{"id":389,"date":"2019-12-09T11:21:40","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T11:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/?page_id=389"},"modified":"2020-01-30T13:00:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T13:00:20","slug":"i-origins-and-early-growth-1800-1870","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/i-origins-and-early-growth-1800-1870\/","title":{"rendered":"I. Origins and early growth: 1800-1870"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box  gradient-container-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\"  style='background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;'><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row \"><div  class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion_builder_column_1_1 fusion-builder-column-1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last gradient-column-1 1_1\"  style='margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:20px;'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\" style=\"padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;\"   data-bg-url=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-widget-area fusion-widget-area-1 fusion-content-widget-area\"><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-widget-area-1 {padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget h4 {color:#333333;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget .heading h4 {color:#333333;}<\/style><div id=\"alg_back_button_wp_widget-2\" class=\"widget alg_back_button_wp_widget\"><a href=\"javascript:history.back()\" class=\"alg_back_button_simple \" style=\"\"><< Return to previous section<\/a><\/div><div class=\"fusion-additional-widget-content\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box  gradient-container-2 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\"  style='background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;'><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row \"><div  class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion_builder_column_1_1 fusion-builder-column-2 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last gradient-column-2 1_1\"  style='margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\" style=\"padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;\"   data-bg-url=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-text\"><p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-988\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-200x42.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-300x63.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-400x84.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-600x126.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-768x161.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-800x167.jpg 800w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200-1024x214.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/william-ranger-sig-header-1200.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/>It took just one year for the architect, <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/william-ranger\/\">William Ranger<\/a>, to build St John\u2019s church in 1841. Although it was made almost entirely of bricks, Ranger, a brilliant engineer, would also incorporate the latest building technologies to make slender cast iron pillars for his church. It was the first new church in Bury St Edmunds since the Middle Ages and was built to provide space for the town\u2019s fast-growing population of labourers in the brewing and malting industries.<\/p>\n<p>It was paid for by public subscription, although led by the Marquess of Bristol, <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/frederick-william-hervey\/\">Frederick Hervey<\/a>, one of the most powerful men in the town, and cost \u00a36,000 in total. Until 1870, it had just one vicar, <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/revd-robert-rashdall\/\">Robert Rashdall<\/a>, who oversaw a congregation that, although big by modern standards, was perhaps not as large as its first founders had hoped.<\/p>\n<span style='display:inline;'><input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='69dfcbdf88fce5054435764' value='69dfcbdf88fce5054435764'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-69dfcbdf88fce5054435764' value='Show More'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-69dfcbdf88fce5054435764' value='Show Less'><a id='bg-showmore-action-69dfcbdf88fce5054435764' class='bg-showmore-plg-link  '  style=\" color:#216EAF;\" href='#'>Show More<\/a><span id='bg-showmore-hidden-69dfcbdf88fce5054435764' >\n<div id=\"attachment_1052\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1052\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1052 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-300x237.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-200x158.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-300x237.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-400x316.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-600x475.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-768x607.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-800x633.jpg 800w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/07-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1052\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Deed of Consent from the Queen, (courtesy of The Suffolk Records Office in Bury St Edmunds).<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>St John\u2019s was consecrated on 21 October 1841, in the middle of a period of radical change in Bury St Edmunds. The growth of the town\u2019s brewing and malting industries had attracted thousands of newcomers looking for work. Since the start of the century, the population had risen by half to 11,000 or more. Nevertheless, the town still had only its two adjacent medieval churches, St James and St Mary, which together could seat fewer than 4,000, and even that number is exaggerated. Because many pews were private ones, owned by families or individuals, the number who could actually find a seat on a Sunday was considerably smaller.<\/p>\n<p>In 1867 it was reported that, at St Mary\u2019s, only 500 of its 2,000 seats were free. Competition for pews was so intense that some complained that parishioners had to campaign for them as they would in an election. Both churches were also at the eastern edge of the town, too far from the cottages being built at the north of the town.