St John's C of I Church, Main Street, Hilltown, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5UH

St John's Church of Ireland is a simple mid-18th-century church with a three-stage tower at its west end, prominently situated in a small churchyard on the south side of Main Street in the centre of Hilltown. The building is aligned roughly west-east.

The main body of the church has a pitched natural slate roof with raised granite skews. The east gable features a small chimney pot at its apex. Modern metal cyma-recta gutters sit on a projecting cushion-moulded ashlar granite eaves course, with painted cast iron downpipes. The walls are lined render over rubble granite, with ashlar granite detailing. A chamfered plinth runs along the north, east and west elevations, advancing slightly below stepped quoins on these same sides.

The north wall of the nave contains four semicircular-headed windows, each with an ashlar granite surround featuring an advanced keystone and stooled cill. All window frames are cast iron, arranged in two panels with plainly glazed diamond quarrels and a red margin on all sides. Notably, the bottom section of each window contains a small rectangular inset with a sloping glazed back panel and similar glazed cheeks. This inset has a hinged, glazed lid that opens via a string and pulley to the window head, serving to ventilate the church.

The east elevation is abutted at its centre by a narrow half-hipped Sanctuary and at the left by an L-shaped Vestry that wraps around to the south elevation. The remaining wall to the right and gable is rendered and blank, broken only by the moulded eaves course from the north elevation, which continues across the gable to meet the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary has a half-hipped natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and overhanging eaves. Its rainwater goods and walls match the main church. Filling its east wall is a Venetian window with raised ashlar granite surrounds and mullions, featuring a projecting keystone to the central semicircular-headed window. This window is fitted with diamond-quarried glass as found on the north nave wall but without ventilators, and is inset with coloured glass quarrels. To the left of this elevation, flush against it, is the Sacristy (Rector's room). The right cheek of the Sanctuary is blank, while the left cheek is abutted in part by the Vestry; the remainder of this wall is blank.

The Sacristy front wall is flush with the east wall of the Sanctuary and advances south beyond the south elevation of the nave. It is late 19th-century in date and possesses an Arts and Crafts character. Its roof is steeply hipped and naturally slated, aligned north-south with its ridge at the eaves level of the Sanctuary. Gutters match the main block. The walls are squared granite rubble brought to courses with ashlar granite dressings. Its east wall contains a small semicircular-headed window with details matching other windows, featuring a chamfered reveal and cill. To its right, three granite steps lead to a similarly dressed doorway with a tongued-and-grooved sheeted painted door, which has decorative strap hinges and a cottage latch.

The south elevation of the Vestry advances west to obscure part of the south wall of the nave. It has a single window of the same pattern as the Sacristy, set to centre. The west cheek of the Sacristy is completely abutted by a single-storey cement-rendered outbuilding (over red brick) with a pitched natural slate roof and gutters matching the church. Its eaves meet the cill of the right window on the south elevation of the nave.

The south elevation of the nave is identical to the north elevation except that the windows have plain rendered surrounds rather than granite, and plainer, unstooled granite cills. The west gable of the church is blank except for the eaves cornice of the nave walls, which continues across it.

A three-stage tower, with lined render walls and granite dressings, abuts the west gable at its centre. Its north face contains the front door. Four granite slabs form the threshold, with wrought iron boot scrapers to left and right. The large, tall tongued-and-grooved sheeted door is painted and has decorative iron strap hinges and original ironmongery. Above it is a semicircular-headed fanlight with diamond quarry panes and margin. Its door case is in dressed granite matching the nave windows but with chamfered arris and advanced keystone. The two lowest portions of this opening are executed in different granite, showing that this opening was previously a window. Centred on the west elevation is the original doorway, now infilled with lined rendered brickwork. It retains an ashlar granite architrave on plinth blocks. The south elevation of the tower has an infilled window opening dressed as the doorway on the north face, retaining its cill. The moulded eaves course from the main block wraps around the tower between the first and second stages. The east face of the second stage is only partially exposed above the church roof and is blank. Each remaining elevation has an infilled roundel. The northern roundel is inset with a modern reproduction clock face. The southern roundel is set to the left of centre and is smaller than the western one, which is centred.

Between the second and third stages is an advanced granite stringcourse. The third stage of the tower is the belfry; it is slightly instepped and taller than the two previous stages. Each of its four faces has a tall semicircular-headed, ashlar-dressed louvred opening with advanced keystone. Above is a deeply moulded cornice, which steps out slightly over the quoins. Above this is a parapet wall with plain copings. Resting upon the copings at each corner is a pyramidal pinnacle in granite ashlar blocks. A cast iron downpipe runs down the south wall of the tower, draining the roof.

The church forms the focal point of this planned town and terminates views from both Rostrevor Road and Rathfriland Road. The churchyard contains mainly 19th-century memorials in slate and granite. One notable slate memorial, with a dressed edge, reads: "To the memory of James Newell Esq. / second son of the late George Newell / of Kinghill County Down Esq. / Who departed this life on the 16 November 1838 Aged 78." Some family plots are rectangular and raised, their earth contained within one-metre-high granite retaining walls.

The churchyard is enclosed to the west, east and north by a high granite stone wall with rounded coping. The north wall has been breached three times; the gaps are infilled with plain modern railings. At the western end of this wall is a pair of strap-pointed gate piers with pyramidal granite caps, supporting iron gates with spiked dog bars and knob-headed top bars. The new railings and the modern clock on the tower were installed as part of a 1990s environmental improvement scheme to the public car park, which lies on the north side of the church.