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

Ranmoor Ranmoor () is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is an affluent suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for th ...

, a suburb of the

City of Sheffield The City of Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Sheffield, the town of Stocksbridge and larger village of Chapeltown and part of the Peak Di ...

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 b ...

. 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 Britai ...

church in the

Diocese of Sheffield The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. The Diocese of Sheffield was created under George V on 23 January 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York (along with that pa ...

, 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 Irel ...

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 actor

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

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 registered charity whose aim is to "promote and support church buildings of historic, architectural and community value across the UK". It carries out th ...

on account of it being the Church he was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

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) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

and

bellringer A bell-ringer is a person who rings a bell, usually a church bell, by means of a rope or other mechanism. Despite some automation of bells for random swinging, there are still many active bell-ringers in the world, particularly those with an adv ...

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