Parish Church of St John the Evangelist

Details

TORQUAY

SX9163 MONTPELLIER ROAD 885-1/17/187 (North side) 20/11/52 Parish Church of St John the Evangelist (Formerly Listed as: MONTPELLIER TERRACE Church of St John the Evangelist)

GV I

Parish church. 1861-73 to the designs of GE Street, west tower completed 1884-85 by AE Street to his father's designs. Lady chapel decorated 1888 by JD Sedding (Pevsner). Local grey crazed limestone with Ham Hill dressings; slate roof; pierced crested ridge tiles. Description approximate as interior and exterior scaffolded on survey for major repair scheme. PLAN: Chancel with south Lady chapel; nave with clerestory above 5-bay south aisle; south-west 4-stage tower. EXTERIOR: 2-bay chancel with lower roof than nave and flying buttresses on the south side. Two 2-light Geometric Decorated windows with a cinquefoil with a roundel in the head. Lean-to chapel between buttresses with two 3-light Decorated windows with head trefoils. South aisle has a moulded string at sill level, a corbel table and five 2-light Geometric Decorated traceried windows. Moulded-arched doorway in eastern bay with toothed moulding. Buttressed nave with 4 clerestory windows of 4 lancets under superordinate arches. Striking saddleback tower to west with a triple chamfered doorway and inner doorway with detached shafts. Triple lancet window above doorway, above that blind recesses contain slit windows. High transomed richly-moulded belfry window with pairs of trefoil-headed lights above and below the transom. Rose window in gable of tower. INTERIOR: Spectacular, high quality interior. Internal walls unplastered. 5-bay arcades with clustered shafts of banded local polished limestone; stone-vaulted chancel with moulded ribs and polychromatic banding to the infill. Chancel enriched with mosaics: trefoil-headed frame to reredos with carved figures by Earp in deep relief; chancel walls with blind marble arcading; marble and tile flooring. Copies of original Burne Jones paintings on north and south walls; exceptionally fine 1865 Morris and Company east window; wrought-iron and brass sanctuary rail; chancel screen also of wrought-iron and brass with gabled arch into chancel; wrought-iron screen between chancel and south chapel. Nave fittings include octagonal freestone and local marble pulpit with mosaic inlay and a wrought-iron balustrade to the stairs. Octagonal local limestone and Italian marble font with trefoil-headed blind panels, mosiacs and a splendid AC Street wrought-iron font cover on a bracket. Full immersion font in local Torquay marble. Salviati mosaic panels in nave. Very fine set of STAINED GLASS: Burne Jones designed west window, other glass by Clayton & Bell. HISTORY: "One of the leading centres of late C19 Anglo-Catholicism" (Pevsner). Detailed account of building, including contractors, craftsmen, costs etc in RJE Boggis, History of St John's, Torquay (1930). (Boggis RJE: History of St John's Church, Torquay: 1930-; Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1952-1989: P.849).

Listing NGR: SX9187963659

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

390716

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 849
Boggis, RJE, History of St Johns Church Torquay, (1930)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: South Devon, (1952), 849

End of official list entry

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