St John the Evangelist's Church, Chelford
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{{Infobox church | name = St John the Evangelist's Church, Chelford| fullname = | image = Chelford John 1.jpg| imagesize = | caption = St John the Evangelist's Church, Chelford, from the south | pushpin map = Cheshire| pushpin map alt = | pushpin mapsize = 250 | pushpin label position = left| map caption = Location in Cheshire| location = Chelford, Cheshire| country = England | coordinates = {{coord|53.2624|-2.2727|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}} | osgraw = SJ 819 740| denomination = Anglican | churchmanship = | membership = | attendance = | website = [http://www.clmruralchurches.org.uk/ St John the Evangelist, Chelford] | former name = | bull date = | founded date = | founder = | dedication = John the Evangelist| dedicated date = | consecrated date = | cult = | relics = | events = | past bishop = | people = | status = Parish church| functional status = Active| heritage designation = Grade II*| designated date = 14 April 1967| architect = | architectural type = Church| style = | groundbreaking = | completed date = c. 1902| construction cost = | closed date = | demolished date = | capacity = | length = | width = | width nave = | height = | diameter = | other dimensions = | floor count = | floor area = | spire quantity = | spire height = | materials = Brick with stone dressings
Slate roof| parish = St John the Evangelist, Chelford, with Lower Withington | deanery = Knutsford| archdeaconry = Macclesfield| diocese = Chester| province = York| presbytery = | synod = | circuit = | district = | division = | subdivision = | rector = | vicar = | curate = | priest = | asstpriest = | minister = | assistant = | honpriest = | deacon = | seniorpastor = | pastor = | abbot = | chaplain = | reader = | organistdom = | director = Donald McLeod| organist = | organscholar = | chapterclerk = | laychapter = | warden = | flowerguild = | musicgroup = | parishadmin = | serversguild = | logo = | logosize = }}
St John the Evangelist's Church lies to the southeast of the village of Chelford, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.{{NHLE |num= 1115561|desc= Church of St John, Chelford|access-date= 2 April 2012 |mode=cs2}} It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Knutsford. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Lower Withington.{{Citation | url = http://www.achurchnearyou.com/chelford-st-john-the-evangelist/| title = St John the Evangelist, Chelford | access-date = 3 October 2009| publisher = Church of England}}
History
The original church on the site was probably a medieval timber-framed chapel. This was replaced in 1774–76 with a church that was little more than a "plain brick box with slightly pointed windows".{{Citation | last = Hartwell | first = Clare |last2 = Hyde | first2 = Matthew |last3 = Hubbard | first3 = Edward | author3-link=Edward Hubbard (architectural historian) | last4 =Pevsner | first4 =Nikolaus | author4-link =Nikolaus Pevsner | series= The Buildings of England| title = Cheshire | publisher =Yale University Press| year =2011| orig-year=1971| location =New Haven and London| page = 209| isbn =978-0-300-17043-6 }} The west tower was added in 1840, and the chancel was extended in 1902.
Architecture
=Exterior=
The church is constructed in brick with stone dressings and has a slate roof. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave with a west gallery, a two-bay chancel and a west tower with a recessed spire. The tower is in three stages with diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet. The spire is octagonal, covered with diamond-shaped slates and crowned by a weather vane. The west front of the tower has an arched doorway and a clock face.
=Interior=
In the church are 18th-century box pews. The gallery has been boxed in and converted into a meeting room. The walls contain paintings in Art Nouveau style. Also in Art Nouveau style are the pulpit, the altar rails and the choir stalls which were designed by Percy Worthington and which date from 1903. The chancel has a stone-mosaic floor. The stained glass includes war memorials of 1920 and 1921, designed by J. H. Dearle, and made by Morris & Co. In the porch is a memorial window of 2009 by Samantha Land. In the church is a painted memorial board dated 1654 inscribed with a poem. There is a ring of six bells dated 1885 by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.{{citation |url= http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=chelford&Submit=++Go++&DoveID=CHELFORD |title= Chelford S John |access-date=13 August 2008 |publisher= Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers }}
External features
See also
{{Portal|Cheshire}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Churches in Cheshire}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelford, St John the Evangelist's Church}}
Category:Church of England church buildings in Cheshire
Category:Grade II* listed churches in Cheshire
Category:Churches completed in 1776
Category:18th-century Church of England church buildings