St John the Divine's Church, Morecambe

St John the Divine’s Church stands on Draycombe Drive in Sandylands, Morecambe, a quiet seaside suburb of Lancaster. Built between 1898 and 1901, the church was designed by the Lancaster architects Austin and Paley to seat six hundred worshippers. Dedicated to St John of Patmos, it is listed at Grade II on the National Heritage List for England. The building mixes sandstone rubble walls with ashlar dressings and aluminium roofing on the tower and porch. Inside, octagonal piers carry five-bay arcades and a low alabaster wall marks the crossing. The church is worth the journey for its clear Perpendicular tracery and the large west window by Hugh Easton. Easton’s window shows the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation. The organ, built by Albert Keates in 1901 and rebuilt by Rushworth and Dreaper around 1930, still plays in services. The chancel roof rests on corbels carved with gilded angels, and the font cover is shaped like a miniature spired building. Even the unfinished tower and stair turret add to the sense of an evolving structure. A visitor finds a spacious nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, and a south porch leading to the crossing. The crossing tower rises above a north vestry and a south transept, while the chancel holds two two-light south windows. Stained glass in the windows dates from 1920 to 1994, giving the interior a warm, coloured glow. The alabaster wall between nave and crossing frames the pulpit, and the octagonal piers line the arcades in orderly rows. Outside, the mix of sandstone and aluminium roofs catches the light along Draycombe Drive.