St John's, Redhill
Encyclopedia
St John's is a hamlet
on the fringes of Redhill
, Surrey
. The small community is now a conservation area
circled by Earlswood and Redhill Common. St John's is in one of the three ecclesiastical parish
es that make-up Redhill. The area around St John's School and Church had very small beginnings but at one time grew so rapidly it was thought that it was the nucleus of a new town.
Company for the loss of grazing and other rights when it built the railway across common land in the Manor. Four years later the churchwardens were holding a meeting to decide what to do with £535.7s thus obtained. The decision was to spend one third of it on the poor rate and two thirds on building a National School
at St John's. The Schools (Boys', Girls' and Infants') opened in 1845 and St John's, now in the form of a Community Primary school
, is still going strong. More on the history of St John's and the School can be found here, the School's website also provides more information about the school.
, to designs by J T Knowles in 1843. To this aisles were added to designs by Ford & Hesketh 1867. The great change came in 1889, when John Loughborough Pearson
was called on to remodel the church. He replaced the original building with a new nave
and chancel
, retaining the 1867 aisles, and in 1895 he added a new south-west steeple. The Pearson work is faced externally with stock brick with stone dressings, contrasting with the flint
facings of the aisles.
Pearson's building is typical of his major churches, and shares characteristic features with such buildings as St Stephen, Bournemouth, All Saints, Hove
, St Augustine, Kilburn
and St John, South Norwood
. The nave has five bays with arcades and clerestory
. The west entrance is under a stone vaulted gallery and the timber roof is supported on stone transverse arches carried on shafts attached to the older arcade pillars. The three-bay chancel is narrower, the space being occupied by passage aisles for the western two bays, separating the chancel from a chapel on the south and organ chamber on the north. The south-west steeple rises to 185ft. The tower has shallow set-back buttresses and a short octagonal spire with corner spirelets and single lucarne
s. The eight bells are by Mears & Stainbank, 1895, rehung in 1972.
The interior is entirely faced with stone. The windows contain an almost complete series of stained glass
installed by Clayton & Bell under Pearson's direction. The handsome triptych
reredos
, designed by Pearson, 1898, with small panel paintings in an elaborate gilded frame, has been recently conserved and regilded. There is a fine iron chancel screen of 1910, and the organ is by Willis, 1897, rebuilt by Hill, Norman & Beard in 1968. The marble pulpit and the font. in the form of a kneeling angel, date from 1882. The churchyard wall, of knapped flints, was built in 1867.
It is understood that the vestry
was erected by F L Pearson after his father's death, but probably following his plans. It stands alongside the organ chamber, which forms an eastward extension of the North aisle, with a three-light window with Geometrical traces, in the east gable.
The vestry consists of a western section forming the choir vestry, gabled at right-angles to the aisle. with a three-light window in the north gable, and entered by a doorway in the west wall, and a clergy vestry to the east with a flat roof concealed by a straight moulded parapet with an east window of four small equal arched lights. To the west of the vestry is a small extension housing a boiler room.
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
on the fringes of Redhill
Redhill, Surrey
Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, England and is part of the London commuter belt. Redhill and the adjacent town of Reigate form a single urban area.-History:...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. The small community is now a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
circled by Earlswood and Redhill Common. St John's is in one of the three ecclesiastical parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es that make-up Redhill. The area around St John's School and Church had very small beginnings but at one time grew so rapidly it was thought that it was the nucleus of a new town.
St John's School
The history of St John's School began on 21st August 1840 when a decision was taken at a parish vestry meeting to claim compensation from the London, Brighton and South Coast RailwayLondon, Brighton and South Coast Railway
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base, and a large part of Surrey...
Company for the loss of grazing and other rights when it built the railway across common land in the Manor. Four years later the churchwardens were holding a meeting to decide what to do with £535.7s thus obtained. The decision was to spend one third of it on the poor rate and two thirds on building a National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
at St John's. The Schools (Boys', Girls' and Infants') opened in 1845 and St John's, now in the form of a Community Primary school
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
, is still going strong. More on the history of St John's and the School can be found here, the School's website also provides more information about the school.
Church of St John the Evangelist
The first church here was built, on a prominent site on a spur of the North DownsNorth Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
, to designs by J T Knowles in 1843. To this aisles were added to designs by Ford & Hesketh 1867. The great change came in 1889, when John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson was a Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency unrivalled in his generation.-Early life and education:Pearson was born in Brussels, Belgium on 5...
was called on to remodel the church. He replaced the original building with a new nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
, retaining the 1867 aisles, and in 1895 he added a new south-west steeple. The Pearson work is faced externally with stock brick with stone dressings, contrasting with the flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
facings of the aisles.
Pearson's building is typical of his major churches, and shares characteristic features with such buildings as St Stephen, Bournemouth, All Saints, Hove
All Saints Church, Hove
All Saints Church is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has served as the parish church for the whole of Hove since 1892, and stands in a prominent location at a major crossroads in central Hove.-History:...
, St Augustine, Kilburn
St. Augustine's, Kilburn
Saint Augustine's, Kilburn is an Anglican Church in the area of Kilburn, in North London, United Kingdom. Because of its large scale and ornate architecture, it is sometimes affectionately referred to as "the Cathedral of North London", although the church is not a cathedral in any official...
and St John, South Norwood
South Norwood
South Norwood is an urban town and in south London, England, in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a suburban development 7.8 miles south-east of Charing Cross. South Norwood is an electoral with a resident population in 2001 of just over 14,000...
. The nave has five bays with arcades and clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
. The west entrance is under a stone vaulted gallery and the timber roof is supported on stone transverse arches carried on shafts attached to the older arcade pillars. The three-bay chancel is narrower, the space being occupied by passage aisles for the western two bays, separating the chancel from a chapel on the south and organ chamber on the north. The south-west steeple rises to 185ft. The tower has shallow set-back buttresses and a short octagonal spire with corner spirelets and single lucarne
Lucarne
A lucarne is a small dormer window that is built on a spire or roof during the Gothic and Romanesque time period....
s. The eight bells are by Mears & Stainbank, 1895, rehung in 1972.
The interior is entirely faced with stone. The windows contain an almost complete series of stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
installed by Clayton & Bell under Pearson's direction. The handsome triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
, designed by Pearson, 1898, with small panel paintings in an elaborate gilded frame, has been recently conserved and regilded. There is a fine iron chancel screen of 1910, and the organ is by Willis, 1897, rebuilt by Hill, Norman & Beard in 1968. The marble pulpit and the font. in the form of a kneeling angel, date from 1882. The churchyard wall, of knapped flints, was built in 1867.
It is understood that the vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
was erected by F L Pearson after his father's death, but probably following his plans. It stands alongside the organ chamber, which forms an eastward extension of the North aisle, with a three-light window with Geometrical traces, in the east gable.
The vestry consists of a western section forming the choir vestry, gabled at right-angles to the aisle. with a three-light window in the north gable, and entered by a doorway in the west wall, and a clergy vestry to the east with a flat roof concealed by a straight moulded parapet with an east window of four small equal arched lights. To the west of the vestry is a small extension housing a boiler room.