<\/p>\n<p>Flushed with a growing economy and population, the town was expanding in other ways too: the previous thirty years had witnessed large amounts of civic construction, including the assembly rooms (1804), a theatre (1819), a refurbished corn exchange (1820), botanic gardens (1821, 1831) and a hospital (1825). Many other, non-Anglican, places of worship were being founded at almost the exactly the same time. These included the Baptist Church (built 1834), the Roman Catholic Church (1837) and the Methodist Church (1840).<\/p>\n<p>The Anglican authorities feared not only that the new industrial workers would not go to church at all but that they would seek their religion elsewhere. Indeed, by 1851, a third of the town were not regularly attending any church or chapel, and a quarter were going to \u2018dissenting\u2019 places of worship: the Baptist, Congregational, Unitarian or Methodist chapels, or the Quakers\u2019 (Friends) Meeting House. The local establishment hoped that if a new space for Anglican worshippers were made, somewhere close to the new growth in the town, they would find many willing newcomers.<\/p>\n<p>By the late 1830s, the need for a new parish church in Bury St Edmunds had been recognised for a decade or more. In the late 1820s, it had even been proposed that the upper floor of the Market Cross could be converted for worship. By 1839, planning had begun in earnest to build a new church for the \u2018accommodation of the poor\u2019. The new terraced streets of Bury St Edmunds, many of which still exist today, were increasingly to the north of the town in an area called \u2018Long Brackland\u2019. The significance of this end of the town was underlined when the railway station was built here in 1846.<\/p>\n<p>The building of the church was led by important people from the local church hierarchy and aristocracy. Of these, the most important by far was <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/frederick-william-hervey\/\">Frederick Hervey<\/a>, 1st Marquess of Bristol. The Herveys were one of Bury\u2019s two dominant families: a number of the Marquess\u2019 ancestors had served as Member of Parliament for the town, and Frederick had studied at St John\u2019s College, Cambridge, the new church\u2019s dedication saint. The decision was made at a meeting of the Lecturers of St James in April 1839, and a site was found, with some difficulty, during the summer of 1839. (\u2018Lecturers\u2019 or \u2018Preachers\u2019 were paid principally to deliver sermons, while curates would carry out ministerial duties in the church.)<\/p>\n<p>The site partly encompassed a pub, and correspondents noted that the publican and even some dissenters were willing to contribute. The Bury &amp; Norwich Post described the area as a \u2018low and obscure quarter of the town\u2019 with a \u2018large and poor population, far removed from the parish church\u2019, which was St James. The purchase cost nearly \u00a31,400. Permissions from the Church Commissioners and the Bishops of Norwich and Ely were sought in the winter, the reason for involving both bishops being that there seems initially to have been some doubt as to which diocese the church was in (the diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich was not formed until 1914). A contract with the architect, <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/william-ranger\/\">William Ranger<\/a>, was drawn up by April 1840.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_997\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/contract\/\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-997\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-997 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-177x142.jpg 177w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-200x160.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-400x320.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-600x481.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-768x615.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-800x641.jpg 800w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/09-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-997\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>The contract for St John&#8217;s, (courtesy of The Suffolk Records Office in Bury St Edmunds).<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/contract\/\">contract<\/a> itself is exceptionally detailed, with strict measurements for quality control, defining, for example, the width of the masonry joins. The external facing was to be made of so-called \u2018Suffolk white\u2019 bricks from Woolpit and the interior with \u2018red kiln burnt bricks\u2019, which, despite their cost, were to be painted. All the bricks were to be laid in Flemish bond. Structural arches were to have an iron core covered with brick.<\/p>\n<p>The contractees for the parish were <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/biographies\/lord-arthur-charles-hervey\/\">Lord Arthur Hervey<\/a> (Frederick\u2019s son), <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/revd-augustus-asgill-colvile\/\">Revd Augustus Asgill Colvile<\/a>, Rector of nearby Great Livermere, and <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/henry-wilson\/\">Henry Wilson<\/a>, a local squire and the patron of St James. They would promise to take over inspecting the works and paying the instalments to the contractors. They assured their funders that they were not \u2018aiming for any high degree of architectural beauty\u2019. The contractors were Messrs Bell &amp; Sons of Cambridge, who would take responsibility for all the furnishings, including pews, font, galleries, glazing, scaffolding and services.<\/p>\n<p>The building work was financed entirely by public subscription, with gifts ranging from a couple of shillings to \u00a3100. The Lecturers of St James had noted that they hoped \u2018the higher and middle classes in this town and neighbourhood\u2019 would give, and, indeed, many did. Some gave anonymously, or were recorded under names such as \u2018A Staunch Churchman\u2019, \u2018A Country Rector\u2019 or even \u2018A Widow\u2019s Mite\u2019. Many subscribers were members of the same family. In total, subscriptions raised nearly \u00a35,000. The Church Building Society gave another \u00a3400 and the Guildhall Feoffment Trust, \u00a3300, while the \u2018Ladies\u2019 donated over \u00a3100 for ornaments including cushions, candlesticks and books. The Marquess of Bristol promised \u00a3100 a year for the living, the money coming from land in Little Saxham.