Church of St John

Church of St John

This is a Gothic style church comprising a nave with bellcote, chancel, south porch and north vestry, constructed of snecked rock-faced stone with prominent Bridgend stone dressings, under slate roofs and with a dressed plinth.

The bellcote at the west end is supported by a projecting arch carried on two narrow buttresses. Above apex level, the bellcote steps in slightly and contains two louvre openings to the west and east sides, and a single opening to the north and south sides, all with cinquefoiled heads. The bellcote is gabled to each side, with a cinquefoiled vent to the west and east sides. Underneath the projecting arch is a two-light window in heavy chamfered surround, each light with a cinquefoiled head and a quatrefoil.

The gabled south porch is to the left of centre and is fronted by large clasping buttresses with offsets. It has a pointed arched entrance with two orders of roll mouldings, a planked door with iron strapwork, and a further pointed doorway inside the porch with double boarded doors under a plain planked tympanum. In the apex of the porch is a recess with trefoiled head and sill band containing a statue, a memorial to Viola Dyer. The windows of the nave have dressed chamfered surrounds, flat heads and square hoodmoulds with stops bearing cross motifs, with each light having a cinquefoiled head. Single lights flank the porch, with a two-light window to the right and single light to the far right beyond an angle buttress.

The chancel windows have similar flat heads with pendant stops to the hoodmoulds, with the lights having ogee heads. There is a three-light window to the left and single light to the right. The east end has large clasping buttresses terminating below eaves level. The east window has three stepped cinquefoiled lights under a shallow pointed relieving arch and a moulded sill band.

A lean-to vestry is located to the north side of the chancel with a shallow pointed arched doorway to the east end containing a planked door reached by four steps. A small flat-headed two-light window is to the north side, each light with a shouldered head. A tapering stack rises from the eaves of the chancel. The north side of the nave has one-, two- and three-light windows from left to right, in the same style as the south side.

Interior

The nave comprises seven bays with an arch-braced roof, the braces supported on scalloped corbels. A pointed chamfered chancel arch of two orders has the inner order supported on pendant corbels. The chancel is of three-and-a-half bays, with high arch-braces supported on hollow decorated corbels, with low arcading rising from the wall plate. The roof members, underside and wall plate are painted and gilded.

The chancel walls are fully lined in marble, grey with red bands and a decorated coloured frieze to the tops of the side walls. The floor is of decorated marble in red, white and black. Surrounding the sanctuary is an ornate red marble reredos with blind arcading and trefoil-headed arches supported on black columns. Behind the altar, the reredos is two-tier and flanked by pilasters. The upper tier has blind trefoiled arches under gables, flanking a wide trefoil-headed ogee arch on black columns immediately behind the altar. It is surmounted by a cross and has foliate decoration in the spandrels.

A pointed arched doorway leads north to the vestry, with a planked door under a recessed trefoiled tympanum. To its left is the organ of 1962. A gilded altar rail with barley twist uprights supports large scrolls. Two rows of choir stalls have panelled fronts surmounted by friezes of crosses in open circles. A wood-panelled polygonal pulpit to the left front of the nave has narrow open lancets and foliate motifs. The pews are in a similar style with angular bench ends with ogee decoration. A painted octagonal font at the west end tapers down to a circular stem on a low plinth, with small incised crosses in circles to the quadrant faces. Two church bells dated 1999 by Taylor, Loughborough, lie next to the font.

Stained Glass and Memorial Windows

The east window contains stained glass depicting the Ascension, donated by the Elba Steelworks Company, circa 1885. The chancel south windows also contain stained glass. The single-light sanctuary window depicts St John the Divine writing the last book of the bible and is probably contemporary with the lining of the chancel with marble, circa 1900. The three-light window to the right depicts the Transfiguration of Christ in the centre, the Last Supper to the left and the call of James and John to the right light. Attached to the raked sill below are three marble memorial tablets to John Dillwyn Llewelyn (died 1882), Jessie Eliza, wife of Colonel J R Wright, who was a benefactor and first organist at the church (died 1896), and William Greener, first choirmaster (died 1895).

Two of the south nave windows contain stained glass. The single-light east window of 1953 is in memory of steel maker Sir William Charles Wright, 1876–1950, and was dedicated by his sister. The stained glass is by Lawrence Lee, who also designed windows at Coventry Cathedral. It depicts Jesus, the Good Samaritan, offering a cup of nourishment to a man in need. In the background are blast furnaces, whilst three roundels at the bottom show steel-making scenes: furnaces, a rolling mill and a bar mill. A marble tablet to Jessie Ethel, the sister of William Wright (died 1955), was placed on the sill beneath the window. The two-light window to the right bears a depiction of Peter with John healing the lame man at the gate of the temple. It is dedicated to Sir John Roper Wright (died 1926) and his wife Jessie Eliza (died 1896). The remaining windows have pink and green quarries.

War Memorials

The north wall bears two war memorials. An ornate First World War memorial to the left consists of a cream marble surround with pilasters, plinth and flat head. Inside is an ornate trefoil-headed arch surmounted by a large cross, under which is a list of the men who died. A plainer grey marble tablet on a black background is to the right, the cornice reading '1939. Our Glorious Dead. 1945'.