Church of St John the Evangelist, Chichester, West Sussex

Address: St John's Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1UR
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Open daily from 10:00am to 2:00pm
Keyholder information, accessibility and facilities

A rare surviving example of a Georgian evangelical 'preaching house'

Built in 1812, the delightfully elegant design of St John’s reflects the importance the evangelical movement palced on sermons and scripture reading rather than communion.

Unusually, it was not built as a parish church, but was privately funded and then run by trustees of the evangelical movement of the Church of England.

Ministers were largely paid by the income from renting seats in the church. Pews in the upper gallery, where the rich sat apart from the lower orders, still have their own hire numbers. These originally had separate entrances so that the rich could enter by different doorways from the poor who sat on the benches below.

The church is arranged rather like a theatre, with an impressive triple-decker pulpit with a handsome staircase and elegant handrail taking centre stage with only a small and insignificant chancel behind.

Standing high up in the pulpit, the preacher could be seen and heard by (and could himself see) everyone in the chapel.

St John’s has always been associated with lively musical events and the annual Chichester Festivities now hold a number of concerts in the church.

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How to find us

To locate this church on a map, click on the 'View on map' link that appears below the address information at the top of the page.

Road directions

In St John's Street which is in the south-eastern quadrant of Chichester and leads off East Street

Public transport information

Nearest railway station: Chichester (0.5 miles).

OS Reference No.

SU 864 046

What’s on & news

News

08/08/11 Ever visited a church, wanted to add some money in the wallsafe but discovered you didn't have any cash? We…

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Last year, we welcomed over two million visitors to our churches. If each person donated just £2, this would enable us to keep our churches open, safe and watertight for you and future generations to enjoy.

Close up of a mosaic at St Peter, Northampton

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News about this church

You can find out more about each of the news items summarised below by clicking on the news title.

Donate by text

Last year, we welcomed over two million visitors to our churches. If each person donated just £2, this would enable us to keep our churches open, safe and watertight for you and future generations to enjoy.

Close up of a mosaic at St Peter, Northampton

Text code 'OCCT05' to 70070 to donate now (free from all networks).

Or use the button below to donate online.

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Image gallery

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Images from Flickr

The CCT is grateful to the Flickr group, Friends of the Churches Conservation Trust, for the images shown here. CCT is not responsible for the quality or content of images taken from Flickr.


Donate by text

Last year, we welcomed over two million visitors to our churches. If each person donated just £2, this would enable us to keep our churches open, safe and watertight for you and future generations to enjoy.

Close up of a mosaic at St Peter, Northampton

Text code 'OCCT05' to 70070 to donate now (free from all networks).

Or use the button below to donate online.

Donate online

Useful information

Why not make your visit more enjoyable and informed by finding out about this church and the CCT before you visit?

You can download a range of publications below including the relevant county guide, and any walk round guides we have for this church.
 
 



 

 

PDF iconHampshire, Sussex & Surrey County Guide (PDF, 4.9mb)

This free of charge short guide contains details of all the churches CCT cares for in Hampshire, Sussex & Surrey. Printed copies of the county guide are also available at the church.

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Donate by text

Last year, we welcomed over two million visitors to our churches. If each person donated just £2, this would enable us to keep our churches open, safe and watertight for you and future generations to enjoy.

Close up of a mosaic at St Peter, Northampton

Text code 'OCCT05' to 70070 to donate now (free from all networks).

Or use the button below to donate online.

Donate online

Have you visited this church?

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Comments

  1. Alan Green (19 Jun 2011, 15:16)

    A lovely church, beautifully kept and open most of the day. Well worth a visit.

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Donate by text

Last year, we welcomed over two million visitors to our churches. If each person donated just £2, this would enable us to keep our churches open, safe and watertight for you and future generations to enjoy.

Close up of a mosaic at St Peter, Northampton

Text code 'OCCT05' to 70070 to donate now (free from all networks).

Or use the button below to donate online.

Donate online

Community information for Church of St John the Evangelist, Chichester

 

All our West Sussex churches are in CCT’s South East region.

About the Friends of Chichester Church

Contact telephone: 01243 784915

Contact email: agreenzone@aol.com

Useful local links

Sussex tourism website 

West Sussex tourism website 

Family days out in West Sussex 

West Sussex County Council 

West Sussex Past history website 

Sussex Family History Group 

West Sussex is in the Diocese of Chichester

Donate by text

Last year, we welcomed over two million visitors to our churches. If each person donated just £2, this would enable us to keep our churches open, safe and watertight for you and future generations to enjoy.

Close up of a mosaic at St Peter, Northampton

Text code 'OCCT05' to 70070 to donate now (free from all networks).

Or use the button below to donate online.

Donate online

Church of St John the Evangelist, Chichester, West Sussex

Keyholder

If the access information for this church is listed as ‘Keyholder nearby’, this means that the key is kept by one of our invaluable volunteer 'keyholders', who usually live just a short walk from the church and can give visitors the key; sometimes this is a nearby hotel, pub, library, art gallery or other venue. You will find instructions explaining how to get the key when you arrive at the church.

Disabled access

Two steps up into chapel then flat floor.

Facilities

Due to the historic nature of our buildings, only a very small number of them have heating or running water meaning that they can be cold, and very rarely have toilet facilities. The lighting is usually operated via a 'push button' timer or a motion sensor. We do apologise for any inconvenience the lack of facilities may cause.