St John the Evangelist's Church, Burgess Hill
Encyclopedia
St John the Evangelist's Church is an Anglican church in the town of Burgess Hill
in the district of Mid Sussex
, one of seven local government districts in the English
county of West Sussex
. The Gothic Revival church, built of locally made bricks, is Burgess Hill's parish church
and was its earliest venue for Anglican worship. Since it opened in 1863, it has administered several other churches in the town (either as mission chapels or as daughter churches), but all have either closed or been given their own parishes. English Heritage
has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
with some small farms, cottages and temporary settlements. A Roman road
ran through it, and an annual fair was held, which developed into an ad hoc summer market
. It lay across the boundary of the neighbouring parishes of Clayton
and Keymer
—two ancient manors
which, by the time of the Domesday survey
in 1086, had been established for several hundred years. The parishes were narrow and long, each measuring about 7 miles (11.3 km) from south (where the villages and churches were) to north.
St John's Common, as it was called, gradually became as important as the ancient villages of Clayton and Keymer themselves in the context of trade and activities carried out in the parish. People began to settle on the land in the 17th century, both legally and illegally, and parts of it were enclosed
. An extensive brick- and tile-making industry was also established.
Two developments in the mid-19th century encouraged the growth of Burgess Hill as a residential and commercial centre: the full enclosure of St John's Common, by an Act of Parliament
dated 18 April 1828, and the London and Brighton Railway Company
's decision to build its London–Brighton railway line straight through the area in the early 1840s. The latter was extended from a temporary terminus at Haywards Heath
to its destination, Brighton
, on 21 September 1841, and a station was opened at Burgess Hill
on the same day. London, Brighton and many other destinations were now easily accessible, and residential growth was stimulated; and the Keymer Brick and Tile Works, well established as the town's main industry by this time, was able to tap new markets for its products. The enclosure of the section of the common within Clayton parish was completed in 1857, and the pace of growth accelerated.
Since the early 1840s, Anglican worship had taken place in the school on London Road. When the enclosure was completed in 1857, the Act of Parliament which governed it arranged for 1.5 acre (0.607029 ha) of land to be reserved for the construction of a permanent church. This had been suggested in 1854, when a local newspaper noted that the schoolroom, Keymer church
and Clayton church were between them unable to cope with the number of people wanting to worship. 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 2 acre (0.809372 ha) of undeveloped land in the town centre free of charge, agreement could not be reached. A group of landowners in Clayton parish were so angry at the proposal to move the church away from the site agreed in the Act of Parliament that they took out a newspaper advertisement in July 1861 protesting against any change to this plan. They were ultimately unsuccessful, and construction of the church started on the donated land. Thomas Talbot Bury
had been commissioned to design it, and a building firm from Chichester
submitted the successful bid for the construction job. The Bishop of Chichester
, Ashurst Turner Gilbert
, laid the foundation stone on 4 November 1861, and construction work continued until June 1863, at which time the church was consecrated.
For its first two years, the church was a chapel of ease
jointly held by the Parishes of Clayton and Keymer; but in June 1865 it was given its own parish and received its dedication to John the Evangelist
. Its capacity was about 700; about half of the pew
s were subject to pew rents, which generated income to cover the vicar's stipend
.
Few changes have been made since the church was opened. Talbot Bury built an aisle on the south side in 1875, and a vestry was added in 1889. A vicarage was built on nearby Park Road in 1907 after a local doctor presented some land to the church. In the late 20th century, the north transept
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
in 1989.
St Alban's Mission Hall was the first mission room provided in Burgess Hill. It stood on Fairfield Road on the Clayton side (west side) of the ecclesiastical parish, and was built in 1885 at a cost of £324 (£ as of ) to provide extra capacity in that area. Its popularity led to an extension being built in 1907, and services were held for much of the 20th century. The building still stands, but has been converted into an Age Concern
day centre.
