 St John's Church, Kates Hill, Surveys and Listing | sitemap | log in
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LISTING APPLICATIONAn application for St John's Church to be made a listed building was submitted to English Heritage (on line 6/8/08) and full submission by post 13.8.2008. To find out more about the listing process itself have a look at the English Heritage website CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST Kates Hill, Dudley, West Midlands
APPLICATION FOR LISTED BUILDING STATUS Prepared by St John’s Church Preservation Group August 2008 CONTENTS Executive Summary Page 3 Acknowledgements Page 5 St. John’s Church Preservation Group Page 6 Building Page 9 Date Page 12 Architect Page 13 Materials Page 18 Windows Page 19 Interior Page 25 Special Features Page 27 History Page 28 Lych Gate Page 30 Tipton Slasher Page 32 Other Famous People Page 34 Map and Setting Page 43 Supplementary Information Page 44 References and Resources Page 49 Books with References St John’s/William Bourne Page 50 Executive Summary This application is the result of twelve months intensive research and searching of archives and publications for information. We were not able to view the inside of the church or have access to parish records. We received invaluable help from experts, supporters who searched their albums to find photographs of the interior, and local archive services. A list of acknowledgements is contained within this report and we can never fully express how grateful we are for the help we have been given. St. John’s Church forms an important part of the heritage of Dudley. The sister church St. James’ the Great, Dudley was granted grade II listed status in 1996. St. Thomas & St. Luke and St. Edmund’s in Dudley are both Grade II* listed. St John’s Church is on the Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council local list of buildings of historic interest. The church was closed and redundancy procedures commenced in 2002. The Church redundancy was objected to by English Heritage in 2007 on the grounds that “...Closure of the building could potentially put its survival both as an attractive 19th century building and as a local landmark at risk.” We believe that St John’s is a victim of years of neglect and lack of acknowledgement or understanding of its importance in national and local history, and to local people. We are relieved that recent structural surveys showed that the building is still, at this stage, repairable. We have identified many items of local historic interest in the church and in the grounds, including the grave of the legendary pugilist William Perry “The Tipton Slasher”, and the co-founder of Hanson’s Beer, Julia Hanson. For contemporary interest comedian Lenny Henry was born in Dando Road in the parish and was a choir boy at St. John’s. We have found that the the church architect William Bourne is of particular interest. William Bourne (1811 – 1870) was responsible for designing several of the most important buildings in Dudley including the original Dudley Town Hall complex and the Dudley Guest hospital – an enormous undertaking illustrating Victorian philanthropy at its best. The original William Bourne St John’s Church School is still in situ (now offices) immediately adjacent to the St John’s Church building. The owner has treated the building with great respect and created a small museum area in the entrance areas.
William Bourne church St John The Evangelist adjacent to St John’s Church School. (Now known as ‘The Old School House) William Bourne church school St John’s Church School from the east side of St John’s Church. The original steps and path linking the two no longer exist.
The original pathway and steps leading from the school to the church has been blocked up but we believe that we have discovered the last remaining example of a William Bourne church and a William Bourne church school still on site together. There is the opportunity for St John’s grounds, when cleared, to create not only an open and attractive spiritual place, but also to be a place of pilgrimage for all those interested in the resting places of many Black Country industrialists and characters. St John’s, building and grounds, restored, will contribute to urban community regeneration. It is a historic place, a place with many stories, by no means all yet discovered. It is a place that the people of Dudley, and the authorities, local and church, could, and should be proud of. We believe and hope that this report will show that St John’s Church is worthy of the protection, acknowledgment, and increased fundability afforded by listed status. Deb Brownlee Chair St. John’s Church Preservation Group
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This application for listed status was prepared by Michelle Smart and Deb Brownlee of St. John’s Church Preservation Group with grateful thanks to the following contributors who gave freely of their time, expertise, memories and knowledge. Jim Ruston and Michelle Smart proved to be a formidable research team. We were very lucky as a group to gain the services of Jim with a Masters Degree in West Midlands Historical Studies and Michelle also having taken her first steps in that direction. Diane Adams, a retired genealogist offered the fastest, incredible turnaround on information requests. Victorian and Architectural experts Andy Foster and Tim Bridges gave invaluable advice. Research Contributors in alphabetical order Diane Adams Michael Banks Deb Brownlee Tim Bridges Professor Carl Chinn MBE Frances Dunlop Adrian Durkin Annette Eardley Andy Foster Keith Lilley Maureen Marsh Dorothy Mundon Chris Pickford Jayne Pilkington Gill Reynolds James Ruston May Whitehouse A public appeal for photographs of the interior brought contributions from the following, in alphabetical order
Diane Adams Michael Banks Dave Bissell Chris and William Bewg Sharon Bullock Sandra Cartlidge Stephen Davies Davies, Mr and Mrs Nell Dixon David Lilley Christine Moore James Ruston Heather Silvers Maureen Marsh Patrick Tague David Ward May Whitehouse And others who so kindly offered photographs which were not needed as they showed no new information ST JOHN’S CHURCH PRESERVATION GROUP The St. John’s Church Preservation Group began with two people in May 2007. A website was set up. Membership forms were made available in August 2007. A committee was formed and formally constituted in November 2007. Current number of members is 938. The St. John’s Church Preservation Group charitable objects are - 1. The restoration, preservation, maintenance and repair of 2. To advance the education of the public without distinction of age, disability, infirmity, sexual orientation, race, political or religious belief, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life. 3. To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation. The committee comprises - Chair – Deb Brownlee Secretary – Annette Eardley Treasurer – Bill Adams Membership and Research – Michelle Smart Researcher – James Ruston Schools’ Liaison – vacant Membership recruiter – Maureen Marsh Membership recruiter – May Whitehouse Our patron is Professor Carl Chinn MBE, historian, broadcaster, television presenter and author. Professor Chinn is a direct descendant of a brother of William Perry ‘The Tipton Slasher’, buried at St John’s. Our correspondence address is provided by the owner of the Old School House (formerly St John’s Church School).
