dated 1824), repair to the east end after lightning damage in 1895, and roof rebuilding in 1912.

The building is constructed of red brick in English bond up to eaves level with brick gables. Quoins are lightly and distinctively rusticated in sandstone ashlar, with decorative use of cream and yellow-coloured sandstone elsewhere. The roof is covered in peg tiles.

The plan consists of a nave and chancel beneath a continuous roof, with a south porch and a small priest's doorway on the north side of the chancel. The design is essentially Perpendicular Gothic with some classical elements. The chapel is a gable-ended block with diagonal corner buttresses at each end. The gable ends are lit by tall five-light transomed windows with Tudor arch (almost elliptical) heads and Perpendicular tracery, flanked by 19th-century buttresses with the hoodmould stepping up over them. Each long side has three similar three-light windows, separated by buttresses with alternate bands of projecting rusticated sandstone. The gables have stone coping.

The west gable includes a lozenge-shaped timber clockface with painted Roman numerals and an hour hand, inscribed with the initials BRS and the date 1792. Above it is a small keyed oculus, and at the apex a gabled brick bellcote surmounted by an ornate wrought iron weathervane. A view of the west end dated 1809 shows the chapel without the side buttresses flanking the window, with the clockface set higher, and a different bellcote structure.

The south porch is set left of centre and is gabled with sandstone quoins in which alternate quoins project slightly. The outer arch is classical and round-headed, with moulded imposts, chamfered surround, facetted keystone and balls in the spandrels. Below the gable are the beginnings of a pediment. The gable contains the dedication plaque (also carved with William Camfield 1775) and below it a plaque carved with the Prince of Wales feathers. The south doorway is a round-headed arch with chamfered surround, containing a small-panelled oak door.

Interior

The continuous roof over nave and chancel is supported by five bays of early 20th-century tie-beam trusses with crown posts enriched with Jacobean-style Renaissance features. The ceiling is boarded except for the eastern bay, which has panels painted with religious emblems in strapwork cartouches. There is no structural division between nave and chancel. The walls are plastered above small-field oak panelled wainscotting. One panel near the west end of the north wall bears the date 1690. A moulded plaster cornice runs throughout. The floor is laid with 19th-century tiles including a couple of 17th-century graveslabs, while the chancel floor comprises black and white marble flags.

The reredos is oak-panelled in 17th-century style, though probably 19th-century work. The altar table is probably 17th-century with turned baluster legs. A 19th-century brass altar rail has twisted standards and foliate brackets. Stalls and chancel rail are probably 19th-century, though the Tuscan colonettes may be based on originals and parts could be 17th-century work. The pulpit is a good 17th-century oak drum with panelled sides enriched with carving and a small original sounding board. Benches are plain 19th-century oak. The font is a good 17th-century stone piece with a fluted octagonal bowl and stem, decorated with a jewelled band. The clock mechanism exposed at the west end has been much repaired, but expert opinion suggests parts date from the early 17th century, possibly even older than the chapel itself. Three good brass chandeliers are present: the largest in the chancel is believed to be 17th-century Flemish with the others being later copies. Other 17th-century brass candleholders are distributed around the chapel.

The finest memorial is in the chancel commemorating Sir Philip Packer (died 1686). It comprises a sculpted semi-naked figure of Sir Philip seated slumped in death, holding an open book, set within a round-headed niche on a fluted base with an inscribed cartouche below. Adjacent in the east wall is a memorial to Sir John Packer (died 1697), consisting of a framed plaque flanked by panelled pilasters, with an entablature carved with foliage, an open pediment containing an armorial cartouche, and a gadrooned sill over an apron bearing a plaque with a winged cherub's head. The south wall includes a couple of 19th-century marble plaques and, over the south door, an alabaster plaque in memory of William Cotton Oswell (died 1893), an eminent explorer.

The stained glass is mostly 19th-century. The east window of the south wall contains an early 17th-century heraldic panel with the Peckham arms, reset amongst later imitations by Clayton and Bell. An adjoining south window is also by Clayton and Bell. The remaining windows are by Kempe, dating from the 1890s.

This is a rare example of an early 17th-century church, situated within an exceptional group of important and attractive buildings in Old Groombridge, all associated with nearby Groombridge Place.