St John the Evangelist's Church, Burgess Hill
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St John the Evangelist's Church is the
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of
Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
,
West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
, England. It is a Gothic Revival church built of local bricks. It was consecrated in 1863 and was the town's first Church of England church. Since then it has administered several other churches in the town as either mission chapels or daughter churches, but all have either closed or been given their own parishes. The church 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 ...
.


History

The area now covered by the town of Burgess Hill was, until the mid-19th century, rural
common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
that straddled the boundary of the parishes of Clayton and
Keymer Keymer is a village in Hassocks civil parish, in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2116 road south of Burgess Hill. Keymer was an ancient parish that like its near neighbour Clayton was merged into the modern ...
. The area developed as a settlement after the
inclosure act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...
for Keymer's part of St John's Common passed on 18 April 1828 was implemented, and the
London and Brighton Railway The London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway ran from a junction with the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) at Norwood – which gives it access fro ...
Company opened its line from a temporary terminus at to on 21 September 1841. The line passed through the area of St John's Common and the company opened Burgess Hill railway station on the same day. The railway stimulated residential development and the Keymer Brick and Tile Works, already well-established as Burgess Hill's main industry, was able to expand its sales. The inclosure of Clayton's part of the common was completed in 1857, and the town's growth accelerated. From the early 1840s, Church of England worship was held in the school in London Road. When inclosure was completed in 1857, its inclosure act provided for of land to be reserved to build a church. This had been suggested in 1854, when a local newspaper noted that between them the schoolroom, Keymer parish church and Clayton parish church could not cope with the number of worshippers. There was an ''impasse'' until 1861: the land reserved for the church turned out to be too far away from where the town centre had developed, and even when a landowner offered of undeveloped land in the town centre free of charge, agreement was not reached. A group of landowners in Clayton parish was so angry at the proposal to move the church away from the site set by the inclosure act award that they took out a newspaper advertisement in July 1861 protesting against any change to this plan. They were ultimately unsuccessful, and building of the church began on the donated land.
Thomas Talbot Bury Thomas Talbot Bury (26 November 1809 – 23 February 1877) was a British architect and lithographer. There seems to be some dispute about Bury's date of birth. According to Grace's Guide, the 1877 Institution of Civil Engineers Obituaries gives ...
had been commissioned to design it, and a building firm from
Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
submitted the successful bid for the building work. The
Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...
,
Ashurst Turner Gilbert Ashurst Turner Gilbert (14 May 1786 – 21 February 1870) was an English churchman and academic, Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1822 and bishop of Chichester. Life The son of Thomas Gilbert of Ratcliffe, Buckinghamshire, a capta ...
, laid the
foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...
on 4 November 1861, and building work continued until June 1863, when the church was consecrated. For its first two years the church was 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 ...
jointly held by the Parishes of Clayton and Keymer; but in June 1865 it was given its own parish and was dedicated to
John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...
. Its capacity was about 700 people. About half of the
pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...
s were subject to
pew rents A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...
, which paid the vicar's
stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...
. Few changes have been made since the church was opened. Talbot Bury designed a south aisle that was added in 1875, and a vestry was added in 1889. A
vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...
was built in nearby Park Road in 1907 after a local doctor presented some land to the church. Late in the 20th century the north
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
and aisle were separated by a screen from the rest of the church, to allow alternative use of the space; this was formalised by the
Diocese of Chichester The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was founded in 681 as the ancient Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey, until the see was translated to Chichester in 1075. The cathe ...
in 1989. Annie Mackintosh, the mother of
Antarctic explorer This list of Antarctic expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the 1st century AD, the South Pole was no ...
Aeneas Mackintosh Aeneas Lionel Acton Mackintosh (1 July 1879 – 8 May 1916) was a British Merchant Navy officer and Antarctic explorer, who commanded the Ross Sea party as part of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–1917. T ...
, is buried in the churchyard. Her grave includes a memorial to her son, who disappeared in the Antarctic in 1916.


Associated churches

The growth of the town in the late 19th century — particularly to the northeast and west, some way from the church — prompted the opening of two mission chapels in the 1880s. Two permanent churches were built later, and have since been given their own parishes. St Alban's Mission Hall was Burgess Hill's first mission room. It was in Fairfield Road on the Clayton side (west side) of the ecclesiastical parish, and was built in 1885 at a cost of £324 (£ as at ) to provide extra capacity in that area. Its popularity led to an extension being added in 1907, and services were held for much of the 20th century. The building survives but it is now an
Age Concern Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of Charitable organization, charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four cou ...
day centre. Two years later
Somers Clarke George Somers Clarke (1841–1926) was an architect and English Egyptologist who worked on the restoration and design of churches and at a number of sites throughout Egypt, notably in El Kab, where he built a house. He was born in Brighton. As ...
gave money for the building of a second mission hall to serve the northeastern part of the town, which had developed quickly after
Wivelsfield railway station Wivelsfield railway station is a railway station on the Brighton Main Line in West Sussex, England. Located in northern Burgess Hill, it primarily serves the town's neighbourhoods of World's End and Sheddingdean. The station is down the line ...
was reopened on a new site in 1886. The area had acquired the name World's End when the railway was being built. The World's End Mission Room housed a reading room, schoolroom and accommodation for worshippers, but it fell out of use after a new corrugated iron church was built in 1899 nearby. It was on the land of Sampson Copestake, a local businessman, who gave money and more land to build a permanent church. The old mission hall was converted into two shops. In 1902 a separate parish was formed from portions of the parishes of St John the Evangelist and
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. ...
. It was named St Andrew's, and building of a permanent church with that dedication, to replace the earlier iron church, began soon afterwards. It was consecrated on 30 November 1908 in an incomplete state: the
liturgical east end In Western ecclesiastical architecture, a cathedral diagram is a floor plan showing the sections of walls and piers, giving an idea of the profiles of their columns and ribbing. Light double lines in perimeter walls indicate glazed windows. Dashe ...
was eventually completed in 1924, and the planned tower was never built. St Andrew's Church, designed by Lacy W. Ridge, 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 ...
red brick building with some exterior stonework. The nave is very wide and lacks aisles. St Edward the Confessor Church is at the west end of the town, in Burgess Hill's main cemetery. A small
Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...
-style stone cemetery chapel was built in the early 20th century; this later was made a place of Sunday worship run from St John the Evangelist's. A modern brick-built extension was added in 1968, and it was given its own parish in 2000.


