St John's Church, West Bay

St John’s Church stands in West Bay, a small seaside village near Bridport in Dorset. Built between 1935 and 1939 to designs by William Henry Randoll Blacking, it replaced an earlier mission room converted from a cottage in 1862. Fundraising began in 1923 to raise £3,000 for a larger building, as the mission chapel could not cope with summer visitors. The Bishop of Salisbury laid the foundation stone in May 1935, and the completed church was dedicated in May 1939. In 2014 English Heritage placed it on the Heritage at Risk Register due to roof damage, but repairs were completed by 2018. The church is built of rendered stone with limestone dressings and slate roofs, and can seat three hundred people. Its west gable carries a bellcote above a clock, and the interior has a five-bay nave and a three-bay south aisle with porch and vestries. Some fittings, including the lectern, pulpit and stalls, are of limed oak, while the font came from the old mission chapel. The east window’s stained glass, made by Christopher Webb in 1959, shows Portland Bill Lighthouse and a sailing vessel. Visitors find an elegant, simple interior with Arts and Crafts influences and good natural light through the clear glass. The church sits close to the harbour and beach, so it is easy to combine a visit with a walk along the coast. The repaired roofs now keep the interior dry, though some damp patches remain and the leaded windows need work. The building’s modest scale and clean lines make it a quiet place to sit and reflect after a stroll by the water.