Church of St John is a Grade II listed building in the Westmorland and Furness local planning authority area, England. First listed on 20 December 1993. Church.

Church of St John

WRENN ID
hidden-steel-nightshade
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Westmorland and Furness
Constituency
Barrow and Furness MP: Michelle Scrogham (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
20 December 1993
Type
Church
Address
Church of St John, Island Road
OS grid reference
SD 197 682
Coordinates
54.10375, -3.22827
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St John is located on Barrow Island in Barrow-in-Furness and was built between 1934 and 1935 by the architectural firm Paget and Seeley from London. This church is constructed of ferroconcrete and features concrete and green slate roofs. It has a cruciform plan with an enlarged crossing and lean-tos attached to the nave and transepts. An arcaded loggia leads to the west porch, while the chancel has a round apse, a south organ chamber with a bell tower, and a south vestry, all designed in a Byzantine style.

The loggia consists of six round arches on the west side and four on the east. The lean-to against the nave is illuminated by two 3-light mullioned windows with 12-pane iron casements set in shallow round-arched recesses. Flanking the tall, round-arched transept window are windows in the same style, which have later wooden casements with glazing bars. Each projecting corner of the crossing features a small round-arched clerestorey window. The west end of the church has three lancet windows. The lean-tos have steeply pitched roofs, while the main roofs are shallow-pitched with coped parapets. The north side mirrors the south side in design.

The gabled vestry has a door on the east side and mullioned windows similar to those elsewhere; its pitched roof is adjacent to the organ chamber, which has small round-arched windows and a parapet topped by a square bell tower. The tower features paired round-arched openings, a parapet, and a pyramidal roof with a cross. An arch connects the tower to the south transept. The chancel windows are styled like those in the transepts, and the concrete roof has a slated periphery.

Inside, the crossing serves as the main part of the nave, with round arches springing from floor level on each side and segmental arches leading to the chancel and organ chamber. The ceiling beams are made of concrete. Notable fittings include a red sandstone font and various elements brought from the earlier church, such as an eagle lectern, a wooden pulpit, and choir stalls with carvings designed by Clifford Green and executed by FJ Lord in 1922. The west windows feature 19th-century stained glass depicting St John, St Mary, and Dorcas. The original church was consecrated in 1879, while the foundation stone for the current church was laid on December 15, 1934, and it was consecrated on September 28, 1935.

Local climate

Church of St John sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,670 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 19 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 80% of listed buildings. Of these, 8 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • Sale history — 6 transactions since 2011
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  • Radon risk assessment
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