St John's Church

St John’s Church stands in the centre of Watford, a busy Hertfordshire market town. It is an Anglican parish church on Sutton Road, close to the town’s shops and market. The building belongs to the Diocese of St Albans and follows the Modern Catholic tradition within the Church of England. It has long been one of the leading Anglo-Catholic churches in the south-east. The church ordains women and men to all orders of ministry. Services include Sunday Parish Eucharist and weekday Mass with Exposition and Benediction. The church began in 1873 inside a temporary tin building that seated 450 people. A permanent stone church designed by Eley Emlyn White was completed in 1893 at a cost of £11,000. The architect’s work has been Grade II listed since 1983. The interior contains a 1911 pipe organ by J. W. Walker & Sons and a rood screen by Sir John Ninian Comper. Other gifts include fine silver plate, vestments, Stations of the Cross and a statue of the Madonna. Inside, the nave and aisles are wide and light, with clean stone walls and clear glass. The chancel and sanctuary were restored in 1961, and the nave redecorated in memory of the first vicar, Canon James. Outside, the stonework was cleaned for the church’s centenary in 1973. Nearby stands St John’s Church of England Primary School, opened in 2018 with a Christian ethos and an intake of sixty children each year.