Church Of St John The Evangelist

Church of St John the Evangelist, Warminster

This is a High Victorian church designed by G.E. Street in 1864-5, with later additions by Sir Arthur Blomfield (vestry, 1897) and C.E. Ponting (baptistery, 1922-6). The building is constructed of coursed and squared yellow Hisomley rubble stone with Bath stone ashlar quoins and dressings, with tiled roofs. The plan comprises a nave, western baptistery, three-bay north aisle, south porch, chancel with organ chamber and vestry to the north.

The exterior presents an impression of plain solidity through chisel-dressed stone, a predominance of wall surface to window, and sparing ornament. Street employed a simple late 13th-century style with plate tracery. The tall nave is steeply gabled with two triple-stepped lancet groups on the south side, to the east of the gabled porch, and a bellcote over the east nave gable. The chancel is slightly lower than the nave and equally simple, with its east window again of triple stepped lancets. The west gable has a tall narrow two-light window. Below it projects a low apsidal baptistery roofed in stone, with bays defined by slim wall shafts and small paired windows in each bay. The baptistery complements Street's work in its masculine quality and bold detailing.

The interior features a tall nave with open timbered roofs and a three-bay north aisle arcade of broad moulded arches on quadrilobed piers. Dogtooth moulding adorns the easternmost arch for reasons that remain unclear. The two-centred chancel arch springs from short moulded wall shafts and is particularly striking for its soaring arrow-like shape. In the chancel are two openings into the north chapel (originally seated), now the organ chamber, with arched openings featuring simple cusping around the heads and a dwarf parapet. The north aisle is low with a lean-to roof and broad low three-light windows. The west wall contains a blunt-pointed arch giving onto the semicircular baptistery, which has a simple vault formed by slim ribs meeting at a central boss.

The principal fittings date from 1864-8 and include Street's own designs: tiling throughout, reredos, low chancel screen wall with brass screen and gates (1868), font, oak choir stalls and free-standing nave benches. The pulpit, made by Mr Strong, is particularly distinguished, being of solid stone in drum form with inlaid foliage, cappings and columns of coloured marble, and a large inset marble cross facing west. The alabaster reredos features a gabled centre with a Crucifixion. The benches form a complete set with finely cut and chamfered ends and open chamfered panels in the backs. The chancel and sanctuary glass is by Clayton & Bell. The chancel was magnificently embellished between 1911 and 1915 with mosaic and opus sectile murals by Powell & Sons of Whitefriars, to designs by C.E. Ponting. The panels depicting the 'Uplifting of the Brazen Serpent' (north) and 'Christ in Majesty' (south), both dated 1911, are outstanding and are well matched by the archangels on the east wall (1915). The murals complement the earlier work, particularly in their tonal relationship with the chancel windows. The nave and aisle contain smaller mural panels dating from 1893 to 1930, which, while individually of high quality, lack the overall impact of the chancel decoration. The splendid west window of 1931-2 is by James Hogan, chief designer for Powell & Sons, featuring small pieces of intense jewel-coloured glass showing the influence of American glazing techniques. A lych-gate, also by Street, was built in 1872-4.

The church was built to serve the working-class population of Warminster's western outskirts, responding to what was then a 'miserable deficiency of Free Seats in the Parish Church'. The prime movers were William Temple of nearby Bishopstrow House and his son George, who gave the site and £500 in money, and a further £300 as work progressed. As a chapel of ease, Street was instructed that it should not rival the town churches; he substituted the present bellcote for a planned tower, reducing the estimated cost from £3,260 to £2,700.

George Edmund Street (1824-81) was one of the greatest figures of 19th-century architecture. Born and educated in London, he was articled to the Winchester architect Owen Carter from 1841, and worked in the office of George Gilbert Scott from 1844 before commencing practice in Wantage in 1848. Growing success led to a move to London in 1856 and a career that saw him become one of the leaders of the Gothic Revival. Much of his work is characterised by a strong, muscular quality much admired from the 1850s onwards. He was also an early pioneer of the use of polychromy. His most ambitious work is the Royal Courts of Justice in London, for which he gained the commission in 1868. He served as diocesan architect for Oxford, York, Winchester and Ripon, and was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1874. His fame and status are reflected in the fact that, like his former master Scott, he is buried in Westminster Abbey.

The church sits well back from the road in an exceptionally spacious churchyard with a monumental lych-gate and fine mature planting of beech, lime and cedar of Lebanon. It groups well with the neighbouring school to the south-west.