[1] Kelly’s Directory 1895

 

 

SPECIAL FEATURES

 

Baptistry Cross

In 1916 a baptistry cross was made and given to the church by Mr. A. Dudley Cheese.  Mr. Dudley Cheese had a processional cross made and gave that to the church in 1938.

 

Dambuster

There is a memorial plaque dedicated to the memory of Flight Sergeant Stephen Burns. 

 

Font

A marble font designed in the 13^th Century style is located in the baptistery.  The font was designed by T. Grazebrook and the bowl is cut from a block of white Grecian marble.  It is a memorial to the first vicar.  Inside the font is a plaque “this font is dedicated by parishioners and friends to the glory of God and to the loving memory of the Rev. Edward Henry Lane Noott M.A., vicar of this parish 1843 to 1905.”

 

Pulpit

The stone pulpit contains four panels.  It is

supported by five marble columns.  Each panel

shows one of the four Evangelists –

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

It was given in memory of Mrs Edward Terry.

 

 

Reredos

There is a stone reredos in the sanctuary.

This depicts figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John.

 

Memorial to Freemason

There is a memorial tablet to William Masefield, Deputy

P.C. Master of Worcestershire.  The tablet is engraved

“Whose distinguished services to freemasonry endeared

Pulpit depicting four apostles

him to his brethren who erect this tablet as mark of their

brotherly love.”[1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HISTORY

 

In 1182 Dudley had just two churches, St Edmund’s and St Thomas’s (both still in existence).

 

At the end of the eighteenth century, during the industrial revolution, Dudley grew considerably and the two existing churches of St. Thomas and St. Edmund were inadequate to meet the increased demands on them . 

 

In 1827 St Andrew’s was built at Netherton, but there were still other districts to be catered for.

 

St John’s church was constructed during a period of intensified church building by the Established Church, the beginning of which was marked by the Church Building Act 1818. This Act set aside £1million pounds to build new churches in new centres of population in order to counter the rise in non conformity; an additional £500,000 was voted in 1824. The Church Commissioners (Parliamentary Commissioners) were disbanded when the funds were exhausted by 1850.

 

In 1837, the then Vicar of Dudley, sent out a circular.  This circular asked for support for a Grand Bazaar which was to be held in the Castle Courtyard.  The Bazaar took place on 18th and 19th July 1837.  Funds raised from this and other events and from contributions from national and diocesan societies for church building, allowed for two churches to be built – one for Eve Hill and one for Kates Hill.

 

Whether or not St John’s and St James were beneficiaries of the Church Building Act 1818 we do not know, but we do know that it was many years before the cost of building was fully met, for in 1853 the Vicar and Churchwardens of  the Parish Church (St Thomas’s) appealed to the ratepayers for a rate of threepence in the pound  to pay for the two District Churches, St John and St James. So far is known this was the last church rate levied in Dudley[1].  It may be that the bulk of the Church Building Act funds went to St Thomas’s, as in 1815 an Act of Parliament ordered its demolition as ‘too small and inconvenient’ and the present St Thomas’s church was opened in 1818.[2]

 

The site for the building of St John’s  was given by the Trustees of John William, 1st Earl of Dudley.

 

The foundation stone of the new church situated at Freebodies, Dudley was laid  in 1838. Freebodies was a settlement close to that of Kate’s Hill and situated about half a mile from Dudley town centre. Completed in 1840, the church, now known as St John’s, was a chapelry of the Dudley Parish Church of St Thomas (known locally as Top Church) until 1844 when St John’s Parish was created.

 

 

 

On 27th July 1840 the Bishop of Worcester served the consecration ceremony and dedicated the church of St. John to serve the houses spreading up the hills east of Dudley.  The Rev. John Short, M.A., was originally placed in charge since no separate parish had been created. 

 

Although the new parish of St John contained high status houses such as Hill House, the Firs and (the first) Dixons Green House, as the nineteenth century progressed high density housing encroached upon the Freebodies, Cawney Hill and Kate’s Hill, the three settlements being referred to, loosely, as Kate’s Hill.

 

The new parish served the increasing number of parishioners living to the east of Dudley Town. It provided the Offices of the Church to the town in time of emergency when, due to lack of space in the churchyard of St Thomas, the churchyard of St John was used to provide common graves for victims of the cholera epidemic of 1849.

 

During the inter-war years the speculative building of suburbs, particularly in the Oakham area greatly increased the number of St John’s parishioners. Post- war housing construction, both by the council and by private builders, has caused a high density of population within the parish.

 

Architecturally and socially, St John’s church is the principal central place within the parish, and is regarded by parishioners as the natural focus point for the celebration of vital personal and national events.

 

The current population of St John’s parish area is in excess of 13,000. Before 1901 the population was given at figures from 5,500 to 6,000. In 1901 it was 6,000 to 7,000, increased to over 10,000 in 1931, and in 1961 approximately 17,000.

 

In the Church Census of 1851, we have a form completed by Rev Noott which shows persons attending St John’s on Sunday 30th March, 1851 to be 174 in the morning, and 187 in the afternoon. These were apparently low figures due to the date being a holiday day.

 

St John’s church was closed in 2002 and a small congregation now meet in the Parish Hall.

 

There is strong resistance amongst our membership to worship having been transferred from the church to the Parish Hall, and despite appeals we have not been able to persuade any members to attend.  However, our zother meetings have been well attended.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LYCHGATE

                                                                                    In 1920 a Lychgate was erected[3].

                                                                       

This was to serve as a parish memorial to the men who lost their lives in the 1914 -18 war.  The architect was T. Grazebrooke.  It was dedicated on 5^th June 1920 by the Lord Bishop and cost about £500. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Lychgate seen from inside the churchyard - south

 

 

 

“It is built of Grinshall (Salop) stone

with an open timber roof covered

with tiles.  It has two moulded

archways, south and north, with

gables over, enriched with mouldings

and tracery panels, the apex of the

south gable being finished with a

cross.  Fixed on the inside stone walls

is a bronze running band with an

inscription, and under the band,

bronze tablets recording the names

Lychgate seen from outside the churchyard - north

of 122 parishoners who fell in the

Great War.”[4]

 

The Right Hon. Colonel Sir Arthur

Boscowen, MP unveiled the bronze memorial tablets.[5]

 

 

The building work was carried out by Messrs A.H. Guest of Stourbidge. The bronze bands and tablets were by Messrs Baker & Co, St Paul’s Square, Birmingham.

 

We understand that the brass plaques once displayed inside the Lychgate have now been removed for safe keeping, although at least one has had to be recast due to theft.

 

The original wrought iron gates were made by Messrs Hill and Smith of Brierley Hill.

 

We have been told that the Lychgate wrought iron gates are in storage.[6]

 

We have identified  that the architect, T. Grazebrooke is also responsible for designing the extensive Netherton Arts Centre[7] building in Netherton near Dudley and the Whitely Memorial Parish Room at Pedmore.[8]

 

He also designed the marble font which we are told is still in St John’s.