St John Chambers
ST JOHN CHAMBERS, 2, ASHWELL STREET, LEICESTER, LE1 6JJ
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1074776
- Date first listed:
- 02-Mar-1973
- List Entry Name:
- St John Chambers
- Statutory Address:
- ST JOHN CHAMBERS, 2, ASHWELL STREET, LEICESTER, LE1 6JJ
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-04-19
- Reference:
- IOE01/13362/03
- Rights:
- © Mr Peter Graham. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1074776
- Date first listed:
- 02-Mar-1973
- List Entry Name:
- St John Chambers
- Statutory Address 1:
- ST JOHN CHAMBERS, 2, ASHWELL STREET, LEICESTER, LE1 6JJ
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- ST JOHN CHAMBERS, 2, ASHWELL STREET, LEICESTER, LE1 6JJ
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- City of Leicester (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SK 59211 03978
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 04/01/2017
718/9/431
2 ASHWELL STREET
ST JOHN CHAMBERS
(Formerly listed as CHURCH OF ST JOHN CHAMBERS (former CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE)
02-MAR-73
II
Former Parish church of 1854-55 by G.G. Scott, converted to apartments late 1980s.
MATERIALS: Random red-granite rubble with limestone dressings and buff sandstone banding, slate roof.
PLAN: Aisled nave with north tower and corresponding south transept, and aisled chancel.
EXTERIOR: Mainly in the style of c1300 favoured by Scott, although the character is now compromised by modern window frames and skylights in the steep roof. The west front, facing Ashwell Street, has an elaborate doorway with nook shafts, below a band of 5 cusped lancets, and rose window in the gable. Aisles have pointed windows with modern domestic window frames. The 3-stage tower has angle buttresses, north-east polygonal turret, and plain parapet added in the 1950s when the spire was removed. In the lower stage are 2 lancets below a round window with quatrefoil tracery lights. The second stage has narrow cusped windows, and the upper stage has 2-light bell openings. The south transept has a 4-light south window. The former chapels in the chancel aisles have 3-light east windows, and the south has 3 south windows, of which the central retains window tracery. The chancel east end is a polygonal apse with 2-light windows.
INTERIOR: Not inspected; thought to be comprehensively altered.
HISTORY: Parish church of 1854-55 by G.G. Scott, built at a cost of about £7,000, originally with a spire that was taken down in the 1950s. Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-78) began practice in the mid 1830s and became the most successful church architect of his day. His churches generally have a harmonious quality which derived their character from the architecture of the late C13 or early C14. The church of St John the Divine is a good example of his style and was one of the first Leicester churches to be built following ecclesiological principles. The interior was built with arcades of round piers and foliage capitals, and included glass by William Wailes and a wrought-iron screen of 1903 by C.H. Lohr. The church was redundant by the 1980s and was converted to apartments in the late 1980s.
SOURCES:
G. Brandwood, The Anglican Churches of Leicester, 1984, pp 37-38, plate 38.
N. Pevsner (revised E. Williamson), The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland, 1984, p 211.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: St John Chambers (former church of St John the Divine), Leicester, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It was one of the earliest churches in Leicester to be built under ecclesiological principles, by one of the foremost church architects of the C19.
* The church retains external character and detail, and possesses special interest notwithstanding its internal alterations and loss of fixtures.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 188807
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 02:08:32.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry