St John's Church, Ranmoor is a large parish church in
Ranmoor, a suburb of the
City of Sheffield,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. It is a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
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 tallest church spire in Sheffield.
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 200-foot-tall (61 m) 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 or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
.
Memorials
The
War Memorial 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.
Notable people
Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...
actor
Michael Palin listed St John's as one of his 'top seven' favourite Churches in a speech to the
National Churches Trust on account of it being the Church he was
baptised in and regularly attended as a child. He describes fond memories of his Father being both a
chorister 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