Church Heritage Record 613143

Cruciform plan. 5-bay nave with south-west porch, crossing tower with north and south transepts. Chancel with south vestry (current access) and WC to east. Boiler house under north-east corner.

[Approximate] Nave 23m (75ft) x 8m (26ft).

Dipton was a coal mining village, with records of mining activity existing from as early as 1333 and ceasing in the 1980s. Dipton was once bounded by small hamlets of Anglo-Saxon origin - Collierley, Dykes and Pontop. The part of the village the church is in, and to the west, was Pontop. A chapel stood in Collierley but was ruined by the mid-18th century.

The architects, Oliver and Leeson, designed a number of churches in County Durham, as recorded by Church Plans online. They designed St John's in 1885-86. An old photo at the west end shows the interior with no chancel screen and either paint or tile-work to the lower walls of the north and south chancel. The image presumably pre-dates a fire that affected the east end of the church c 1962, caused by an electrical fault.

The archaeological potential of the site is low. There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot, though it contains mature trees.

St John's is a fine church for a small village. It is set lower than the level of the road so that the cruciform plan can be appreciated by passers-by. A short square crossing tower, with hipped roof behind a crenellated parapet, has projecting rainwater spouts at each corner. A bell hangs from the east side. Paired lights pierce each elevation. Extending to the north and south of the tower are gabled transepts. A narrow aisle-less nave with quite steeply pitched roof extends to the west, with low gabled porch in the south-west corner (interior stone vault). The chancel roof extends at the same pitch and height on the east side.

A sill beneath the five-light lancet west window continues around the exterior, forming hood-moulds over the north and south nave windows which are formed of groups of three lancets. The central of these is taller than its neighbours, and the trio are set within a smooth stone surround. A lower sill also runs continuously beneath them. Buttresses are situated between the first and second, and third and fourth bays. Paired lancets pierce the east and west elevations of the north and south transepts, and three-light windows within the north and south elevations. In the north-east corner a brick outhouse sits between the chancel and north organ chamber. A boiler house is situated beneath.

The main entrance through the south-west porch is inaccessible, so entry is through the vestry in the south-east corner. Nevertheless the main space is a long, not particularly wide or tall, space with painted plaster walls with ashlar dressings and a collared arch-braced roof. The trusses are painted mustard-yellow and rest alternately on stone corbels between the windows and at the wall-plate. The level boarded floor is laid with carpet in the aisles and seated with fixed open-backed pine benches to either side. The font is positioned at the west end. A storage cupboard in the north-west corner is formed from wooden panels and painted yellow to match the roof. Windows are filled with diamond-leaded panes of cathedral glass.

Through a pointed arch at the east end of the nave, is the tower crossing which provides welcome height to the interior and additional light. A moveable altar and a portable font have been placed within the space. The tower has a flat ceiling with ribs in a grid. Lancets on each of the tower elevations filters light down into the space. Transepts extend to north and south.

The north chapel has a boarded barrel-vault ceiling. It is seated with pews to the west and an altar is raised on a step to the east. Behind it are curtains which hide decorative organ pipes. It is furnished with various items in memory of a number of individuals. The south chapel is screened from the crossing by a curtain and wood partition. It also has a boarded barrel-vault roof and is seated with plastic chairs orientated towards the west. A door to the east leads into the vestry which has a south door and a WC to the east.

Back at the crossing, a high, pointed chancel arch opens into the chancel which has a wood panel barrel-vaulted ceiling. Three steps rise between a low stone chancel wall which forms the base of an ornate carved wood screen erected as a war memorial. Memorial plaques are fixed to either side of the opening. The carpet continues up the central aisle. Plain oak choir stalls, with minimal embellishment to the frontals, are positioned to the north and south sides. Organ pipes are recessed in the north wall, behind a stone arch. The furniture, including the iron and wood communion rails, were executed post-fire c.1960s. A door in the south chancel leads into the vestry, whilst beyond it to the east, the sanctuary is raised by two steps, with the altar raised upon a further step. The east wall is wood panelled. A stone piscina is situated beneath a single light window within the south sanctuary wall.