Waterloo: St John
Overview
Grid reference: SJ 317 982
The Victorian parish church of Waterloo St John stands within a large plot in the middle of St John’s Square, surrounded by contemporary terraced housing laid out on a grid pattern set back a short distance from the beach. This is a stern, no nonsense church, in the Early English style with lancets throughout. The church was built in 1865 to designs by Culshaw & Sumners at a cost of £3,500 to accommodate up to 600 people.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
5-bay nave with south porch and north baptistery to the west end, 2-bay transepts to the east end, 2-bay chancel with side offices.
Dimensions:
Nave 24m (75ft) by 10m (34ft).
Footprint of Church buildings: 559 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built in 1865 to designs by Culshaw & Sumners at a cost of £3,500 to accommodate up to 600 people. This partnership was responsible for several churches in the Liverpool area, notably Christ Church Linnet Lane in Sefton Park, though not all of their work was of this quality. The parish was carved out of Sefton in recognition of the influx of people into the area, and from the beginning determinedly Evangelical in outlook. It was almost immediately extended by the addition of transepts and an organ chamber in 1869. Ventilation shafts and dormer windows were added in 1902 following complaints that the church got too hot, and electric lighting was installed. The chancel was refurbished in 1935 with new furnishings and fittings. The whole church was renovated in 1965 with emulsion paints, covering the Victorian text above the chancel arch.
Exterior Description
This is a stern, no nonsense church, in the Early English style with lancets throughout. The compact solid building appears to hunker down against the threat of the Atlantic, particularly on a stormy winter day such as that of the visit. It does not have significant townscape value.
A little vertical emphasis is provided by an open belcote at the west end containing a single bell under a gablet. Beneath this the west end is pierced by three tall stepped lancets under hoodmoulds with floriate stops (the case with all windows), over a sillband stepped up and run out and beneath this three small oval lancets, clearly to light the vestibule under the inner gallery. The nave walls have corbel-tables, and buttresses framing tall lancets. The western bay on the south side which has a gabled porch with a moulded 2-centred arched doorway and a small 3-sided apse on its west side, mirrored on the north side by a gabled baptistery in similar style.
The roof has two flat-roofed 5-light dormers in each side, and two square lead-clad ventilators on the ridge. The 2-bay transepts and 2-bay chancel are in matching style with lancets in each bay, and stepped 3-light lancet windows in the gables. The south transept has a shallow gabled porch beneath the windows, with a moulded 2-centred arched doorway, and the chancel roof has a dormer in each side like those of the nave.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1870-80
The chancel east window has Christ flanked by images of John the Evangelist, the figures enclosed within vesicas
Stained Glass
Unknown
The chancel side windows plus one window in the north transept have personifications of the Virtues, unsigned.
Stained Glass
1908
A lancet at the west end of the north nave wall is by Kempe, signed with the wheatsheaf and castle symbol.
Abacus
1878
The middle window in the north nave wall is signed by Mayer of Munich.
Stained Glass
1870-90
The other windows are unsigned, but date within the years 1870-90.
Building Materials
Sandstone
Coursed rubble Yorkshire Shoddy sandstone with Stourton sandstone dressings,
Slate
Fishscale slate roof with bands of purple slate.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior is very much as built by 1869. The wide nave also still has its full complement of pitch-pine pews with side aisles.
The pointed chancel arch springs from carved foliate capitals, a rare touch of architectural detail. The chancel has its good quality furnishings of 1935, the encaustic tiles of the 19th-century still surviving under a carpet. The organ pipes are displayed within pointed arches in the north chancel wall.
The roof structure attracts the attention, a rather heavy false hammer-beam construction, painted white. The ceilings are boarded. The lack of a clearstorey is compensated for in some degree by the light from the dormer windows.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1935
Austrian oak Chest with plain panels
Reredos
1935
Austrian oak panelling with a carved cornice, of a piece with the altar
Pulpit
1865
Large hexagonal Caen stone pulpit with blind tracery panels, 1865, now painted in white and orange with gold trim (1965).
Lectern
1870
Brass eagle
Font (object)
1870
Stone octagonal bowl, with panelled bowl and stem to march the pulipt
Plaque (object)
Brass. Margaret Ellen Wilkinson, died 1st May 1922
Plaque (object)
Brass. Thomas Harrison, died November 17th 1914
Plaque (object)
Brass. Star of David shaped brass with octagonal central field, in memory of George Pemberton Fisher, Senator and Notary of the City of Liverpool died March 3rd 1886
Rail
1935
Oak
Churchyard
Grid reference: SJ 317 982
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 | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
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
Sources
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