Church Heritage Record 620345

5-bay nave and chancel with west tower and spire, north-west vestry and south-west boiler house. Sacristy to south of chancel. Short sanctuary.

[Approximate] Nave and chancel 21m (69ft) x 11m (36ft), sanctuary 1.5m (5ft)

Between 1831 and 1851 the population of the Potteries rose from around 54,000 to over 88,000 and church provision expanded accordingly [AHP]. The mining of coal and iron led to Goldenhill’s success and expansion during the first half of the 19th century, but the area began to decline during the first half of the 20th century as collieries shut and businesses moved. Archaeological records note a possible bronze Roman statue found within 1km of the site. Also recorded is the former site of the Boston Pottery, an early 19th century pottery demolished in 1962, and the Newchapel and Goldenhill Station which was in use between 1875 and 1964.

St John’s was designed in 1841 by a local architect, Stanley of Shelton, in a Byzantine Romanesque style. The AHP report describes the building as ‘a relatively early example of the Romanesque Revival in church building’. The church has since undergone a series of changes with a vestry added south of the tower in 1880, which was then removed and replaced by an octagonal vestry north of the tower in 1891 [VCH], when the interior is understood to also have been reseated. A report in the local press in 1949 recorded extensive repairs carried out by the National Coal Board due to damage caused by subsidence - tie bars in the vestry could have been inserted at this time. Due to the extent of subterranean mining in the locality, this is not uncommon within the area and is something that structural issues continue to be attributed to. In 1981 the east end was reordered (recorded by mounted certificate) resulting in the removal of choir stalls and the insertion of a new altar platform. Meanwhile the churchyard has been extended several times.

The former school which sits within the curtilage of the listed church was built in 1884 and rebuilt after fire in 1895. It was enlarged in 1904 [VCH].

The archaeological potential of the site is low.  There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot.

St John’s is a dark brick building, with its tower and stone broach spire located at the west end, away from the road and approach. Nevertheless the feature has some streetscape presence. The Norman design influence is realised in the adoption of a chevron motif and round-arched openings. Similar design motifs are repeated in the design of the adjacent school.

The brick has a slightly glazed finish. The north and south elevations are pierced by tall round-headed windows with engaged stone shafts and cushion capitals set within a moulded brick window surround of three orders. Once established this systems is used for window and door openings throughout the building, other than the later vestry. A continuous brick chevron band navigates the building above the windows, and a zig-zag stone course beneath them, broken by tall buttresses situated between each bay. A lower stone band marks a plinth. All windows have been covered with polycarbonate which has clouded. At eaves level is a raised exaggerated brick chevron band, described by Pevsner as a ‘triangular Lombard frieze’. Angle buttresses are placed at each corner, as well as stone kneelers.

The gabled east end has a 4-light lancet window beneath intersecting brick pointed arches with stone pilasters. The gabled Sacristy in the south-east corner has a round-arched door with steps up to it in the west face, as elsewhere, set within a moulded brick surround.

At the west end, the tower has a round-arched west doorway, not in use, with thick stone shafts carrying a moulded brick arch with stone steps leading up to it. The tower contains a bell and a clock (war memorial) with faces on each side. Paired round-headed windows in the north, west and south sides follow the form already described. Their glass has been replaced with vandaglass. Above them are single louvred openings again structured in the same manner.

Between the tower and the porch in the north-west corner is a flat roofed octagonal vestry, a later addition and more simply adorned, with plain arched window openings. To its east the gabled porch has chunky stone kneelers. Stone steps lead up to the wooden doors again set between stone shafts with capitals within a series of recessing orders of brick.

The interior is a relatively simple, open, space with much evidence of the need for repair and redecoration. It is accessed through the north-west porch, and enters the church beneath the west gallery with the font positioned close to the door. The floor is paved with ceramic herringbone tiles and interspersed with iron grilles. A vestry in the north-west corner is used mainly for storage including that of the lawn mower. The gallery is accessed through a round-arched door in the centre of the ground floor west wall which opens onto the stone tower stairway. The gallery is supported by two cast iron columns and the wooden frontal is painted blue and yellow. It holds the organ and has fixed tiered pine pews to either side of it. In the wall above are two round windows.

The nave is seated with fixed pine pews on raised platforms (reseated 1891), with deep hollows beneath. Carpet has been laid along the central aisle. The walls are plastered and painted yellow to the height of the sills. Tall round-headed windows above them bring light into the building. Further light has until recently been supplied from clustered pendant lights. The nave is ceiled by a timber truss roof, with additional intersecting gothic arch details, with painted boards behind. Heating pipes follow the platforms and walls at ground floor level.

Towards the east end of the building, still within the main space, a carpeted floor has been inserted marking the chancel area, which rises by two wooden steps throughout its depth. Altars have been set up in both the north-east and south-east corners. A small sacristy, with external door, can be accessed to the south. A simple unmoulded pointed arch in the east wall leads to the shallow sanctuary which has a panelled east wall.