| St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| St Johns, Bath at dusk 2007.JPG St John's Church |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Victorian architecture |
| Town or city | Bath |
| Country | England |
| Construction started | 1861 |
| Completed | 1863, spire: 1867 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Charles Francis Hansom |
St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church is located on the South Parade in the southeast section of Bath City Centre, in the old Ham District where Georgian architect John Wood the Elder had originally planned his forum. The decorative Gothic-styled spire dominates the city's skyline, which has irked some people such as noted architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner who stated the church was "a demonstrative proof of how intensely the Gothicists hated the Georgians of Bath."
The structure was designed and built between 1861-3 by Charles Francis Hansom, who was the brother of J. A. Hansom, the creator of the Hansom cab. The brothers also prepared designs for Woodchester Mansion in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, after A. W. N. Pugin had resigned from the project. For this reason, they are often quoted as being the second best Roman Catholic architects of their day, for their success in picking up commissions Pugin had passed over. Their executed designs in the Mansion's north service wing are also in this Gothic style.
The church's 222 foot (68 metre) spire was added in 1867 by Hansom. The baptistery was designed in 1871 by Edward Joseph Hansom, the son of Charles Hansom.
The brothers considered the church to be one of their best works. Pevsner's typical terse description describes the church as follows:
| “ | Lofty tower with spire and spirelets. Ambitious aisled nave with clerestory, transepts, broad polygonal apse with side apses. The exterior rock-faced, in the interior circular pink granite piers with elaborate foliated capitals. – SCREEN of iron. – STAINED GLASS. In the rose windows, quite good and glowing. Screen and glass are by Hardman. – VESTMENTS. Genuine C15 vestments are in use at St. John's. | ” |
Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol, (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1958), 106.