Church of St. John the Evangelist

DESCRIPTION & SIGNIFICANCE
This beautifully finished and well-kept turn of the 20th century rural church is in snecked, tooled, golden sandstone with ashlar details. Below the small bell turret the stonework advances, giving the impression of a tower, but with an unusual and dramatic full height round-headed lancet rebated within a stone surround. The slate roof features stone water tabling leading into corner buttresses. The ashlar window surrounds frame round-headed lancets with leaded coloured lights. The church is of excellent quality with an elegant simplicity to its design, especially given that it was built largely by voluntary local labour, with the foreman, Gowland, recruiting a team of masons as the sole paid workers. The Clerk of Works was the Colliery Manager, and the stonemen from the colliery quarried the stone in their spare time, transporting it using colliery vehicles. When the project ran into financial difficulties, the villagers also helped out. It was therefore a church very deeply connected with the people of the area, and stands as a testament to their commitment, a graceful and unspoilt landmark for the area. The spacious, grassy churchyard, with its mature trees, also makes a very special, peaceful contribution to the local landscape. MATERIALS Sandstone, slate, stained glass ARCHITECT Diocesan Architect
Clerk of Works: John English
Foreman: Mr Gowland DATES Built 1907, opened 1909. LOCAL LIST