The Church of St. John the Evangelist

 

A sundial on the porch

When planning my day out to see the dinosaurs on the Jurassic Trail 2 in Leeds, I wanted to take advantage of the limited opening hours of the disused Church of St. John the Evangelist, which is now maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust. 

 

A general view of the south elevation

 

Seeing it for the first time during a previous visit to Leeds, I assumed that it was a C15 church, based on the Perpendicular Gothic style throughout the exterior, but was surprised to discover that it was in fact completed in 1634, with alterations to the tower from 1830 to 1838 and a major restoration by Richard Norman Shaw, which was completed in 1868. 

 

A general view of the north elevation

 

In the 1860’s, it was was originally intended that the church whould be demolished and rebuilt, as at Leeds Minster but Shaw, supported by George Gilbert Scott, was able to convince the church authorities that it could be repaired. 

 

Coarse pebbly gritstone used in the porch

Although originally built in stone from the Upper Carboniferous Elland Flags, which came from the mediaeval quarries of Woodhouse Moor to the north-west of the city centre, the restoration work made extensive used of coarse grained pebbly sandstone that is probably from the Rough Rock. I didn’t closely examine the masonry but I can’t say that I noticed any of the fine grained original stone.

 

A grotesque on the porch

 

I just spent enough time on the exterior to photograph its principal features and the large grave slabs that cover the churchyard and which are probably made with memorial grade stone from the Elland Flags – a very fine grained sandstone that, like the Greenmoor Rock in South yorkshire, was widely quarried for paving. 

 

Grave slabs in the churchyard

The interior is best known for its double nave, box pews, well exposed roof timbers and various other fittings that are very attractive, but the walls are all plastered and there is very little exposed stonework to be seen anywhere. 

 

The arcade

The single central arcade is built out of fine grain buff coloured sandstone from the Woodhouse Moor quarries, which is very different in character to the flaggy sandstone for which the Elland Flags are best known. 

 

Decoration to a capital in the arcade

The octagonal columns of the arcade have capitals that are decorated with acanthus leaves and ball ornament and various carved head and figures, some of which are playing musical instruments, are found on both sides at the springing of the arches. 

 

An angel playing a musical instrument

 

The church has a fine floor, which is laid with large squares of the grey veined ‘Sicilian’ variety of Carrara marble and a red/grey polished Devonian limestone from Belgium, which may be Rouge Royal ‘marble’ or a similar variety from central Wallonia. 

 

The chequer pattern marble floor

Another decorative stone used in the floor, for borders, is the polished Carboniferous limestone known as Frosterley Marble, which comes from Weardale in Co. Durham and is composed of rugose coral fossils set in a black calcareous mud matrix. Also, in one of the window ledges is what I think is Connemara Marble from Co. Galway on the west coast of Ireland, but I couldn’t get close enough to take a good look at it. 

 

Fosterley Marble and Connemara Marble