Chapel Of St John

Chapel of St John is a manor house chapel dating from 1661-2, originally built for William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons, and restored in 1937 by W H Godfrey. The building is constructed of ashlar with a Cotswold stone roof. Its design is a rectangular block in a classicized Gothic style. The chapel has two bays, characterized by three Ionic pilaster strips, the outer forming corner piers, all set on high plinths and topped by a cornice and parapet. The north bay features a panel supporting a pediment with an enriched tympanum. According to Skelton's engraving, a matching arrangement originally existed on the south window. Finials with crude crockets adorn the ends. There are two traceried windows; the south window is a wheel window within a square frame, featuring ogee rosettes in the spandrels of the trefoil ends and panels within the spandrels. The right-hand window is a three-light design with round arches, a central heart-shaped light, and flanking mouchettes, resembling the Oxford College Fontainebleau style, all set within square frames with low-relief dragons in the spandrels. Shaped gables have tracery-panelled saddle-stone finials. The south (ritual east) side features an arched three-light window of Serlian proportions, with a wheel-fanlight above. The north gable is highly enriched with high-relief royal arms. A Corinthian pilastered doorcase is located on the first floor, topped with a pediment and cornice returned from the sides, raised up. The ground floor door has lotus caps to plain pilasters, and putti and garland panels within the frieze. The interior features a reconstructed plaster barrel vault with guilloche panels (c.1937), topped with a moulded cornice featuring an egg and dart bed-mould. The walls are ashlar-lined above a restored wood-panelled dado, made of deal with a dentil cornice and drapery swagged enrichments to the upper panels; the main panels are satinwood veneer. The floor is diamond-flagged with black insets. The main feature is a family pew at the north end. This pew has a panelled front, recessed in the centre with spiral-fluted Corinthian columns and enriched panel bases. The door is framed by a remarkable sculpture of two angels and the burning bush, deeply undercut in stone. The windows are set within carved panels with moulded architraves, and the south window is flanked by mural tablets and inscriptions.