St John's Church or St John the Evangelist Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the

Heron's Ghyll Heron's Ghyll is a hamlet in the Wealden district of East Sussex. St John the Evangelist Church is a Catholic church in the village. There is a late 19th-century garden laid out by the poet Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 ...

settlement of

Buxted Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundarie ...

, East Sussex, England. It was built from 1896 to 1897 and designed by

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (1849–1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches. Life Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, London, the son of the ar ...

. It is situated on the

A26 road The A26 road is a primary route in the southeast of England, going from Maidstone to Newhaven through the counties of Kent and East Sussex. The road is almost entirely single carriageway with one lane on each side, although some of the road is ...

in the centre of Heron's Ghyll. It is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church and is a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1866, the first Catholic

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

in the area started in the house of the poet

Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 – 26 November 1896) was an English poet and literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry ''The Angel in the House'', a narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage. A ...

. He became a Catholic in 1862, after the death of his first wife, and allowed

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

to be said in his house a year after remarrying. In 1875, he moved to Hastings and founded St Mary Star of the Sea Church there. In 1879,

Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk, (27 December 184711 February 1917), styled Lord Maltravers until 1856 and Earl of Arundel and Surrey between 1856 and 1860, was a British Unionist politician and philanthropist. He served as Postmas ...

bought the house. He purchased it for his widowed mother,

Augusta Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk Augusta Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (née The Hon. Augusta Mary Minna Catherine Lyons) (1 August 1821 in Torquay, Devon – 22 March 1886 Norfolk House, St James's Square, London), who was commonly known by her middle name, "Minna", was the ...

. In 1880, she was behind the building of a school where Mass could be said and a presbytery. These two buildings are currently to the southwest of the present church. She also paid for St Catherine's Church to be built in Littlehampton in 1862. In 1884, a temporary church building was constructed in Heron's Ghyll, it was made of iron. In 1886, she died. In 1891, her grandson,

James Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour James Fitzalan Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour, PC (11 December 1870 – 14 February 1949), was a British Conservative politician. He served as Chairman of Ways and Means from 1921 to 1924 and again from 1924 to 1929. Background and education A mem ...

bought the site from the Duchy of Norfolk and set about building a permanent church.Heron's Ghyll - St John the Evangelist
from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, retrieved 21 March 2016

Construction

In 1895,

was commissioned to design the church. On 9 May 1896, the foundation stone was laid. Construction of the church cost £4,000. On 22 September 1897, the church was opened. By 1904, the debt of constructing the church had been fully paid, so on 7 September 1904, the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Southwark,

Peter Amigo Peter Emmanuel Amigo (26 May 1864, Gibraltar – 1 October 1949) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. He founded The John Fisher School in 1929. Biography Peter Amigo was born at Gibraltar, the ninth of eleven c ...

Parishes

The priest at St John's Church also serves the nearby

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri Church in

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri Church

Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri Church was built in 1958 and designed by its parish priest Fr Cyril P. Plummer. It is situated next to St Philip's Catholic Primary School on New Town Road. Inside the church, Edgar Holloway designed the three panels situated behind the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. The lettering on those panels was done by Alan Taylor, and

Joseph Cribb (Herbert) Joseph Cribb (1892–1967) was a British sculptor, carver and letter-cutter. Born in Hammersmith, London, Cribb's career as an artist began when he was fourteen. He was recruited by Eric Gill as his assistant in 1906 and was taught le ...

designed the three altars and, outside, the statue of Our Lady above the entrance. The stained-glass windows were made by Aleksander Klecki. Cribb, Taylor and Holloway were all connected with

The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic was a Roman Catholic community of artists and craftspeople founded in 1920 in Ditchling, East Sussex, England. It was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and its legacy led to the creation of Ditchling ...

, which was situated in nearby

Ditchling Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling. ...

.Uckfield - Our Lady Immaculate & St Philip Neri
from

, retrieved 21 March 2016

Times

There is one Sunday Mass at St John's Church, at 11:30am. Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri Church as two Sunday Masses, at 5:30pm on Saturday and at 9:30am on Sunday.

References

External links

* *
Uckfield and Heron’s Ghyll Catholic Parishes site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John the Evangelist Church, Heron's Ghyll Roman Catholic churches in East Sussex Grade II listed churches in East Sussex Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in East Sussex 1866 establishments in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1897 Frederick Walters buildings Buxted