Church of Saint John

Church of Saint John

An Anglican parish church of late 18th-century foundation, built in rock-faced coursed grey local stone with red Hollington sandstone dressings and a slate roof. The building was founded on 14 June 1898 and is constructed in the Late Gothic style.

The church comprises a four-window nave and narrower two-window chancel under a single roof, with walls battered at their base. A plain west porch, intended as temporary, provides the main entrance. A hipped northeast vestry and organ chamber is attached, along with a west bellcote paired with a chimney.

The windows throughout display fine cusped ogee tracery in Late Gothic style. The nave south wall contains alternating single lights and two-light windows, two of each. The nave north wall has three single lights and one two-light window in the third bay. The chancel is slightly inset with higher eaves. Its two south windows are segmental-pointed two-light openings set higher than those in the nave. The large segmental-pointed east window has a moulded surround with hoodmould and comprises five ogee-headed lights with the middle three fitted with transoms. The north side of the chancel has a single segmental-pointed light. The vestry has a north door in a sandstone frame with depressed-arched head and two rectangular north windows. A splayed wall on the west side of the angle between vestry and nave contains a small rectangular light for pulpit steps.

The east and west gables are coped with red stone coping, scroll-ended on shaped kneelers, with a cross finial at the east end. The west end is windowless but has a blocked small apex rectangular opening with red stone lintel and sill. The west bellcote has a round-arched opening and gabled coping running north-south. A large square chimney abutts the bellcote on the left, taller than the bellcote, with an ashlar concave-chamfered cap. The west porch is plain with a slate roof and red brick doorway with an elliptical arched head.

Internally, the plastered walls have red sandstone reveals and a moulded pointed chancel arch with roll-moulding. The broad nave roof features arched braces to a cambered collar with a short king post above, with shaped openings each side. The west door has a red stone segmental-arched surround. There is a single step with dwarf red sandstone walls each side leading to the chancel. Each side of the north jamb of the chancel arch contains an arched opening: that to the left gives access to the pulpit, whilst that to the right, at the left end of the chancel north wall, has a lower depressed-arched head providing access to the vestry and steps behind the chancel arch to the pulpit. Another arch spans the pulpit steps north of the chancel arch. The chancel north wall features a large segmental-pointed opening (intended for the organ) with red stone quoins and a moulded arch dying into chamfered jambs. The south side has a wooden shelf in a segmental-pointed recess and a seat beneath the left window. The chancel has a four-sided panelled boarded roof with moulded wallplate and red tile floors laid parquet-fashion, with steps at the stalls, communion rail and altar. The vestry has a high boarded ceiling.

The church contains several notable fittings. An octagonal pink stone font with large roll-mouldings at top and bottom stands on an octagonal shaft with similar moulding to the octagonal base. The pews are painted and grained with backs in long panels. A large timber pulpit with four canted sides and plain panels rests on a massive red sandstone base formed as the front of a very squat drum column. The chancel stalls and reading desk are painted and grained with panelled fronts. Wrought iron communion rails are dated 1986.

The east window dates to 1963 and was created by J. Wippell of Exeter, depicting a Christ figure flanked by two scenes with outer symbols of lilies and lambs above five lower scenes, including one of the Reverend John Jones teaching, all on a clear background. One chancel south window dates to circa 1920 and depicts Saints John the Baptist and Martin, with reused small 17th-century Flemish plaques beneath.

Memorials include a brass plaque in the nave north to Noel Osborne Jones, killed in 1916, and a brass plaque in the chancel south to the Reverend John Jones (1842–1915). The vestry contains a flaking 18th-century plaque recording Edward Richard's foundation of the library at the school and a granite tombstone to the Reverend John Jones. A plaque below the east window in the nave, visible from outside, reads 'Honori Edward Richard Schol: Sanct: Johan: Fundatori'.