Church of St John in the Fields, and gates and gateposts to south

This parish church was built in 1857-1858 by JP St Aubyn and consecrated in 1860. It was reordered according to a scheme by Giles Blomfield in 1974. The attached church hall is not included in this listing.

Materials and Construction

The church is built of local granite with a Delabole-slate pitched roof. Bath stone is used for dressings, and Baltic timber features internally.

Layout

The church is orientated south-west to north-east and comprises a nave and chancel, west tower, north and south aisles, and a south porch. A 1970s church hall is linked to the church on its north side, but both this link and the hall are excluded from the listing.

Exterior

Designed in the Early English style, the church is constructed of snecked local granite with ashlar quoins. The principal north and south elevations span eight bays running east to west.

The west tower rises in three stages from a squared-granite plinth with roll moulding. Angle buttresses with widely-splayed feet mark the bottom stage, rising to a saddleback roof with granite copings and a cross finial at the top. Steps lead up to the west doorway, which has a pointed arch with a granite hood mould. Above the doorway runs a stringcourse, then a lancet window (replicated on the north and south elevations of the tower). The belfry stage features paired lancets with louvres on the east and west elevations.

The gabled south porch has corner buttresses and paired windows with ogee heads on its east and west sides. Steps lead up to the outer entrance, a pointed arch with a hood mould. The steeply-sloping gable-coping terminates in a cross finial.

The south aisle has a pitched roof, four cusped lancet windows, and buttresses to the centre and east. Two-light windows with cusped tracery are positioned at the east and west ends of the aisle. Above the aisle, on the south elevation of the nave, is a clearstorey with four quatrefoil windows.

The two-bay chancel is lower and narrower than the nave, with slightly swept eaves. On its south elevation are two pairs of cusped lancets with quatrefoils above, separated by a buttress. The east elevation has a three-light window with cusped tracery and a hood mould, flanked by corner buttresses.

Attached to the north side of the chancel is a lean-to vestry under a catslide roof with a tapering granite chimney. The vestry entrance is on its west side, and on the east side is a two-light shouldered-arch window.

The north elevation of the church mirrors the south. A late-20th-century single-storey link to the church hall has been inserted at the east end of the north aisle, but both the link and church hall are excluded from this listing.

Interior

Porch

The porch has a quarry tile floor, timber benches on each side, and a cambered truss roof lined with timber. The windows are deeply recessed. Granite steps lead up to a granite pointed-arch inner doorway, which opens into a 20th-century glass and timber vestibule. Both the external and internal doors are of planked timber.

Nave

The nave is of five bays, defined by north and south arcades and roof trusses resting on granite corbels. The corbels supporting the principal trusses are positioned between each arch. The canted ceiling has intermediate trusses and is timber-lined.

The arcades are of Bath stone and comprise five pointed arches springing from octagonal piers with unadorned capitals. Above the point of each arch is a recessed clearstorey quatrefoil window with a granite surround.

At the west end, the screen door to the tower is of panelled and bevelled timber, with glazing in the upper panels, set in a triple-chamfered granite arch. The spandrel above the screen is filled with a painted and stencilled panel. Around the arch is an illuminated scroll painted on metal sheet inscribed with text from Matthew 18:19-20. Flanking the arch are two painted panels by W Eadie depicting St Mark and St Paul.

In the centre of the nave, close to the west end, is a Bath stone octagonal font with carved foliate and religious motifs and a simple timber cover. A single granite step is placed to its west.

On the north side at the east end of the nave is a Bath stone open-pulpit with pierced trefoils and a stone lectern.

There are no pews within the nave or aisles. The church is carpeted throughout and has plastered and painted walls.

North Aisle

The north aisle has lancet windows to the north, each with a decorative roundel of oak leaves set in plain glass with a coloured border; these may be contemporary with the chancel east window or date from the late 19th century.

The west window depicts Christ saving Peter from drowning. The east window depicts St Pantaleon and St Luke. Both were made by John Jennings of London.

Below the east window is a relocated chancel screen with depictions of the apostles painted by William Eadie. Around the window is an illuminated scroll painted on metal sheet with an inscription from Luke 9:11. Along the north wall plate is a further illuminated inscription from Philippians 4:6-7.

About halfway along the north wall is a 20th-century inserted doorway which connects via a link to the church hall. One of the lancet windows has been relocated to the west wall of the link.

South Aisle

The south aisle has lancet windows to the south with diamond-leaded clear glass. The organ is located at the east end of the aisle. Along the south wall plate is another illuminated inscription, from Psalm 68.

On the south wall, near the internal vestibule, is a granite memorial plaque to Richard Curnow who died on HMS Orinoco in 1896 on the way home from a plant-hunting trip to South America for his employer Hugh Low.

The west window in the south aisle depicts the Baptism of Christ and was again made by John Jennings.

Chancel

The pointed Bath-stone chancel arch has an internal attached arch springing from conical and octagonal moulded corbels. Around the outside of the chancel arch is an illuminated scroll painted on metal sheet with an inscription from Matthew 11:28.

The chancel has a timber-lined, barrel-vaulted ceiling. Along the north and south wall plates are further illuminated inscriptions from 1 Corinthians 10:16-17.

The chancel floor is laid with tiles from the Ecclesiastical Pottery Company in Poole. The choir comprises simple timber stalls with poppy-head finials.

In the centre of the north wall is a granite shouldered-arch doorway to the vestry, over which is a painted inscription on metal: 'Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness' (Psalm 132:9). To the left of the doorway is a painting of the Crucifixion by William Eadie, and to the right a commemorative mosaic roundel to James Lanham. Above the doorway is a painted and stencilled panel on metal depicting the dove of peace.

Two steps lead up to the sanctuary, which has simple timber and wrought-iron communion rails. On the front of the early-20th-century altar are painted depictions of four of the archangels. Three embroidered panels are mounted in an oak-framed reredos above.

The east window depicts Christ as the Saviour of the World flanked by the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist. It is inscribed TMD and JJ—for Thomas Millie Dow and John Jennings—at the bottom of each light. The dedication is on a brass plaque mounted on the north wall. The east window is surrounded by another illuminated scroll with quotes from Revelation 4:8 and the Te Deum.

On the south wall are two windows: one with diamond-leaded clear glass and the other, made by John Jennings, depicting Christ's commission to Peter: 'Feed my sheep'. They are also surrounded by illuminated scrolls with quotes from Psalm 96. Between the windows is a painted and stencilled panel of the Agnus Dei.

Gates and Gateposts

At the south end of the approach drive to the church are three square-section granite gateposts with pyramidal caps. The pedestrian gate is timber with five decorative chamfered horizontal bars, and the vehicular gate is wrought iron.