Two years later, Somers Clarke
donated money for the construction of a second mission hall to serve the northeastern part of the town, which had developed quickly after Wivelsfield railway station
had 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 donated money and more land towards the construction of a permanent church. The old mission hall became two shop units.
In 1902, a separate ecclesiastical district was formed from portions of the parishes of St John the Evangelist and Ditchling
. It was named St Andrew's, and construction 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
was eventually finished in 1924, and planned tower was never built. St Andrew's Church, designed by Lacy W. Ridge, is a red-brick structure with some exterior stonework, in the Gothic Revival style
. The nave is very wide and lacks aisles.
St Edward the Confessor Church stands at the west end of the town, in Burgess Hill's main cemetery. A small Perpendicular Gothic-style stone cemetery chapel was built in the early 20th century; this later became a full-time Anglican place of worship administered from St John the Evangelist's. It was extended in a modern brick-built style in 1968, and was given its own parish in 2000.
, and the roof is tiled. The plan comprises a 3½-bay
nave
, chancel
, clerestory
, north and south aisles and transept
s, entrance porch to the south and three-stage tower to the northwest, topped by a tall tiled steeple. This also has four clock faces, installed in 1887 for Queen Victoria's
Golden Jubilee
, and a peal of eight bells. Three were commissioned for her Diamond Jubilee
in 1897, two were installed in 1900 and three more followed in 1904.
Trefoil
windows predominate. The middle and upper stages of the tower have paired lancet window
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
s—an arrangement considered "odd" by Nikolaus Pevsner
.
The nave has a king post
arched roof supported by octagonal columns. The chancel roof is similar but more sophisticated in its design. The north aisle is cross-gable
d.
An oak-carved pulpit commemorates Simeon Norman, one of Burgess Hill's important 19th-century residents (and the builder of the Grade II-listed Providence Strict Baptist Chapel), and an oak lectern was donated as a memorial to another local family. Frederick Crunden, who donated 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
company designed some of the windows, and another commemorates a local doctor who had donated the organ
.
on 22 April 1950. As at February 2001, it was one of 54 Grade II* listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex.
The parish of St John is now one of three in Burgess Hill. St Andrew's parish, established in 1902, covers the east side of the town, and St Edward's parish (created in 2000) serves the west side; St John the Evangelist's Church is now responsible for the central section between the railway line
and the A23 London Road
, and some residential estates in the south of the town.
There are two Eucharistic services each Sunday morning, a Sunday evening prayer service, and Eucharistic services on Tuesday and Wednesday. Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (Common Worship) services are held every day during the week except Monday.
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a civil parish and a town primarily located in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park...
in the district of Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex is a local government district in the English county of West Sussex. It contains the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill....
, one of seven local government districts in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. The Gothic Revival church, built of locally made bricks, is Burgess Hill's parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
and was its earliest venue for Anglican worship. Since it opened in 1863, it has administered several other churches in the town (either as mission chapels or as daughter churches), but all have either closed or been given their own parishes. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
History
The area now covered by the town of Burgess Hill was, until the mid-19th century, common landCommon land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
with some small farms, cottages and temporary settlements. A Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
ran through it, and an annual fair was held, which developed into an ad hoc summer market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
. It lay across the boundary of the neighbouring parishes of Clayton
Clayton, West Sussex
Clayton is a small village at the foot of the South Downs in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the north and Lewes, the county town of East...
and Keymer
Keymer
Keymer is a village 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 day parish of Hassocks. Both Keymer and Clayton's records go back as far as the...
—two ancient manors
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
which, by the time of the Domesday survey
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086, had been established for several hundred years. The parishes were narrow and long, each measuring about 7 miles (11.3 km) from south (where the villages and churches were) to north.
St John's Common, as it was called, gradually became as important as the ancient villages of Clayton and Keymer themselves in the context of trade and activities carried out in the parish. People began to settle on the land in the 17th century, both legally and illegally, and parts of it were enclosed
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
. An extensive brick- and tile-making industry was also established.