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1050\" style=\"width: 747px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1050\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1050 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"737\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-200x271.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-221x300.jpg 221w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-400x543.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web-600x814.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06-St-Johns-Records-Office-Photos-Web.jpg 737w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1050\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>List of subscribers 1841, (courtesy of The Suffolk Records Office in Bury St Edmunds).<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>In addition to subscribers, the church also received major benefactions: \u00a3100 from the Marquess of Bristol and plate from his wife; an organ by <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/revd-james-devereux-hustler\/\">Revd James Devereux Hustler<\/a>; and books from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). However remarkable this fundraising model was, the total sum was not great for a whole church building: the famous \u2018Church Building Act\u2019 of 1818 often awarded more than this. St John\u2019s would have to be built on a budget \u2013 and, indeed, Ranger would bring it in tightly within the necessary amount, at just under \u00a36,000.<\/p>\n<p>The laying of the Foundation Stone in July 1840 was celebrated as a major event. Staging was erected, music played \u2013 with over 600 children singing the Old Hundredth Psalm \u2013 and the children attending were given buns. William Ranger would produce a lithograph to memorialise it. The church organised a ritual carrying of gravel, which was donated by <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/thomas-martin-cocksedge\/\">Thomas Cocksedge<\/a>. It was carted by 28 men, including the Marquess of Bristol, the local MP and other important locals. The street was renamed, from Long Brackland to St John\u2019s Street.<\/p>\n<p>The church was to take little over a year to build, and Ranger kept to a tight schedule. He would be paid \u00a3362. Perhaps it was his experience as a builder and contractor in Brighton and London that helped him to manage this large project so effectively, but no doubt the desire to impress a powerful patron like the Marquess of Bristol, who had already employed him on a number of occasions, helped too. St John\u2019s was consecrated in October 1841 by the <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/rt-revd-joseph-allen\/\">Rt Revd Joseph Allen<\/a>, the Bishop of Ely, along with not only Lord Bristol but also <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/frederick-william-hervey-2nd-marquess-of-bristol\/\">Lord Jermyn<\/a>, his son, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/john-henry-manners\/\">Duke of Rutland<\/a>, who was staying with Bristol at the time. Two services were held: one ticketed in the morning and one open to all in the afternoon, led by Arthur Hervey, a future bishop of Bath and Wells. The offertory at the first service realised \u00a3211.5s (\u00a3211.25p).<\/p>\n<p>The church was designed in a creative, loose version of the \u2018Early English\u2019 style of the 13th century, with grouped lancet windows and simple mouldings. It is about 90 by 40 feet in footprint, with nave, aisles, single-bay chancel and west tower. The extraordinary spire is 178 feet high. The nave is six bays in length, a significant number that represents both the days of creation and, as it has 12 piers, the Apostles. Originally, the porch that forms the bottom story of the tower was even more daring, with three open sides that had to be strengthened and reinforced in the 1870s.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1054\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/newspaper\/\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1054\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1054\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Bury-and-Norwich-Post-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Bury-and-Norwich-Post-cropped-95x300.jpg 95w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Bury-and-Norwich-Post-cropped-200x631.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Bury-and-Norwich-Post-cropped.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1054\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Bury and Norwich Post, Wednesday April 1839. Newspaper image \u00a9 The British Library Board. All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk). Please click this image to see the full version.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>The timber vault in the nave is original and in the style of a medieval stone tierceron vault. It is, perhaps, the most remarkable architectural feature of the church\u2019s interior. The original pews were of two kinds: doored, \u2018box\u2019 pews, for those purchasing them, and open benches for the free seats. They were in three blocks, one in the centre of the nave, the others overlapping between the aisles and the nave. A pulpit and desk of the same height were installed, \u2018furnished in crimson drapery\u2019, although a print reproduced in the Bury &amp; Norwich Post in October 1841 suggests that the initial plan had been to have one very tall, for the giving of sermons, and one shorter, for reading scripture. At the western end, halfway up the tower arch, was a gallery with a large organ and space for the choir.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Gothic\u2019 architecture, that is, the style of architecture that dominated during the European Middle Ages, had been enjoying a revival since the late 18th century. It was, however, becoming increasingly popular in the 1830s, and would enjoy almost universal popularity for church design from the 1840s onwards. Indeed, Ranger\u2019s former boss, Charles Barry, was building the Palace of Westminster in a (mixed) Gothic style at the same time. Ranger would also adapt for use some of the latest building technology: not his own artificial stone but rather the use of cast-iron for the piers, so that they could be exceptionally slender in carrying the weight of the walls and roof.