6286

 

II  

Designated  

26/04/1977  

09/10/2002  

St John's United Reformed Church and schoolroom  

 

Pembrokeshire  

Tenby  

Tenby  

Tenby  

213206  

200544  

W  

On the S corner of the junction of South Parade and Warren Street.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

Congregational church of 1867-8 by Paull & Robinson of Manchester, in Early English style, successor to a first chapel in Lower Frog Street (later English Presbyterian chapel). The upper stage of the tower and broached spire added 1907-8 by E Glover Thomas of Tenby, probably to the original design. The schoolroom behind was extended with 3 classrooms in 1872 by Paull & Robinson. The builder was James Rogers of Tenby, the initial contract was for £2,750 but the total near £4,000, before the spire was added for £600. The manse in Warren Street by the same architects is listed separately.  

Chapel, yellowish stone with dressings and quoins of paler Bath stone. Slate roofs, Gothic style. Gabled facade to South Parade, cross-gabled aisles and 3-stage tower with broach spire in angle between E front and N aisle. Coped gable with finial, side buttresses with long set-offs, plinth and ashlar first floor flush sill band. Paired pointed 2-light windows with roll-moulded arches, column shafts with carved capitals and roundel above lights. Stone voussoirs. Centre big doorway with pointed roll-moulded arch, column shafts and inset shouldered headed entry with double doors. Hoodmould carried across each side as string course and stepped as hoodmould over small lancet each side. Side aisles have 4 separate coped gables, 3 with single lights, slightly larger end gables have paired lights. Stepped buttresses between. NE corner has tower, SE corner is not built on. NE tower has 3 stages divided by string courses, with quoined buttresses on angles of E and W sides, terminated with gablets at base of third stage. Pointed N doorway similarly roll-moulded with column shafts, second stage with plain lancet each face, and third stage with flush quoins, chamfered corners and a clock on the 3 visible faces. Corbels above under heavy ashlar broach spire. This has splayed base under square stage with nook shafts and tall shouldered-gabled surround each side to pointed louvred bell-opening. Imposts of pointed openings are at level of base of spire proper with gables standing clear of base, which is then broached from square to octagonal. The total height is 24m. Coped W gable to rear and big schoolroom across rear, with broad half-hipped end wall to Warren Street, three pairs of long shouldered-headed lights above high string course. Gabled porch with coped gable and pointed arch to left between schoolroom and chapel NW corner. Attached to W side wall of schoolroom are single storey classroom projections, squared grey limestone with ashlar dressings. Two coped gables facing W, the left one smaller, with 3-light mullion window in side wall to Warren Street. The right one projects further and is entered by side wall gabled porch across face of left gable. W end stepped triplet of shouldered-headed lights, the taller part of centre light blind. Cross gable to right, facing S.  

Gothic aisled interior with thin iron columns carrying deep arched trusses and also raking struts carrying axial purlins. Triple-arched feature to end wall with restored rose window with stained glass. Moveable drum pulpit and pitch pine pews. Gallery at entrance end.  

Included as ambitious and prominent late C19 and early C20 non-conformist church. Group value with adjacent manse in Warren Street.