Heritage Open Days Weekend at St John's with organ recital

St John's Church will be open from 2-5pm on Sunday 18th September on the second day of the Heritage Open Days weekend. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the church and its near 180-year history.

Built in 1843, the church of St John the Evangelist, Redhill's oldest church, was later (1889-95) enlarged by John Loughborough Pearson, the famed exponent of Victorian Gothic. It has a 185ft spire, original Victorian stained glass windows, and a Father Willis organ (1897.)

The organ is by the famous Victorian organ builder Henry Willis (aka Father Willis), who also built or rebuilt around 1,000 organs, including those at Alexandra Palace, the Royal Albert Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. 

Robert Cooper, the church's resident organist, will give a recital to demonstrate the organ's abilities at 4pm.

Today's church is largely the creation of a leading architect of the Victorian Gothic revival, John Loughborough Pearson. Most of the stained glass and interior features follow Pearson's design specifications. The stained glass from Clayton and Bell was installed at the time of the rebuilding of the church, including the striking East Window, which features the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. There is an outstanding gilded triptych, set on mahogany and Numidian marble, with a central panel showing the crucifixion, flanked by the Agony and the Entombment. Sadly Pearson died at the end of 1897 and so did not live to see it in place in 1898.

Entry to the church and the recital is free.

We look forward to welcoming you.