St John the Evangelist's Church, Ashton Hayes

St John the Evangelist's Church, Ashton Hayes
St John the Evangelist's Church, Ashton Hayes, from the south
St John the Evangelist's Church, Ashton Hayes Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°13′23″N 2°44′23″W / 53.2230°N 2.7397°W
OS grid reference	SJ 507,698
Location	Ashton Hayes, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St John, Ashton Hayes
History
Dedication	John the Evangelist
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	8 November 1985
Architect(s)	1849 E. H. Shellard 1900 Douglas and Minshull 1932 Theodore Fyfe
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1849
Completed	1932
Specifications
Materials	Buff sandstone Lakeland green slate roof
Administration
Parish	St John the Evangelist, Ashton Hayes
Deanery	Chester
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Dr David Lamb
Laity
Reader(s)	Alan Dowen, Philip Goodall
Organist(s)	Yvonne Dowen
Churchwarden(s)	Barbara Craven, Diane Eldridge
Parish administrator	Barbara Russell-Moore

St John the Evangelist's Church is located to the north of the village of Ashton Hayes, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester.^[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[2]

History

St John's became a separate parish in 1849.^[3] In that year the church was built to a design by E. H. Shellard of Manchester at the expense of William Atkinson. A vestry was added and the chancel was altered in 1900 by Douglas and Minshull, and in 1932 a north chapel by Theodore Fyfe was added.^[2]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in ashlar buff sandstone and has a Lakeland green slate roof. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave and a two-bay chancel, a north aisle with a chapel at its east end, a south porch and a vestry. At the west end is a tower with a spire. The tower is in three stages on a plinth, with diagonal buttresses, plain bands at each floor, and an embattled parapet. A stair turret projects at the northeast corner. On the west side of the tower is a three-light window. A clock in is in the second stage and above this are three-light louvred bell openings. The spire is recessed with lucarnes.^[2]

Interior

The interior is simple with a four-bay arcade to the north. The chancel has a painted roof. The chapel has a flattened apsidal end and its ceiling is barrel vaulted. The pulpit is in Art Nouveau style.^[2] In the church is a monument to William Atkinson who died in 1883. The windows contain stained glass bay A. K. Nicholson.^[4] The organ is in the west gallery and was built by Charles Whiteley and Company.^[5]

External features

The churchyard contains a war grave memorial erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to a Cheshire Regiment soldier of World War II.^[6]

See also

• Listed buildings in Ashton Hayes
• List of works by E. H. Shellard
• List of church restorations, amendments and furniture by John Douglas

References

1. St John the Evangelist, Ashton Hayes, Church of England, retrieved 15 September 2011
2. Historic England, "Church of St John Evangelist, Ashton Hayes (1330310)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
3. Ashton, GenukiUK, retrieved 16 March 2008
4. Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 108, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
5. Cheshire, Ashton, St. John the Evangelist (J00116), British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 11 November 2010
6. ROBERTS, GEORGE, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 2 February 2013