The St John’s Preservation Group has received support from the following organisations, In alphabetical order: BBC Radio WM BBC Black Country Bernard Stockford Accountants Black Country Society Committee Black Countryman Magazine Black Country Bugle British Legion Coseley Civic Society Dudley Chronicle Dudley Council for Voluntary Service Dudley News Dudley North MP, Ian Austin Dudley Police and Community Police Express and Star Former members of the St John’s congregation including Sunday School Teachers and a Brownie/Girl Guide Leader Freebodies Pub High View Fish Bar Kelley Fogg (Director, Zoomshare) Pedmore Panthers United Servicemens Club Surestart Seventh Dudley Scouts Tiwana Superstore Quality Hotel Victorian Society Village Voice, Dudley Ward Councillors Messrs Davies, Waltho, Ali West Midlands Heritage Buildings Trust Worcestershire Masonic Museum And numerous individuals who cannot be listed here. We are not the first ‘Friends’ group to be formed to support St John’s. After the abolition of pew rents in 1937 many pew holders and others joined the ‘Friends of St John’s’ which was formed as a free will offering scheme for the purpose of restoring the fabric of the church.[1] It is not recorded how the first ‘Friends’ group came to end, we can only assume that the main proponents became older and were unable to find successors. We are very conscious of the need for succession planning and built into the structure of St John’s Preservation Group is the ‘Young Supporters.’ Children can join from the age of 6 years, and to date we have around 60 Young Supporters. We intend to carry out schools liaison work when the church is re-opened. Many of the local youngsters will find personal family connections to St John’s that they were probably unaware of, and to help with this we intend to purchase a copy of the Memorial Inscriptions book as soon as it becomes available on disc, and offer family history research courses. Young Supporters will be encouraged to work shadow all committee posts including chairing a meeting, organising events under supervision and being asked to contribute with ideas. We aim to identify young people to carry on when we have to leave off, as with the right restoration and care, St John’s can continue to serve the people for many generations yet. As a point of interest it is worth knowing that the original petition which started the whole ‘Save St John’s’ movement, was started by a ten year old boy, Dwayne Morgan. We hope that listed status will help us to prove the importance of St John’s Church, not just to local people, who will be able to take even more pride in their church, but to national and international funding bodies.
“Working Together to Save St John’s Church” St John’s Church Preservation Group The Old School House St John’s Road Kates Hill DUDLEY DY2 7JT www.savestjohnschurch.zoomshare.com [1] The Story of St John The Evangelist Dudley, F. Baugh pg 13
BUILDING
St John’s is built in the Early English style and originally consisted of a chancel with organ chamber, vestry, a clerestoried nave, north and south aisles and a west porch.[1]
Front exterior of church seen from east
Eight bells replaced a former peal of ten presented to the church by the sons of the late Edward Terry, as a memorial to their father. Mr Terry was a Churchwarden for nine years. He was a benefactor to both the church and the parish and his memory lives on by the naming of a local street after him.[2]
Exterior of western tower seen from north west
[1] “The Story of the Church of [2] “The Story of the Church of Edition, page 17
The building further consisted of an embattled western tower which consisted of a peal of eight tubular bells dedicated on 30th May 1926. The embattlements have since been removed and the weather vane is no longer there. The builders were J & W Holland, established 1770, of Dudley.[1] Holland Street in Dudley is named after the company[2], which we believe was still trading until fairly recently under the name of J.Holland, but we have been unable as yet to trace any contact. The church cost £3,300 to build.[3]
An extensive programme of enlargement and improvement was carried out to the building in 1872-3 at a cost of £2,255.00.[4] The chancel, vestry and galleries were enlarged. The organ was removed and a new organ chamber on the south side of the chancel was erected. The pulpit, reading desk and font were all moved to new positions. |    |
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