St John the Evangelist's Church is a redundant

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in North Road, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

History

The church was built in 1754–55 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

Lancaster Priory Lancaster Priory, formally the Priory Church of St Mary, is the Church of England parish church of the city of Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is located near Lancaster Castle and since 1953 has been designated a Grade I listed building. ...

at a time when the town was growing rapidly. It is thought that the architect was

Henry Sephton Henry Sephton (c. 1686 – 2 June 1756) was the leading mason and architect in St Helens, Lancashire during the second quarter of the eighteenth century, the architect-builder of Ince Blundell Hall and Halton Court House, Halton, Cheshire (now a h ...

. In 1784 a tower and spire designed by Thomas Harrison were added. This was paid for by a

legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

from Thomas Bowes. A south porch was built in 1874. In the 1920s an apse with a chapel to the north and a vestry to the south were added. The interior of the church was restored in 1955 by Sir Albert Richardson. The church closed in 1981, and was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

in the Redundant Churches Fund (the forerunners of the Churches Conservation Trust) in 1983.

Architecture

Exterior

St John's is constructed in sandstone

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. Its plan consists of a five

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave, a semicircular apse with a north chapel and a south vestry, a south porch and a west tower. The body of the church measures by . It has projecting quoins and a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

over which is a parapet. On the sides of the church are tall round-headed windows with

keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...

. In the west bay on the north side of the church is a blocked doorway. This contains a window, and there is a round-headed window above it. The east bay on the south side has a similar door and windows. The west bay of the south side contains a porch, over which is another round-headed window. In the apse are two curved windows flanked by round-headed windows, and there are similar windows on each side of the tower on the west front. The tower is in three stages. On its west side is a door, there are

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

windows on the north and south sides, and a rectangular window on the north side. The middle stage has clock faces on three sides. The top stage contains rectangular louvred bell openings. On the top of the tower is a rotunda consisting of rectangular openings and Tuscan columns carrying a curved

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with a triglyph frieze. On top of this is a drum with a spirelet. The design of the rotunda is said to be based loosely on that of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.

Interior

There are

panelled Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

galleries on three sides, with Ionic columns rising from the galleries to the ceiling. The central part of the west gallery is supported by two timber

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns. The galleries are reached by two staircases. In the body of the church are oak box pews. On the south side the pews have been modified to form a double pew for the use of the Corporation. The

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

communion rails have turned

baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

s. The iron

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

dates from 1875 and the plain stone

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

from 1858. The stained glass in the north aisle and the chapel dates from the late 19th or early 20th century and is by

Shrigley and Hunt Shrigley and Hunt was an English firm which produced stained-glass windows and art tiles. History The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire. In 1868, control of Shrigley's ...

. The stained glass in the apse windows dates from about 1870 and depicts scenes from the life of Christ. The wall of the apse is painted with the Ten Commandments and the

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

. The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

in the west gallery was given by Abraham Rawlinson MP around the time the tower was built. The organ retains its Adam style case, made of mahogany by Gillow's of Lancaster. However, the three-

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

instrument has been rebuilt since it was dedicated in 1785. The case originally housed an organ by Langshaw of Lancaster. It was rebuilt by Brindley & Co of Sheffield in 1868, and again in 1934 by Henry Ainscough of

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. Further work was carried out by Victor Saville of Carnforth in 1983, restoring the organ's Georgian appearance. The clock mechanism was made by Bell and Atkinson of Lancaster in 1866, and occupies a glass case in the middle stage of the tower. The tower also contains two bells, one dated 1747 cast by Rudhall of Gloucester, and the other from 1846 by Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

Regeneration

In 2020-1, the Architectural Heritage Fund awarded the Churches Conservation Trust two separate project grants to develop ideas for the future of St John's. In partnership with the Lancashire and District Chamber of Commerce, the CCT has developed re-use proposals for the church to function as a co-working space and cafe, with a possible extension in the churchyard. The CCT has commissioned architects Buttress, along with structural and services engineers, quantity surveyors and historians, to make further investigations into the condition and repair liability of the church, as well as the feasibility and costs of the re-use proposals. Business planning and options appraisals are ongoing and volunteers to help with opening the church to the public on a regular basis are being sought.

References