St John's Masonic Lodge

St John's Masonic Lodge is a complex of buildings constructed of rubble stone, with natural slate roofs, dating back to the medieval period and with significant alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The tower is a prominent three-stage structure built of coursed red sandstone rubble, seemingly with a flat lead roof. Despite claims of 18th and early 19th-century rebuilding, the tower likely dates from a single build incorporating medieval features, which are unlikely to be later additions. The tower is slightly battered towards the top and lacks clearly defined quoins. The second stage features two slightly pointed lancet windows on the east wall, while the bell-stage is characterised by wider openings. A castellated parapet appears to be an early 19th-century addition.

The nave, now used as a schoolroom, is also said to have been rebuilt. The west wall retains medieval quoins and a pointed arch door above which is a three-light window with an interlace head. The gable appears to have undergone some degree of rebuilding, although subsequent alterations are largely concealed by roughcast render. The south return wall is obscured by an adjoining public house, while the north return reveals blocked windows, though these are not medieval in origin.

The Master’s Study, situated south of the tower, is a mid-18th century two-storey building with a rendered front featuring stone quoins. The left return wall is constructed of random red sandstone rubble. It has two windows to the front: flush framed 6 over 6 pane sash windows on the upper floor, and a late 20th-century 3-light casement with 6 + 6 + 6 panes under an elliptical head, alongside a taller 6 over 6 pane sash on the ground floor. A dentil eaves cornice runs along the top, and the roof is hipped to the left with a chimney on the rear wall. The building backs directly onto the public house and lacks a rear elevation, but the left return wall suggests a rear wall dating back to the 16th century. A carved head is visible on the wall.

The nave of St. John's Church initially served as a schoolroom from 1542, but no features from that period remain. The hall underwent a major rebuild in the 18th century, which included a coved ceiling supported by wall plates, plastered over with a large dentil cornice; this ceiling extends through the east wall into a separate room. The decorative features throughout the hall, including the east wall, transverse cornice supported by four scagliola Composite pilasters, dado panelling, the organ, and all furnishings, largely date from a renovation designed by E.A. Johnson between 1899 and 1902. The staircase is also from this period. Exceptions include the coved ceiling in the upper room of the 18th-century wing and the beamed ceiling within the tower.