Two developments in the mid-19th century encouraged the growth of Burgess Hill as a residential and commercial centre: the full enclosure of St John's Common, by an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
dated 18 April 1828, and the London and Brighton Railway Company
London and Brighton Railway
The London and Brighton Railway was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway runs from a junction with the London & Croydon Railway at Norwood - which gives it access from London Bridge, just south of the River Thames in central London...
's decision to build its London–Brighton railway line straight through the area in the early 1840s. The latter was extended from a temporary terminus at Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath railway station
Haywards Heath railway station serves Haywards Heath in West Sussex, England. It is on the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink north of Brighton, and train services are primarily provided by Southern and First Capital Connect...
to its destination, Brighton
Brighton railway station
Brighton railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. The station master is Mark Epsom...
, on 21 September 1841, and a station was opened at Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill railway station
Burgess Hill railway station serves Burgess Hill in West Sussex. Located on the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink 15 km north of Brighton railway station, train services are provided by Southern and First Capital Connect...
on the same day. London, Brighton and many other destinations were now easily accessible, and residential growth was stimulated; and the Keymer Brick and Tile Works, well established as the town's main industry by this time, was able to tap new markets for its products. The enclosure of the section of the common within Clayton parish was completed in 1857, and the pace of growth accelerated.
Since the early 1840s, Anglican worship had taken place in the school on London Road. When the enclosure was completed in 1857, the Act of Parliament which governed it arranged for 1.5 acre (0.607029 ha) of land to be reserved for the construction of a permanent church. This had been suggested in 1854, when a local newspaper noted that the schoolroom, Keymer church
St Cosmas and St Damian Church, Keymer
St Cosmas and St Damian Church is an Anglican church in the village of Keymer, in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Rebuilt in 1866 in a style similar to the Saxon building it replaced, it is the parish church of Keymer and now lies within a combined parish serving three villages in...
and Clayton church were between them unable to cope with the number of people wanting to worship. 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 2 acre (0.809372 ha) of undeveloped land in the town centre free of charge, agreement could not be reached. A group of landowners in Clayton parish were so angry at the proposal to move the church away from the site agreed in the Act of Parliament that they took out a newspaper advertisement in July 1861 protesting against any change to this plan. They were ultimately unsuccessful, and construction of the church started on the donated land. Thomas Talbot Bury
Thomas Talbot Bury
Thomas Talbot Bury was a British architect and lithographer.Bury was articled to Augustus Charles Pugin in 1824 and started his own practice in Soho in 1830. At various times he collaborated with other notable architects including Charles Lee, Louis Vulliamy and A.W.N...
had been commissioned to design it, and a building firm from Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
submitted the successful bid for the construction job. The Bishop of Chichester
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 in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
, Ashurst Turner Gilbert
Ashurst Turner Gilbert
Ashurst Turner Gilbert was an English churchman and academic, Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford from 1822 and bishop of Chichester.-Life:...
, laid the foundation stone on 4 November 1861, and construction work continued until June 1863, at which time the church was consecrated.
For its first two years, the church was a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a 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....
jointly held by the Parishes of Clayton and Keymer; but in June 1865 it was given its own parish and received its dedication to John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
. Its capacity was about 700; about half of the pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s were subject to pew rents, which generated income to cover the vicar's stipend
Stipend
A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried...
.
Few changes have been made since the church was opened. Talbot Bury built an aisle on the south side in 1875, and a vestry was added in 1889. A vicarage was built on nearby Park Road in 1907 after a local doctor presented some land to the church. In the late 20th century, the north transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
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
Diocese of Chichester
The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was created in 1075 to replace the old Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey from 681. The cathedral is Chichester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Chichester...
in 1989.
