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

St John's Church of Ireland, Hilltown, is an attractive mid-18th-century parish church prominently situated on the south side of Main Street at a crossroads in the centre of the town. It was financed by the Earl of Hillsborough (later Lord Downshire) and completed in 1766 — despite the Archaeological Survey of County Down erroneously recording this as 1776. It appears on McClatchey's map of 1767 already marked as the "new church", and holds the distinction of being the first building erected in Hilltown, a planned village developed by the Earl in the later 18th century. The church was refurbished in the 1830s at a cost of £220. The bell is inscribed "Thomas Rudhall Glocester Founder 1772". The building is aligned roughly west to east and forms the focal point of the planned town, terminating views along both Rostrevor Road and Rathfriland Road. The interior contains some very fine Neo-classical timberwork.

The roof is pitched natural slate with raised granite skews. The east gable has a small chimney pot at its apex. A projecting cushion-moulded ashlar granite eaves course carries modern metal cyma-recta gutters, and there are painted cast iron downpipes. The main walls are lined render, believed to be over rubble granite, with ashlar granite detailing throughout. A chamfered plinth runs along the north, east and west elevations, advancing slightly below the stepped quoins on those same elevations.

The north wall of the nave has four semicircular-headed windows, each with an ashlar granite surround, advanced keystone and stooled cill. All window frames are cast iron, divided into two panels, with plainly glazed diamond quarrels and a red margin to all sides. The bottom section of each window contains a small rectangular inset with a sloping glazed back panel and glazed cheeks. This inset has a hinged glazed lid which opens — operated by a string and pulley running to the window head — to ventilate the church.

The south elevation of the nave mirrors the north, except that the windows have plain rendered surrounds rather than granite ones, and plainer granite cills without the stooled detail.

The east elevation is abutted at its centre by a narrow, half-hipped Sanctuary and to its left by an L-shaped Vestry that wraps around onto the south elevation. The remaining wall to the right and the gable is rendered and left blank, broken only by the moulded eaves course continuing across from the north elevation. The Sanctuary has a half-hipped natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and overhanging eaves. Its rainwater goods and walling match those of the main church. Filling its east wall is a Venetian window with raised ashlar granite surrounds and mullions and a projecting keystone to its central, semicircular-headed light. The windows are of the same type as those on the north wall of the nave, but without ventilators, and are glazed with coloured glass quarrels. The right cheek of the Sanctuary is blank; the left cheek is partly abutted by the Vestry, with the remainder left blank.

Abutting flush to the left of the east elevation is the Sacristy, also described as the Rector's room. Its front wall is flush with the east wall of the Sanctuary and projects south beyond the south elevation of the nave. It is late 19th century in date and has an Arts and Crafts character. Its roof is steeply hipped and natural-slated, aligned north to south, with the ridge at the eaves level of the Sanctuary. Gutters match those of the main block. The walls are squared granite rubble brought to courses with ashlar granite dressings. Its east wall has a small semicircular-headed window — detailed as the other windows — with a chamfered reveal and cill. To the right of this window, three granite steps lead up to a similarly dressed doorway fitted with a tongued-and-grooved sheeted painted door with decorative strap hinges and a cottage latch. The south elevation of the Vestry advances westward far enough to obscure part of the south wall of the nave, and has a single window of the same type set to its centre. The west cheek of the Sacristy is completely abutted by a single-storey, cement-rendered outhouse — believed to be over red brick — with a pitched natural slate roof and gutters matching the church. The eaves of this outhouse meet the cill of the right-hand window on the south elevation of the nave.

The west gable of the church is blank except for the eaves cornice of the nave walls, which continues across it. It is abutted at the centre by the three-stage tower. The tower has lined render walls with granite dressings. Its north face contains the main entrance: 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 carries decorative iron strap hinges with original ironmongery. Above it is a semicircular-headed fanlight with diamond quarry panes and a margin. The doorcase is in dressed granite, similar to the nave windows, but with a chamfered arris and advanced keystone. The two lowest portions of this opening are executed in different granite, indicating that it was originally a window and was later converted to a doorway.

The original doorway to the tower, now infilled, is centred on the west elevation. It retains its ashlar granite architrave on plinth blocks; the infill is lined rendered brickwork. On the south elevation of the tower there is an infilled window opening, dressed in the same manner as the doorway on the north face, which retains its original cill; the infill is smooth render.

The moulded eaves course from the main church wraps around the tower between the first and second stages. The east face of the second stage is only partially visible above the church roof and is blank. Each of the remaining faces of the second stage has an infilled roundel: the one to the north is inset with a modern reproduction clock face, the one to the south is set slightly left of centre and is smaller than the western roundel, which is centred. Between the second and third stages runs an advanced granite stringcourse.

The third stage forms the belfry. It is slightly instepped and taller than the two stages below. Each of its four faces has a tall semicircular-headed, ashlar-dressed louvred opening with an advanced keystone. Above this is a deeply moulded cornice that steps out slightly over the quoins, surmounted by a parapet wall with plain copings. At each corner of the parapet sits a pyramidal pinnacle in ashlar granite blocks. Roof drainage from the tower runs into a cast iron downpipe descending the south wall.

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 in three places; these gaps have been filled with plain modern railings. At the west end of this wall stands a pair of strap-pointed gate piers with pyramidal granite caps, supporting iron gates with spiked dog bars and knob-headed top bars. The modern clock and the new railings were both installed as part of a 1990s environmental improvement scheme connected with the public car park that lies to the north of the church.

The churchyard contains predominantly 19th-century memorials in slate and granite. Of particular note is a slate memorial with a dressed edge connected to Kinghill House, reading: "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 retained within granite walls approximately one metre high.