Roman Catholic Church of St John the Evangelist, Brentford, London

Summary

The church of St John the Evangelist, Brentford, is a mid-Victorian brick church, built in 1866 to designs by a Mr Jackman, about whom little is known. It is characterised by a distinctive squat tower, and contains remnants of early work by JF Bentley. The attached presbytery and parish centre to the rear are not included in the listing.

Description

MATERIALS: the roof is slated, and walls are buff stock brick with polychrome detailing. Internally, the nave arcade is of cast-iron.

PLAN: the plan comprises a nave with north aisle, accessed by a narthex which is reached by a later south porch. The original entrance was located in the tower, which sits at the north-west corner. The sanctuary is three-sided, and the sacristy is located to the south-east. A box-like projection to the south contains confessionals.

EXTERIOR: the most distinctive and attractive feature is the tower, which is squat, sitting flush with the west gable, and having a slight batter. There is an angle buttress at the exposed corner and at the top of the tower the corners are chamfered off to align with the chamfered facets of the slated spire arrangement above. This comes in two stages with open-work timber arcading half way up, carrying a regularly shaped, concave-sided octagonal spirelet. On the west face sits a pointed-arched niche containing a statue of St John the Evangelist, beneath a trefoil-pierced timber gablet which breaks the eaves line. The main body of the church is also covered by a slate roof, and there is a break in the angle between the nave and aisle. The fenestration chiefly consists of paired, cusped lights with polychrome voussoirs to the arches. Those to the west are set in pointed-arched recesses, indicating the position of former entrance openings. The sanctuary is lit by a trefoil window, set into a steep gablet with timber bargeboards.

INTERIOR: entry is via the west porch, into a narthex, which contains a cast-iron spiral staircase to the gallery, and is separated from the nave by a panelled timber screen. The wide nave is separated from the north aisle by an arcade of five bays comprising slender, octagonal iron shafts over high bases. The top of the shafts support tripartite curvilinear braces which in turn carry a purlin decorated with cusped piercing, which spans the junction of the nave and aisle roofs. The roof structure is composed of thin members with an arch-braced collar above supporting curved struts, all reinforced with slender iron tie-rods. Work is ongoing at the time of inspection (2015) to reinstate decorative interior schemes in the sanctuary, based on evidence of original painted and stencilled detailing which was revealed during investigative works c2011. The sanctuary has been reordered and has a woodblock floor inlaid with geometric patterns.

FIXTURES AND FITTINGS: a glazed and timber screen at the west end between the narthex and nave by J F Bentley (recently restored) of a somewhat conventional Perpendicular design; stained glass in the north aisle dates from 1883-84 and appears the work of Lavers and Westlake. Bentley designed the window nearest the Lady altar, depicting St John administering communion to the Virgin at her Coronation; the painter was N H J Westlake, as indicated by an inscription along the lower panel. The trefoil in the east window (St John) is by Paul Woodroffe, possibly of 1903; at the east end of the north aisle is a Victorian altar with carved Gothic detail; other statuary and stations are conventional, including the Sacred Heart and Our Lady, whose shrines terminate each end of the north aisle, and St Anthony and St John, located to the centre of the north aisle.

History

The mission was founded in 1856, serving the spiritual needs of Irish railway construction workers. Initially the former Baptist chapel at Market Place was utilised until the present church was built in 1866. The architect was a Mr Jackman, about whom nothing certain is known. The only architect of this name noted in the Architect’s, Engineer’s and Building Trades Directory of 1868 is a J T Jackman of 34 Soho Square. JT Jackman was the architect of the Leyburn Union Workhouse, North Yorkshire (1875-77).

At the outset the mission was very poor and the church was unadorned. Since construction there have been a series of minor structural changes, chiefly at the western end. In 1879 the Rev J W Redman took charge of the mission and, in 1883, he brought in J F Bentley to make improvements. The first of these was the building of a low enclosing wall at the front, and the following year he produced the high altar, throne and reredos. Bentley was also responsible for the narthex screen at the west end. This latter example survives but his other work has since been destroyed.

J F Bentley and N H J Westlake were, both exceptional and pioneering designers of the late Victorian period. Bentley (1839-1902), best known as the architect of Westminster Cathedral, was also highly accomplished across a range of decorative practices, while N H J Westlake (1833-1921) was best known for his glass work under the firm Lavers and Barraud (later Lavers, Barraud and Westlake), later in his life publishing authoritative works on the history of design in painted glass and mural painting. The two men were close friends, and often collaborated.

The building has undergone some minor functional changes. The main entrance was originally located at the west face of the tower, in a pointed arched recess which now accommodates a window. In the C20 (post-1947) it was moved to be in the centre of the narthex, and a porch was added to harmonise with the original building. However, c2008, the entrance was moved again (for reasons of safe access), to the south side of the porch (hence the fresh-looking polychrome work, designed by Anthony Delarue to be in keeping with the Victorian fabric). The window which had been located at the south elevation of the porch was then moved to the front. In 1947 a plan was also prepared to add a south aisle and confessionals but this scheme was reduced to a pair of confessionals, projecting on the south side, added it is thought, in the 1950s. At some stage in the mid C20 the decoration on the walls was painted out. Investigative work was undertaken by Howell and Bellion (under Anthony Delarue Associates), which revealed vestiges of at least two phases of former decorative schemes in the sanctuary; at the time of inspection (2015), stencil decoration in the sanctuary is being recreated, to include various patterned leaf and flower motifs, geometric patterning, and four stencilled niches, which, on completion, will accommodate the four evangelists and their symbols. An earlier phase of this scheme removed overpainting from Bentley’s carved wooden screen, which has now been restored to its original colour scheme.

Reasons for Listing

The Roman Catholic Church of St John the Evangelist, Brentford, of 1866 by a Mr Jackman, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a lively and original interpretation of Gothic Revival architecture, following the influence of Ruskin and Butterfield in its use of exterior polychromy;
* Interior fixtures and fittings: the church retains a narthex screen in Perpendicular style by J F Bentley and has good stained glass by N H J Westlake;
* Technical interest: the building exhibits an interesting use of cast-iron, in both a decorative and structural capacity, which is relatively uncommon in church architecture;
* Historic interest: the church has associations with the role played by Irish immigration in the economic and infrastructure development of west London.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.