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Summary

Description

Dated 1827, substantially reduced and rebuilt 1959. 3 x 1-bay hall church. Harl-pointed rubble and harled walls. Some droved sandstone dressings and concrete dressings, margins, doorpiece and belfry. Base course, margined openings to S elevation, projecting cills to windows.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: gable to left with tall round-arched window at centre; entrance door in square 3-stage tower at right comprising round-arched surround with keystone containing 2-leaf panelled timber entrance door and radial fanlight, oculus centred above, concrete arcaded open-work belfry to upper stage.

E ELEVATION: 4-bay elevation with bay to outer left obscured by advanced tower elevation comprising round-arched window at ground with upper stages matching S elevation; tall round-arched windows in bays to right.

N GABLE: tall round-arched window at centre.

E ELEVATION: single tall round-arched window to right of centre; elevation to left of centre obscured by church hall addition.

22-pane timber fixed-lights to principal windows, stained glass to N window. Modern concrete tile roof.

INTERIOR: 2-leaf panelled timber inner entrance doors with glazed uppers. Timber fittings to nave including vertically-boarded wainscoting to nave, horizontally-boarded pews, and modern polygonal timber pulpit.

CHURCH HALL: harl-pointed rubble T-plan hall comprising 2-bay elevation to W, blank gables to N and S, cement-rendered and lined link to church.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS: small rubble-walled enclosure to E of church (marking extent of original church), advanced at centre of E wall with infilled lower portion of former entrance door. Rough rubble wall to road with stone urns on square concrete gatepiers.

Statement of Special Interest

In ecclesiastical use. The original church was reputedly a copy of St Columba's Church in Greenfield Place, Lerwick, which was designed by James Milne of Edinburgh (1825-9). It is said St John's was a larger building capable of seating 2000, although the remains of the east end of the building suggest a church no bigger than St Columba's. Timber for both churches arrived on the brig Elrick from New Brunswick, Canada. Although little remains of the original church, the building's history and subsequent rebuilding are of interest

References

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