Description

TL 96 SE ELMSWELL CHURCH ROAD

5/25 Church of St John
15.ll.54

GV II*

Parish church, medieval. Restored 1862/64 by E.C. Hakewill and 1872 by J D.
Wyatt. Nave, chancel, north and south aisles, west tower, south porch, north
vestry and organ chamber. Flint and septaria rubble with freestone dressings
(C19 work has knapped flint and rubble). Slated nave roof, plaintiled chancel
roof. Flat aisle roofs behind parapets. Parapet gables. Mid and late C14
work in chancel: hoodmoulded south doorway, reticulated traceried east window
and two south windows, ogee-headed piscina. Mid C14 south nave arcade of 5
bays, with fluted octagonal shafts and moulded capitals. Reset and restored
late C14 aisle windows. Fine late C15 tower, with twin belfry windows on each
face under a single hoodmould. Good flushwork tracery to parapets, and on
buttress faces: at the head of each buttress is a canopied image niche. A
frieze around the base has more panels with intricate tracery. West doorway
with grotesque hoodmould corbels. Good C15 nave clerestory: 5 bays of
traceried windows, between each is a pillar once supporting a figure, and
beneath is a frieze moulded and with fleurons of a wide variety of designs.
Tall C15 shafted tower arch. In 1872 the north aisle was added: the north
doorway and several windows, all of late C13, were re-set in its walls: Y-
traceried windows, and the doorway which has a heavy hoodmould with grotesque
corbels. The C15 porch has 3 image niches over the entrance, whose jambs and
shafts remain. Otherwise the porch was restored in 1862. Mid C14 inner south
doorway. Interior fittings: The northern arm of a C15 parclose screen in the
south aisle: 4 traceried panels with cresting above, the solid panels below
have C20 painted figures. C15 octagonal limestone font: the sunk faces of the
bowl have shields each bearing a letter, beneath it are angels, and birds
support the stem. 5 good C15 poppyhead benches with traceried ends and
buttresses in the north aisle, and 5 more in the south. A fine monument in
the south aisle to Sir Robert Gardener (d.1619): a coloured reclining figure
with his kneeling son beside him and an empty gown lying below. A coffered
canopy on Corinthian columns and his Coat of Arms forming a crown. A C15 slab
in the south aisle floor with large brass sinking: a figure within a large
cross. The C19 work was as follows: Virtual rebuilding of south aisle by E.C.
Hakewill in 1862, and remodelling of chancel in 1864. Addition of north aisle
and rebuilding of main roof by J.D. Wyatt in 1872.

Listing NGR: TL9820263599

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535403

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)