A brief historical overview of the church and its history

The Church of St John the Evangelist is located on the edge of the Ashdown Forest and seven miles from Tunbridge Wells, and was built in 1839 by the De La Warr family as a Chapel of Ease within the Parish of Withyham, to serve the small hamlet of Crowborough (known later as Old Town or St John’s). The Revd Thomas Charlton (Vicar 1926-1931) stated in 1939, on the centenary of the foundation, that it was Elizabeth Countess De La Warr who “considered the responsibility laid upon her family to provide for the spiritual needs of those who lived in this corner of their great domains”. Fourteen acres of virgin forest-land were enclosed and a small house in this area was enlarged to constitute a school, a schoolhouse and a residence for a priest. The church was known locally as Crowborough Chapel, and was served by the Curate from the mother parish of Withyham, St Michael and All Angels, three miles to the north.

Originally the church consisted of the nave only, and followed the design of Newman’s Church at Littlemore, near Oxford. It was 60 feet by 25 feet, and 43 feet high, with a grouped triplet of three lancets at the east end, lancets in the side walls, and a window with simple tracery above the west door. The west front was surmounted by a bellcote. The church was, in essence, a simple plain design.

The Story of Crowborough (1933) describes the impressive ceremonies performed at the consecration of the church on 31^st July 1839 by Dr William Otter, Bishop of Chichester. “A great day indeed! It must have been a picturesque and stirring scene: the cannon booming from the battery in front of the great house of Buckhurst, as they did on all great occasions; the Earl and Countess with the Lord Bishop setting out in their carriage with outriders, a numerous company of the nobility and gentry following, and, at last, in the new little stone building perched on the flank of Crowborough Beacon, the apostolic words were spoken and the acts performed which made it none other but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven”.

Within a year, in 1840, St John’s “National” School opened. It was enlarged in 1873. In 1879, the number of children on roll was 80. Children attended until they were 14 or 15 years of age, up until the mid-1950s, after which the school focused solely on primary education. With the population increase in Crowborough numbers grew to over 300 in the 1980s but have now settled around 220.

In 1850 Elizabeth, Countess De La Warr, built new almshouses in memory of her son, George John Frederick “for the reception of six poor persons of the Parish of Withyham, of whom two shall be men and four women. The said six poor persons shall be unmarried or widowers or widows of honest report, members of the Church of England and of the age of fifty and upwards…” In 1974 new almshouses were built by Anne Rachel, Countess De La Warr, in Withyham; the original St John’s almshouses are now a private residence.

In 1865 the Revd Thomas Rudston Read became Rector of Withyham, where he was incumbent for 26 years. It was he who initiated the setting up of the independent ecclesiastical parish of Withyham St John’s, through Order in Council, and on 21^st December 1871 this was enacted. The mother church paid £60 a year to endow the parish of Withyham St John’s and its first Vicar was the previous Priest in Charge, the Revd Edward Herbert.

It was, therefore, Crowborough’s first parish church; the church of All Saints on Chapel Green became an ecclesiastical parish in 1880 (before that, it had been a chapel of ease to St Denys in Rotherfield). The parish continued to be called Withyham St John’s until July 1999, when the title of the benefice was altered to St John the Evangelist, Crowborough, to establish clear affiliation with the growing town of Crowborough.

The chancel was added, funded again by the patron, Elizabeth, Countess De La Warr in 1870, the year in which she died. In 1888 a vestry was created at the west end of the church, where the font now stands, and above it a gallery was erected and an organ located there. Two years afterwards the latter was moved to an organ-chamber built in the north side of the chancel.

In the 1890s the church was further beautified with the most glorious stained glass and reredos, behind the Altar.

In 1971, in the incumbency of the Revd Edward Kerr, a number of refurbishments took place in celebration of the centenary of the ecclesiastical parish. On his death the parishioners funded a Lady Altar in his memory; this is now used as the forward-facing altar in the chancel.

In recent years there have been extensions made to the School, and significant improvements made to the fabric of the church and organ, as well as the churchyard.

KEY FEATURES OF THE CHURCH

Stations of the Cross

These fourteen paintings located on the panelling of the nave depict Christ’s final route to Golgotha and Crucifixion, and are used especially as a form of devotion during Lent and Holy Week. The sequence starts near the choir stalls on the north side, and follows round to the fourteenth station by the pulpit.

Figure of Our Lady

To the left of the chancel arch hangs the impressive figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as Queen of Heaven with the Christ Child. The figures are three-dimensional, within a gilded oval rayed mandorla, each ray separated by a star. The Virgin Mary is standing on a silver coloured crescent moon. Mary has a gold crown over a white head covering, blue gown and gilded over-gown with red and gold decorated border. She holds the Christ Child who is dressed in a gilded robe with blue and gold decorated border. The subject of the carving and decoration is based on the biblical text from the Revelations 12: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars”.

This was designed by Sir Ninian Comper, (1864-1960) the gifted 20th century church architect and designer.

High Altar

The Altar table is stone, and dates from 1839, and was re-located when the chancel was built in 1870. At the dedication the stone altar was consecrated with the church at the express desire of the founders. A stone altar is an unusual feature in an Anglican church, but shows the determination of the founders in identifying with the ideals of the Oxford Movement in the 1830s.

Reredos

The magnificent reredos – the decorated screen behind the Altar itself - was added to the Altar in 1895, and was designed by Charles Eamer Kempe. It was made in wood, and the figures were carved to Kempe’s designs in Oberammergau in Bavaria.

The left section shows St James the Great (of Compostela), standing on a pedestal and holding a pilgrim’s staff and flask. He was the brother of St John the Evangelist.

The central section shows a three-dimensional scene depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds, showing the Virgin Mary with Child, three shepherds, three Angels and one other figure, probably by his raiment one of the magi, as well as the heads of an ass and an ox.

The right-hand section shows St John the Evangelist, standing on a pedestal with his emblems.

A tabernacle occupies a central position below the central section. This is used to reserve the Blessed Sacrament, the consecrated bread from the Mass, the sacramental Body of Christ.

The Stained Glass

The church is endowed with intrinsically beautiful Victorian stained-glass. Most of the stained and painted glass has been designed and made by the Victorian designer Charles Eamer Kempe (1837-1907) in his studio, who evolved a distinctive style and was unmatched in the detail and quality of his work. One can see the insignia of Kempe, the wheatsheaf, in a number of the windows.

The Pipe Organ

It was originally built in by Nicholson and Lord of Walsall. By the 1960s there were problems with the organ, and in 1971 it was rebuilt by FH Browne & Sons of Canterbury, who added the Macbeth electric action and a new console. In 2006 the organ was cleaned and the electronic actions renewed.