St John's Church, Ranmoor is a large parish church in Ranmoor, a suburb of the

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. It is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church in the Diocese of Sheffield, and it is the second church to be built on this site after the original church was destroyed by fire in 1887. It has a tower and spire, the second tallest church spire in Sheffield after the Cathedral Church of St Marie which is just 5 ft taller.

History

The original church built on this site was designed by E. M. Gibbs,Harman, R. & Minnis, J. (2004) ''Pevsner City Guides: Sheffield'', pp267–268. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. and was opened on 24 April 1879. The building was almost entirely destroyed by fire on 2 January 1887; all that survived was the tower and spire. A new church, designed by Flockton & Gibbs (the same Edward Mitchel Gibbs), was built that incorporated the old tower and spire. The church reopened on 9 September 1888; it is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Memorials

The

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in the churchyard consists of a 16 ft Runic Cross made from unpolished Cornish granite, with carved panels on front and back designed by Mr. A.F. Watson, Sheffield.

Organ

The organ was installed in 1888 by Sheffield builder Brindley and Foster. It is a large three-manual instrument, generally considered to be one of the finest pipe organs in the area. In 2020, the organ underwent an extensive overhaul to repair damage caused by a partial collapse of the ceiling in October 2017. The full specification of the pipe organ can be found at the

National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

Notable people

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

actor

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

listed St John's as one of his 'top seven' favourite Churches in a speech to the

National Churches Trust The National Churches Trust, formerly the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, is a British Charitable organization#United Kingdom, registered charity whose aim is to "promote and support church buildings of historic, architectural and community ...

on account of it being the Church he was

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

in and regularly attended as a child. He describes fond memories of his Father being both a

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and bellringer there.

References

External links

St John's Church websiteSt John's Music website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranmoor, Saint John's Church Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Grade II* listed churches in South Yorkshire Churches in Sheffield Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire Churches completed in 1879 Churches completed in 1888 19th-century Church of England church buildings