The Church has been a site of Christian worship for over a thousand years and was originally part of the lands of the Benedictine monks of Westminster. The first reference to a church is in 1312 and in 1333 a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary is recorded. Pictures show that this church was small, part stone, part timber with a small wooden tower. By 1744 the building was dangerous. The local population had also grown significantly, attracted by the spa waters and the healthier and cleaner air above the City. A new church was needed.

John Sanderson was chosen as the architect. The plan finally chosen had the steeple at the East end, as the land fell away sharply to the west.

The church was much smaller than the present day building, although the gallery has always been part of the building. The village lay to the east and unusually the congregation entered by two doors on either side of the main altar, with the vestry behind the altar.

The church was consecrated on 8th October 1747 by the Bishop of Llandaff and was dedicated to St John, although no one thought to specify which one. (In 1917 the Bishop of London decreed it to be the Evangelist.)

By 1827 the church was again too small. In 1843 Robert Hesketh drew up plans to extend the church 30 foot westwards by means of transepts and gas lighting was installed.

In 1871 suggestions were made again for “beautifying and improving” the church. The chosen architect F P Cockerell suggested demolishing the tower. A fierce conservation battle ensued resulting in a petition signed by 270 people including William Holman Hunt, George du Maurier, Anthony Trollope, Edward Burne Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris. As a result the tower was not demolished. Instead the entire church was realigned and the altar was moved to the west end, and a new and more elaborate chancel added.

• Fine Commandment Boards carved by Thomas Ady for the new church
• The font by the East door that incorporates the bowl of the 1745 font, the stem being removed to the Lady Chapel.
• The modified pulpit from the 1745 church
• The Willis organ
• Choir stalls and organ case designed by T G Jackson
• Stained glass windows in the North and South aisles donated by Alfred Bell of Clayton and Bell, designed to give a medieval feel to the nave
• A unique memorial window in the Arts and Crafts style by the artist Joan Fulleylove
• The colourful East windows, designed by Ellis Wooldridge, date from 1884 and depict Christ in Glory flanked by John the Baptist and John the Evangelist
• The bust of John Keats donated in 1894 by American admirers of the poet.
• The Bread Cupboard in the Lady Chapel, a remnant of the bequest of John Rixton, who died in 1658, leaving money to provide bread for the poor.
*John Flaxman's 18th century memorial to George Steevens rescued from obscurity after the church in which it had been installed was deconsecrated it now adorns the Lady Chapel. Steevens lived for a time in Hampstead.

Why not take a short self guided tour and look at our archival architectural material.

Disabled access is only possible for the nave.