Longton: St John the Baptist
Overview
Grid reference: SJ 897 444
The church was not an expensive building, and tells more by its substantial mass and economy of detail than by any elaborate decoration. Although it is the south side which faces towards the town centre, the entrance was evidently intended to be at the foot of the west tower, and it is the west wall which shows the nearest attempt to grandeur.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Rectangular nave of five bays with galleries on three sides; west tower embraced by continuations of the nave walls housing stair cases; chancel with transepts which form an organ chamber and vestry on the north and chapel on the south.
Description of Archaeology and History
A small chapel built in 1762 was replaced by the present church in 1795, to the designs of an unknown architect, which was consecrated in that year as a chapel of ease to Stoke Parish Church, not receiving its own parish until 1866. The church was extended east wards in 1827-8 and the stone embattled parapet to the tower was added in 1832-4 by Thomas Johnson of Lichfield. In view of Johnson's marriage to a daughter of the Trubshaw family, and the great involvement of that family with church building in the Stoke area at this period, it is tempting to suggest that a Trubshaw might have designed the 1792 building here. The only member of the family whose dates would fit would be James Trubshaw I (1746-1808), of whom virtually nothing is known save that two years before St. John's was built he became County to Surveyor of Staffordshire. There might be justification for ascribing the design of this building to one who was a surveyor rather than an architect by inclination. His grandson, Thomas, (who was brother-in-law to Johnson) designed the church of St. James, Longton, in 1833-4. The church cost £3,000, the eastern extension £1,800.
Exterior Description
The church was not an expensive building, and tells more by its substantial mass and economy of detail than by any elaborate decoration. Although it is the south side which faces towards the town centre, the entrance was evidently intended to be at the foot of the west tower, and it is the west wall which shows the nearest attempt to grandeur. It is tri-partite, the central section formed by the lower three stages of the tower and the flanking bays enclosing staircases to the galleries. A tall round-headed arch rising from the ground to the level of the parapets of the rest of building encompasses the three floors of the tower, the lowest entered by a classical doorway of restrained design consisting of a round arch within Tuscan half-columns supporting a moulded entablature. Directly on this is set a window with segmental head and minimum Gothick tracery which lights a small chamber over the porch, and the ringing chamber above that is lit by a circular light within a moulded stone surround.
The stringcourse separating the upper porch chamber from the ringing chamber continues across the flanking bays, and indeed all round the rest of the nave at the level of the sills of the upper row of windows. On the west wall, it simply divides the staircase walls into two false storeys, the lower with pointed openings formerly doorways, that on the north now partly a window and that on the south entirely blocked withered brick infilling. Above the stringcourse are two roundels like that which lights the ringing chamber. Above the level of the parapet of these bays, the tower continues for some way at a uniform dimension without any decoration save a small stone which projects slightly below the clockface on the west front; this doubtless was once incised with the date or name of the chapel. The uppermost stage of the tower is set slightly back above a plain stone stringcourse, and has simple two-centred arched openings in each face with louvres; the parapet has a band of lozenges then a projecting moulded course above which are battlements and short pinnacles at the corners.
The flanking walls of the original nave each have two tiers of seven windows with elementary Gothic tracery in iron within two-centred stone moulded surrounds. The moulded cornice which replaces a parapet is too low to conceal the shallowly pitched slated roof. The galleries were originally approached by doorways in the additional west bays flanking the tower and the only variant on the pattern of openings is a window by the south transept which has at some stage (probably in 1871 when it was filled with stained glass) been given "correct" 13th century tracery of two cinquefoiled lights with a pointed quatrefoil in the head.
The form of the original chancel is not known, but it was presumably a shallow rectangle or possibly an apse. This was replaced in 1827-8 with the present gauche chancel and transepts. The only interest of this part of the church is that it exhibits an awakening sense of Gothic forms, by abandoning the moulded cornice and introducing diagonal buttresses at the angles with two offsets and pinnacles with crockets. The roofs are more sharply pitched, and the parapet continues up the inclines, but the windows still take the same form as those of the nave, even to the extent of being placed one above or the other in the transept gables because (presumably) of galleries within. They do, however, now have hoodmoulds. The east wall of the chancel and of the transept have larger windows with later tracery of five and three lights respectively.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1921
East window: The Ascension, with St. George, St. John, St. Mary and St. Chad, representing local churches dedicated to these Saints.
Stained Glass
c.1950
East window of south transept: Crucifixion
Stained Glass
1871
South aisle I: Christ the Good Shepherd and St. John.
Interior
Interior Description
The church should be entered through the west doorway, which leads into a small dark ante-room in the base of the tower. The nave is simply a large rectangular room with galleries on three sides, these being supported on slender cast-iron columns and having delicately detailed panelled fronts with a frieze of Gothic arcading. The plastered walls are entirely plain, with the windows in canted reveals, and the plaster ceiling has been replaced by a disastrous construction of acoustic tiles, said to have been introduced in place of its predecessor to lighten the weight on the walls. The nave is paved with stone flags and some ledgers in the alleys, and the pews stand on timber boards.
Although the extended chancel and shallow transepts date from 1827, the church was further "chancelled up" later in the century by the introduction of slender timber posts with brackets supporting a panalled ceiling in the crossing between the transepts in order to provide a suitable space for accommodating a robed choir, separated by screens from the transepts. The organ now stands on a gallery in the north transept, and the south transept is arranged as a chapel for the reservation of the sacrament. In the eastern arm of the church also, the architectural ambition is minimal, the windows being filled with undeveloped Gothic tracery of the simplest sort and the walls left completely plain. The chancel is panelled in oak, with narrow panels each with tracery in the head, and the ceiling is flat, again without adornment.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
c.1920
The altar is of oak, c.1920. In the north aisle is a War Memorial altar with a rood under a small tester.
Reredos
c.1930
Oak.
Pulpit
c.1800
The pulpit is grained to resemble oak, and is hexagonal with pairs of traceried panels.
Lectern
1867
The Lectern is a big eagle of blackened oak
Font (object)
1861
The font is shaped like an egg-cup on four marble colonettes.
Churchyard
Grid reference: SJ 897 444
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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