Saturday, 8 July 2023

St John the Evangelist Catholic church Banbury

 

Funny enough I have passed this church before when I visited Banbury with my wife. I took photos and posted them on Geograph. I have visited a few Catholic churches though I tend to find most closed and few have churchyards to look around. They still hold a place in my heart as I was brought up a Catholic. The only history I could find on the church was on it's website. St Johns Church was constructed in 1838 one of 35 Catholic Churches built in England between the years 1837 & 1845

 St John the Evangelist from the corner of the churchyard

 
From the footpath looking through the gate

From the south west side

Just in front of the gates, I had to use wide angle on the first few photos as it was the only way I could show the whole church

There is not much of a churchyard though there are a few headstones there. Over on the south west side is a shrine to the Virgin Mary and the bottom photo shows what looks like a capital of a column from it an demolished abbey, it hides a spotlight

The atrium as you walk in the church

Looking down the nave

The chancel arch and apse behind, in front is the altar

The altar with the tree apse windows behind

The altar that is used for services, behind the still have the old altar with tabernacle

The central apse window

The altar and tabernacle, when I was younger at Mass the priest would say mass with his back to you, that changed  in the 1960's and he faces you now

The central apse window

Looking back through the church

 
 You need to look up in the apse, it's impressive

Wide view of the apse

View from the pulpit

Looking up at the organ loft

you will find three statues sin the church, the top I presume is St John the Evangelist, middle the Virgin Mary and bottom Jesus Christ

Along the walls like all Catholic churches you will find the stations of the cross

The all give a description of the scene

Some churches stations are quite small but these are large and east to see

The windows with stained panels

All the corbels are decorated, this was the clearest I managed to get with my phone

I will take my leave with this photo of the font where they hold the baptisms. A beautiful church which I was glad I visited. 

Till next time I wish you all a peaceful weekend


10 comments:

Kim Carberry said...

That is a big old church. The wall behind the alter really is stunning and I love the stained glass windows, so pretty.

Linda said...

Great shots! I love the view, looking up into the apse.

Bovey Belle said...

A beautiful church indeed, especially the apse. I loved the decoration under the corbel too.

Ragged Robin said...

A lovely church that looks full of light. I particularly like the apse and its ceiling!

XmasDolly said...

Totally awesome. You did a fabulous job on your Post. It's beautiful!

William Kendall said...

A beautiful interior!

Sarah MumofThree World said...

The apse is absolutely stunning! I didn't realise Catholic churches didn't have churchyards, but now I think of it, there is one right in the centre of our town and it has no space around it at all.

RachelSwirl said...

I really like how you've caught the sun on the buildings - it really makes them stand proud. Thanks so much for sharing and for linking up with #MySundaySnapshot.

Marie Moody said...

When I was a little girl I went to a church called "All Saints Church" it was in Chicago (Bridgeport), Illinois and it looked exactly like this, but the pews & stations of the cross were different. I wish they could all be like this...

Peabea Scribbles said...

Great collection of photos of your Church visit. The Churches you share are always amazing structures.