OS grid reference SJ 598,853 Denomination Anglican Opened 1885 Architect Sharpe, Paley and Austin | Country England Dedication John the Evangelist Phone +44 1925 262939 | |
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Location Walton, Warrington, Cheshire Website St John the Evangelist, Walton Address St John the Evangelist,, Old Chester Rd,, Higher Walton, Warrington WA4 6TJ, United Kingdom Architectural style Gothic Revival architecture Similar St Mary's Church - Widnes, St Mark's Church - Antrobus, All Saints Church - Scholar G, All Saints Church - Harthill, All Saints' Church - Weston | ||
St John the Evangelist's Church is in Walton, Warrington, Cheshire, England. It was built as a private estate church towards the end of the 19th century but is now an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
Contents
History
The church was built in 1882–83 for the brewer Sir Gilbert Greenall of Walton Hall. It was designed by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin, the cost of its construction being £17,500 (equivalent to £1,590,000 in 2015).
Exterior
The church is built in red snecked sandstone with Westmorland green slate roofs. Its plan is cruciform with a three-bay nave, north and south transepts, a two-bay chancel, a south vestry, and a south porch. The tower is in four stages with chequerwork in its third stage, a recessed octagonal spire and an octagonal north west stair turret. The porch consists of an oak frame on a 6 feet (2 m) sandstone plinth. The church is in Decorated style.
Interior
The nave and chancels have barrel roofs. On the south side of the chancel is sedilia. The reredos contains a carving of the Crucifixion. The font is marble, and the pulpit is built of oak on a stone base. The floors are tiled. The stained glass includes a window in the south transept dated 1929 by Morris and Co. and elsewhere by Shrigley and Hunt.
Appraisal
The church was listed at Grade II* on 23 December 1983. Grade II* is the middle of the three gradings designated by English Heritage, and is given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest". The authors of the Buildings of England series describe it as a "glorious estate church, exquisitely detailed and composed", and consider that the tower is one of Austin's best.