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 allocated their own parishes.St Alban's Mission Hall was the first mission room provided in Burgess Hill. It stood on Fairfield Road on the Clayton side (west side) of the ecclesiastical parish, and was built in 1885 at a cost of £324 (£ as of ) to provide extra capacity in that area. Its popularity led to an extension being built in 1907, and services were held for much of the 20th century. The building still stands, but has been converted into an Age Concern
Age Concern
Age Concern was the banner title used by a number of charitable organisations specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kingdom....
day centre.
Two years later, Somers Clarke
Somers Clarke
George Somers Clarke was an architect and English Egyptologist who worked at a number of sites throughout Egypt, notably in El Kab, where he built a house. He was born in Brighton and died in Egypt....
donated money for the construction of a second mission hall to serve the northeastern part of the town, which had developed quickly after Wivelsfield railway station
Wivelsfield railway station
Wivelsfield railway station serves World's End and other northern parts of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. It is approximately 2 miles from the village of Wivelsfield, which lies northeast of the town of Burgess Hill. The station is also north of...
had 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 donated money and more land towards the construction of a permanent church. The old mission hall became two shop units.
In 1902, a separate ecclesiastical district was formed from portions of the parishes of St John the Evangelist and Ditchling
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 construction 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
Cathedral diagram
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. Dashed lines show the ribs of the vaulting overhead...
was eventually finished in 1924, and planned tower was never built. St Andrew's Church, designed by Lacy W. Ridge, is a red-brick structure with some exterior stonework, in the Gothic Revival style
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
. The nave is very wide and lacks aisles.
St Edward the Confessor Church stands at the west end of the town, in Burgess Hill's main cemetery. A small Perpendicular Gothic-style stone cemetery chapel was built in the early 20th century; this later became a full-time Anglican place of worship administered from St John the Evangelist's. It was extended in a modern brick-built style in 1968, and was given its own parish in 2000.
Architecture
Thomas Talbot Bury designed St John the Evangelist's 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 laid in the Flemish bond patternBrickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
, and the roof is tiled. The plan comprises a 3½-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
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...
, 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...
, 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...
, north and south aisles and transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s, entrance porch to the south and three-stage tower to the northwest, topped by a tall tiled steeple. This also has four clock faces, installed in 1887 for Queen Victoria's
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
, and a peal of eight bells. Three were commissioned for her Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...
in 1897, two were installed in 1900 and three more followed in 1904.
Trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
windows predominate. The middle and upper stages of the tower have paired lancet window
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 motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
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
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
s—an arrangement considered "odd" by Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
.
The nave has a king post
King post
A king post is a central vertical supporting post used in architectural, bridge, or aircraft design applications.-Architecture:...
arched roof supported by octagonal columns. The chancel roof is similar but more sophisticated in its design. The north aisle is cross-gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d.
An oak-carved pulpit commemorates Simeon Norman, one of Burgess Hill's important 19th-century residents (and the builder of the Grade II-listed Providence Strict Baptist Chapel), and an oak lectern was donated as a memorial to another local family. Frederick Crunden, who donated 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.
Franz Mayer & Co.
Franz Mayer & Co. is a famous German stained glass design and manufacturing company, based in Munich, Germany, that has been active throughout most of the world for over 150 years...
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...
company designed some of the windows, and another commemorates a local doctor who had donated the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
The church today
St John the Evangelist's Church was listed at Grade II* by English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 22 April 1950. As at February 2001, it was one of 54 Grade II* listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex.
The parish of St John is now one of three in Burgess Hill. St Andrew's parish, established in 1902, covers the east side of the town, and St Edward's parish (created in 2000) serves the west side; St John the Evangelist's Church is now responsible for the central section between the railway line
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...
and the A23 London Road
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
, and some residential estates in the south of the town.
There are two Eucharistic services each Sunday morning, a Sunday evening prayer service, and Eucharistic services on Tuesday and Wednesday. Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (Common Worship) services are held every day during the week except Monday.