Description

ALTON C.P. CASTLE HILL ROAD (North-west side)
SK 0642-0742
13/5
3/1/67 Catholic Church of St. John
the Baptist
GV II*
Roman Catholic Church circa 1840 by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
Ashlar with edged herringbone tooling; plain tile roof with crested ridge tiles.
Perpendicular style; 4-bay nave, 3-bay chancel, north-east oratory,
south-east chapel , buttresses at each bay division, diagonal buttresses
to each corner. Nave: pointed west doorway with moulded surround
and hood mould terminating in foliated stops; 4-centred west window
above with wave moulded surround, 2 lights to each side of a central
blind arch with nodding ogee over a statue of a bishop, hood mould
terminating in heads, a king and a bishop; octagonal bellcote with
scaled pointed stone roof surmounted by a cross; square-headed
north and south windows of 3 cinquefoil headed lights with sunken
spandrels. Chancel: pointed east window of 3 cinquefoil headed
lights and Perpendicular tracery, hood mould terminating in angels
bearing shields; pointed windows of 2 cinquefoil headed lights with
short supermullions above and deeply hollowed surrounds. North-east
oratory: North window has trefoil-headed lights; lean-to roof with
stone tiles. Interior: sumptuously decorated including much painted
decoration. High pointed chancel arch with moulded surround; nave
roof has 2 pairs of purlins, a ridge piece and collar with curved
struts extending to the principals, 3 tiers of paired curved wind
braces; chancel roof has arch braced collars, the braces are moulded
and spring from octagonal posts with capitals which stand on
corbels carved as angels bearing shields, one pair of purlins and
ridge piece, 2 tiers of paired curved windbraces, wall plate and
purlins are brattished; oratory to north of chancel entered by a
pointed doorway to the west with nook shafts, 4-centred arch to the
east; chapel to the south of chancel entered by a 4-centred doorway
with panelled spandrels; 4-centred arch to the east matching that on
the north side. Fittings: octagonal stone font; pulpit in south-
east corner of nave, quarter octagon on corbels; 4 brass chandeliers
in nave; benches with elaborate poppy heads and backs decorated with
openwork tracery; elaborately carved crucifix suspended over the
sanctuary; marble altar of 5 bays, with cusped heads, the central
and outer ones slim, the other 2 wide, the central niche contains a
figure of the Virgin, the outer niches figures of 2 of the Apostles,
the others contain figures of angels; 9-bay alabaster reredos,
trefoiled ogee arch niches containing figures, except the central one
in front of which the cross stands; niches to each side of the east
window, each containing a figure, cusped arches with nodding ogee
.iver; piscina to right of altar with trefoil ogee arch. Monuments:
grasses to the sixteenth and seventeenth Earls of Shrewsbury died
1852 and 1856, one to each side of the altar. Stained glass good
throughout especially the east window by Thomas Willement depicting
the Madonna and Child and John the Baptist. Pugin's screen has been
removed to the Birmingham Museum. The R.C. Church of St. John the
Baptist was built as the chapel to the Hospital of St. John (q.v.) and
is attached to its north-western angle; it forms part of an important
group of buildings by Pugin built during the l840's for the Sixteenth
Earl of Shrewsbury. B.O.E. p. 60.

Listing NGR: SK0736142466

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531942

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

• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)