<\/p>\n<p>The church\u2019s \u2018Early English\u2019 version of Gothic was a style that had been recommended by Augustus Pugin, the influential architect and critic of the 1830s-40s, for use in low-cost churches because of its simple window design. Pugin would not have approved of the design\u2019s lack of archaeological authenticity, however. During the 1840s, low buildings, with off-centred towers and long chancels became the architectural standard for Gothic churches, as a more \u2018correct\u2019 medieval design. St John\u2019s, however, had the fanciful turrets and pinnacles, short chancel and perfect symmetry that were highly-prized in the early decades of the 19th century.<\/p>\n<p>The church\u2019s interior, with a very prominent pulpit and lectern, western choir gallery and \u2018box\u2019 pews, would also come under attack in the 1840s. It was well suited to the Evangelical influence that had predominated in the Anglican Church at the start of the century and which emphasised, not ritual at the altar, but the reading of scripture and its interpretation in sermons. A prominent pulpit and comfortable pews in a relatively plain building were all that was necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Soon the \u2018Catholic\u2019 movement in the Church of England that was being fostered in Oxford and Cambridge from the 1830s would sweep England, with new values in art and architecture. As one of the last buildings in Regency Gothic, just as the new Victorian forms of Gothic were taking over, it is not surprising that many have written very disparagingly of the architecture of St John\u2019s \u2013 it is, in many ways, a transitional building. Even the parish magazine claimed, in 1908, that in \u2018the appearance of the church, which the most ardent lover of St John\u2019s cannot call beautiful, the architect\u2019s main object was evidently to erect an imposing spire, to which the rest of the building must be sacrificed\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The opinion of contemporaries was perhaps more mixed: the Bury &amp; Norwich Post called it a \u2018beautiful object\u2019 in October 1841; Wilkins\u2019 1867 guide to Bury St Edmunds called the spire \u2018lofty and elegant\u2019 (although it also misidentified the architectural style, cost and number of seats!); while Tymms\u2019 of 1872 wrote that \u2018the whole design of the church is extremely elegant, and the outline of the spire unusually beautiful\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1066 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-200x268.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-400x536.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-600x803.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-765x1024.jpg 765w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-768x1028.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-800x1071.jpg 800w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-1147x1536.jpg 1147w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-1200x1607.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-1530x2048.jpg 1530w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/St-Johns-spire-from-the-south-2-scaled.jpg 1912w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/>In numerical terms, the church was not an unqualified success: although ten years later, in 1851, the year St John\u2019s became a separate parish, some 250 came to the morning service and 350 to the evening one, this still left the building typically around two-thirds empty (assuming the religious census of that year is correct in recording the seating capacity of the church as 850). In total about 7% of Bury\u2019s church-going population came to St John\u2019s, putting it alongside the mid-sized chapels but much less popular, of course, than the old Anglican churches. Things do not appear to have improved in subsequent years. By the 1870s, there were rarely more than 70 communicants in church on a Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Half the church\u2019s pews were sold and half were free: paying congregants had to find about 10s (50p) a year for a seat, not an easy prospect for many in a poor parish. In fact, this did not even represent a very important source of income for the church, raising only about \u00a327 a year. Its congregation was described as \u2018almost exclusively of the working classes\u2019 and the church faced challenges raising money for repairs \u2013 in the mid-1850s, for example, it had to rely again on the Marquess of Bristol for \u00a3500 to carry out repairs on the tower. He remained a loyal supporter of the church.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1079\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1079\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1079\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rashdall-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rashdall-1-200x238.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rashdall-1.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1079\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Revd Robert Rashdall.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>For the first thirty years of its existence, the parish had one vicar: <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/church-people\/revd-robert-rashdall\/\">Robert Rashdall<\/a>, who had grown up relatively locally, in Lavenham, where he had married the vicar\u2019s daughter. He had studied at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, a famous Evangelical college: his own religious practice was no doubt a good fit with its founders\u2019 vision for St John\u2019s. Corpus Christi was also a college with which the Hervey family had some association.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":414,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1081,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/389\/revisions\/1081"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}