Bell 1 of 1
Dove Bell ID: 63267 Tower ID: 25209 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Great Yarmouth: St John
Diocese of Norwich
Closed Church, 626043
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/great-yarmouth-st-john-22093/Overview
Grid reference: TG 529 71
Urban Victorian “Fisherman’s” church now just behind the shoreline, built 1857 by JH Hakewill, successively added to in 1884. Complex accretive plan. Partially converted in 1980s for community use.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Aisled nave, transepts, chancel, detached “chapter house” vestry, south spirelet, planned tower never built.
Dimensions:
[Approximate] Nave 22m (70ft) x 8m (26ft), chancel 8m (26ft) long.
Footprint of Church buildings: 736 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built in 1857 by John Henry Hakewill, whose better known brother E J Hakewill was also a church architect. J H restored St Nicholas’s and designed St Andrew’s in Great Yarmouth. The church was built to serve the seafaring community, mainly people employed in the herring industry who lived in this area directly by the seafront as the church was at that time. It is built on reclaimed shore and archaeological remains are not expected on the site. The south aisle was added in 1859 by Hakewill. In 1878 the nave was extended west and the north aisle, transept and north chancel aisle were added, probably by A W Morant. Finally in 1884 the south transept was built and vestry added by Bottle & Olley.
There was a partial refurnishing in 1930-2. Another restoration took place in 1989, the south transept being screened off to provide a kitchen, toilets installed and the vestry used for meetings.
Exterior Description
Despite being built in several stages the church is stylistically coherent, being in the Early English style with lancets and plate tracery, exposed flint walls. The west façade has three gables of equal height, pierced by triple paired lancets to nave, double paired lancets to north aisle, and a single paired lancet to south aisle. There are also paired lancets to the north and south aisles, and two paired lancets to the transept facades under a foiled plate-tracery circle. The south transept has a polygonal turret terminating in an open lantern under a pyramid roof, relocated here in 1884. The chancel is apsidal, the walls again pierced by lancets.
Set to the east but linked by a covered passage is the vestry, which is hexagonal in “chapter house” style, with two lancets to each facet, and a pyramid roof with lantern. These features give the church considerable interest and some impact in the townscape, accentuated by the triangular “traffic island” site and low surrounding buildings.
Building Fabric and Features
Nave
19th century aisled
Transept
19th century x2
Vestry
19th century detached
Spire
19th century south spirelet
Building Materials
Brick
19th century red brick faced with flint
Flint
19th century facing
Bath Stone
19th century dressings
Slate
19th century roofs
Interior
Interior Description
The hexagonal vestry is simple inside, whitewashed with a boarded ceiling, an attractive, well-lit and potentially useful space. The church can be entered through a link.
The nave has a 6-bay arcade of circular columns on waterholding bases. On the north there are sea-weed capitals, on the south stiff-leaf capitals. Low pointed arches with red brick banding. Scissor-braced nave and aisle roofs, boarded to north aisle. Tiled floor. The nave has plain fixed pine bench pews, with moulded square ends, those in the aisles have been cleared. The benches in the south aisle have paper labels saying “reserved for seafaring folk and their families”. A ventilator in the south aisle wall is said to have been because of the smell of the aromas associated with this industry. There are two tin plates with painted texts.
There is a war memorial chapel in the north transept behind a screen and the south has been converted into a kitchen behind a plain solid screen with hatch, disused. Looking east, roll-moulded chancel and sanctuary arches. The sanctuary has clustered colonnettes to the lancet windows, and the walls and half-dome ceiling are richly decorated. Good choir stalls with poppyheads. Blue carpet.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
20th century oak chest with Agnus Dei and the Evangelists carved on the front c 1930
Reredos
19th century marble with a mosaic cross
Pulpit
19th century limestone, polygonal with crosses in recessed vesicae and bands of fleurons
Lectern
19th century brass pedestal with praying angel
Font (component)
19th century plain octagonal font on clustered keeled columns
Rail
20th century of oak with turned balusters c 1930
Stained Glass
19th / 20th century A fine scheme by Ward & Hughes of the 1860s. One window by H Hughes 1865, and one window by A L Moore dated 1907 in the south aisle. All signed. • East end – five lights in apse with geometric patterns and panels with The Crucifixion, St Mary, St John, St Andrew and St Peter, c.1865 by Ward and Hughes; • South chapel lancets – three lights depicting scenes of Our Lord with St Peter by Ward and Hughes, also some geometric panels; • North transept, east side – The Resurrection and Christ with Mary Magdalene, c.1870 by Ward and Hughes; • North aisle - three scenes of Christ and St Peter, c.1856 by Ward and Hughes; • North aisle – St James the Great and St John, c.1907 by A L Moore; • North aisle – Our Lord Asleep and Stilling the Storm, c.1868 by Ward and Hughes; • South aisle – The Road to Emmaus and Our Lord by Galilee, c.1865 by H Hughes; • West window – Our Lord Teaching from a Boat above, with The Nativity and The Presentation in the Temple, The Angel and the Shepherds, The Manifestation and The Flight into Egypt, by Hughes.
Plaque (component)
19th / 20th century Brass plaques, one recording that Mary Atkinson Maurice was responsible for much of the money for building the church, she died 1858.
Organ (component)
20th century J J Binns of 1912 with architectural case
Bells
Portable Furnishings and Artworks
registers date from 1857
Churchyard
Grid reference: TG 529 71
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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