Church Of St John The Evangelist

The Church of St John the Evangelist was built in 1895, designed by the architect Ewan Christian and constructed by Padbury and Son of Scarborough. The church incorporates stained glass by CE Kempe. It is built of Grosmont sandstone ashlar with a Westmorland slate roof laid in diminishing courses, and is executed in the Early English style.

The church has a nave with a single aisle and transept to the north, with a tower set in the angle between the transept and chancel. A porch is located in the west end of the north aisle. The facades are plain-faced, with a slightly battered plinth, and the chancel is marked by a simple string course immediately below window sill level. All windows are simple lancets with plain, carefully cut mouldings, with the east and west windows highlighted by simple hood moulds. Nave gable, chancel arch, and chancel gable are capped by ornate stone crosses. The chancel has a triple lancet east window, and single and double lancets in the south wall. The south wall of the nave contains two double and one single lancet window. The north wall of the aisle, incorporating a door and a single and triple lancet window, is continuous with the north transept gable, which has a triple lancet, and a base of the tower featuring a double lancet. The west end has a pair of single lancets to the nave and a triple lancet to the porch. The tower is capped by a plain parapet and a pyramidal slate roof. The north aisle has a catslide roof continuous with the nave roof externally, but with a shallower pitch.

The chancel features stained glass windows, a hammer beam roof, and ornamental oak-panelled walls running to just below window sill height. It also has an oak reredos and altar, with less ornamentation on the choir stalls. The nave has stained glass in all windows, with the west windows and the two double lancets being particularly notable, and a hammer beam roof. The nave arcade on the north side is formed by two drum columns supporting pointed arches. The north aisle has a triple lancet window by Kempe from 1903, and a single lancet designed by local school children in 1995. The porch in the west end contains double doors to the nave and externally, and a single door to the north aisle, lit by a clear triple lancet. The north transept features a triple lancet by Kempe from 1895, with an arch through to the tower base filled with an oak screen and door. The tower base houses the organ and vestry. Pews in the nave, aisle, and transept all face east and are set on raised parquet flooring.

The church is of special architectural interest for its economical but high-quality design, its fine stained glass, and its complete set of wooden fixtures.