Church Of St John

The Church of St John is a Grade II* listed building constructed between 1875 and 1876 by architect William Butterfield for Sir Arthur Elton. It is built from squared and coursed local stone, featuring Bath stone banding and dressings, and has a plain tile roof. The church includes a nave with aisles, transepts, and a south-west tower topped with a saddleback roof. A new porch and a second vestry were added in 1883-1884. The exterior showcases a robust Gothic Revival style typical of Butterfield, characterized by paired lancet windows in the aisles and imaginative Middle Pointed tracery in all other windows, including a rose window in the north transept.

Inside, the church has narrow aisles with arcades supported by square chamfered piers that lack capitals. The pulpit and choir fittings are made of oak and walnut, complemented by patterned plain and encaustic tiles, along with an effective use of Devonshire and other marbles in the chancel. The lower walls of the nave and aisles are lined with red and various colored Staffordshire tiles. The roof is finely crafted, featuring a brattished cornice and deep canted arch bracing in the nave. Due to subsidence, the original stone arch dividing the interior was replaced in 1909 with a girder and iron screen designed by C.S. Hare. The stained glass was created by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, and the Lady Chapel was fitted by Hare. The chancel reredos originally displayed a marble cross surrounded by four Evangelistic emblems in mosaic on gold backgrounds.