St John the Baptist's Church, Blawith
St John the Baptist's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the settlement of Blawith, Cumbria, England. It is located to the east of the A5084 road, south of Coniston Water in the Lake District.
| St John the Baptist's Church, Blawith | |
|---|---|
 St John the Baptist's Church, Blawith | |
  St John the Baptist's Church, Blawith Location in Cumbria | |
| OS grid reference | SD 288,883 |
| Location | Blawith, Cumbria |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint John the Baptist |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Architect(s) | E. G. Paley Austin, Paley and Austin |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1862 |
| Completed | 1863 |
| Construction cost | £1,600 (equivalent to £150,000 in 2019) |
| Closed | 1998 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 171 |
| Materials | Whinstone, slate roof |
New church
St John's was designed by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley and built in 1862–63. It is constructed in whinstone with a slate roof, and was built to replace an older church, also dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Its plan consists of a nave, with a short chancel and a bellcote. The windows are lancets containing plate tracery.[1] The church cost £1,600 (equivalent to £150,000 in 2019),[2] and had seating for a congregation of 169 or 171.[3] Its architectural style is Gothic Revival, and it contains stained glass windows in the chancel depicting the Ascension, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Adoration of the Magi.[4] In 1914, Paley's successors Austin, Paley and Austin rebuilt the chancel arch and the top part of the east wall at a cost of £196,[5] and in 1926 the same practice carried out repairs to the north and west walls, and added buttresses to the south wall of the nave.[6] The church was declared redundant on 1 March 1988.[7]
Old church
The ruins of the older church remain nearby, on the other side of the road (54.2847°N 3.0949°W). This church was built in the 16th century and it was rebuilt in 1749.[8] It was "little better than a barn, of small dimensions, without a tower or steeple" and by 1861 was in "so ruinous a condition" that it had to be replaced.[9] The remains consist of stone walls rising to a height of between 3 metres (10 ft) and 6 metres (20 ft), with a taller structure at the west end. The ruins are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[8]
See also
References
Citations
- Hyde & Pevsner (2010), p. 156
- UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 2 February 2020
- Brandwood et al. 2012, p. 220.
- St John the Baptist, Blawith, GENUKI, retrieved 21 September 2010
- Brandwood et al. (2012), p. 249
- Brandwood et al. (2012), p. 251
- Diocese of Carlisle: All Schemes (PDF), Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2010, p. 1, retrieved 3 April 2011
- Historic England, "Ruins of former Church of St John, Blawith and Subberthwaite (1326663)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 6 June 2012
- Pastscape: St John's Church, English Heritage, retrieved 21 September 2010
Sources
- Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, ISBN 978-1-84802-049-8
- Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2010) [1967], Cumbria, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-12663-1