Building

Thomas Talbot Bury designed St John the Evangelist's parish church in a 13th-century Decorated Gothic style with elements of the Geometrical style. It is built of red brick with large areas of yellow and black brick, and there are stone dressings on parts of the exterior. The brickwork is in
Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...
, and the roof is tiled. The plan comprises a 3½-
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 The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
,
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
,
clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
, north and south aisles and
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
s, entrance porch to the south and three-stage tower to the northwest, topped by a tall tiled spire.
Trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...
windows predominate. The middle and upper stages of the tower have paired
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s with trefoils above; the large nave window in the west end has five trefoils. Various combinations of trefoils and doubled or tripled lancets are also found in the aisles, chancel, transepts and porch. The clerestory differs in its use of groups of two and three
quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
s — an arrangement that
Ian Nairn Ian Douglas Nairn (24 August 1930 – 14 August 1983) was a British architectural critic who coined the word "Subtopia" to indicate drab suburbs that look identical through unimaginative town-planning. He published two strongly personalised criti ...
called "odd". The nave has a
king post A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above fro ...
arched roof supported by octagonal columns. The chancel roof is similar but more sophisticated in its design. The north aisle is cross-
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d. An oak-carved pulpit commemorates Simeon Norman, one of Burgess Hill's prominent 19th-century residents, who built the Grade II-listed Providence Strict Baptist Chapel. An oak lectern was donated as a memorial to another local family. Frederick Crunden, who gave money to the building fund, helped to decorate the church interior and later gave the land for the vicarage, also has memorials inside the church. Other fittings include an altar of stone and marble, an ornate chancel screen and an octagonal font. The original pews have been retained. The Franz Mayer & Co.
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
company designed some of the windows, and another commemorates a local doctor who had donated 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 ...
.


Clock and bells

The spire has a clock with four faces, installed in 1887 for the
Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, and a banquet to which ...
. The tower has a
ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
of eight bells, all cast by
John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...
of
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
. The tenor, sixth and fourth bells were cast for
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...
in 1897; the seventh and fifth bells were cast in 1900 and the third, second and treble bells were cast in 1904.


Child abuse convictions

On 5 April 2013
Hove Crown Court Hove Trial Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a magistrates' court in Lansdowne Road, Hove, England. History For much of the 20th century, criminal court hearings in Hove took place in the old Town Hall. ...
convicted musician Michael Mytton and retired priest the Revd Keith Wilkie Denford of sexually assaulting boys between 1987 and 1994 when Mytton had been organist and Denford had been vicar of St John the Evangelist's. Denford was jailed for 18 months and Mytton was given a suspended jail term. St John's had employed Mytton despite his having been forced to leave a parish 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 ...
in 1981 because he was convicted of committing two acts of gross indecency with a 12-year-old boy. When arrested for the offences he committed at St John's, Mytton told
Sussex Police Sussex Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing in the whole of Sussex. Its jurisdiction covers the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. The force is headquartered in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex. His ...
''"I like boys. If I was a straight gay, life would be a lot easier. I like boys, I know I like boys and it has cost me everything."'' Both men pleaded not guilty. Hove Crown Court convicted Mytton of committing offences between 1992 and 1994 and convicted Wilkie Denford of committing offences between 1987 and 1990. The convictions are part of a wider scandal of past child abuse in the Diocese of Chichester.


Present

St John the Evangelist's Church has been 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 ...
since 22 April 1950. As at February 2001 it was one of 54 Grade II* listed buildings in the
Mid Sussex Mid Sussex is an area in the central part of Sussex. It may refer to: * Mid Sussex District, a local government district in West Sussex * Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency) * Mid Sussex Football League * Mid Sussex Times, a local newspaper * A ...
District. St John the Evangelist's is now one of three Church of England parishes in Burgess Hill. St Andrew's parish, established in 1902, serves the east side of the town, and St Edward the Confessor's's parish (created in 2000) serves the west side; St John the Evangelist's parish church now serves for the central part of the town between the
railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
and the A23 London Road, and some residential estates in the south of the town. St John's celebrates the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
twice each Sunday morning and has also a Sunday evening prayer service. It celebrates the Eucharist also on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (
Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movemen ...
) services are held every weekday except Monday.


See also

*
List of places of worship in Mid Sussex The district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex, has nearly 100 churches and other places of worship. Most are in the three main towns of Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grins ...


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess Hill, Saint John the Evangelist Churches completed in 1863 19th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II* listed churches in West Sussex Church of England church buildings in Mid Sussex District Saint John