Monday 14 January 2008

Saint Johns Church Wakefield.

High Altar.

One of the stations of the Cross.



The Nave. Note the very fine pulpit and lectern.


Choir gallery.


This is the Church which we use when away on conferences at Wakefield. Just around the corner from the College, it is a stunning place, full of Georgian splendour with just a hint of the possibility of being in the Austrian Tyrol, given by the splendid slightly Baroque carved wooden High Altar and reredos. Sadly, as you can see, there is a nave altar which is not complementary to anything else in the Church. A simple dark wooden affair without any covering would be much better, although it would have to be taller and less wide to fit into the architectural scheme set by the rest of the furnishings. I was very touched by the Stations of the Cross which had been made by the children and then related to events in our lifetimes. Cleverly the underneath of the choir gallery had been converted into a community room, allowing the Church to be open throughout the day without having to have the main body left open.