Church of St. John The Evangelist

Church of St. John The Evangelist

This church is probably of Saxon origin, with the nave wall and tower dating from the mid-11th century Norman period. The chancel, north chapel, north aisle and nave were added in the 13th century. The Evelyn Mortuary Chapel dates from the late 17th century, while the south porch and vestry were added in the 19th century during a restoration campaign.

The building is constructed of Bargate rubble with firestone dressings, supplemented in places by newer Bath stone and sandstone dressings. The north chancel chapel has rendered work on its east end, and the Evelyn chapel to the north is faced in thin brick. The roofs are Horsham slab over the main building, plain tiles over the south vestry and porch, and wood shingles on the bell-cote.

The plan consists of a west tower with nave and chancel extending to the east. The porch and vestry sit on the south side of the nave and chancel respectively, while the north aisle adjoins the nave, with a chapel and Evelyn Mausoleum to the north of the chancel.

The tower features notably thicker north and west walls. A blocked horseshoe-shaped arch appears on the west face, resting on simple imposts with offset flanking buttresses. A small rectangular opening sits above under the eaves, with a blocked window on the south side and a smaller open window above it. The tower rises to a two-stage pyramidal roof with one louvred opening in each face of the bell-cote and a wooden lead-covered spike finial. Two two-light windows with trefoil roundels appear on the south side beneath hood moulds, and a plain two-light lancet sits to the left buttress at the junction with the chancel. The 19th-century gabled vestry projects south of the chancel, with a gable trefoil and two-light window below. Three gables crown the east end, each with triple lancets under hood moulds in chamfered surrounds. The north chancel chapel displays three lancets at its east end, circa 1210, rebated externally for a wood frame and terminating in obtusely pointed heads. A leaded round window punctuates the east end of the Evelyn Mausoleum. The south porch is gabled and bargeboarded, dating to around 1858, with paired outer doors partly open and fitted with iron grilles above. The inner south door retains its 13th-century arch mouldings on older jamb shafts with a shaft ring at mid-height. The arch carries a double order of chamfers, with a hood mould of pear-shaped section flanked by hollows. The chamfered inner order features a series of minutely carved busts—four on each side—depicting a Pope, King, Priest, Nobleman, Queen and Pilgrim (the lowest head on each side is modern, the remainder original). Alternate voussoirs of green firestone and chalk appear above, with the impost moulding carried around the chamfer to form an abacus of the shaft capital.

Interior features include a tower arch of similar form to the blocked western arch. The chancel arch to the north chapel was blocked in the 17th century and repurposed as a screen, with two orders of narrow chamfers and impost moulding carried around the chamfers. Tracery was added to blank walls within the arch in 1858. The east end received 19th-century work with fake marble columns and shafts. The 19th-century stone font echoes 13th-century style, while the old font, now in the north chapel, is 17th-century stone with an ogee cover. A screen between the north aisle and chapel dates to 1632 and is among the few of this period to survive in Surrey.

The north chapel contains mural tablets including those for George Evelyn and his wives (1603), arranged tripartite with three kneelers and children below. An adjacent tablet commemorates Richard Evelyn (1634) with facing kneeling figures beneath a heavy pediment and drapes held back by flanking figures. A monument to Elizabeth Darcy (1634) displays a bust portrait with the head leaning on a hand in an architectural frame, with a baby in swaddling clothes below and rich swags and pediments above. Coffin-shaped unornamented slabs commemorate John Evelyn (1706) and his wife (1709). A monument to Sir John Evelyn, erected by his son in 1778 and executed by Robert Chambers, is accompanied by an inscription by Dr. Arnold. A monument to George Evelyn from 1829 is by Westmacott. Several trees in the churchyard are reputedly planted by John Evelyn.