A Guidebook to St John in the Oaks Jersey – Part 2
1. The Entrance Porch
An old engraving shows that the Church originally had no porch to its principal door. However, this omission was remedied by the provision in 1853 of a simple porch in grey granite. The initials above the entrance are those of the churchwardens (surveillants). The side door was intended to cope with driving rain from the South- East.
The plate glass entrance doors were designed by John Taylor, churchwarden, and his wife Jane, both architects. The Maltese Cross surrounded by oak leaves and acorns, together with the Paschal Lamb, may both be seen in the superb engraved glass tympanum above these doors.
This work of art, designed by the
Rev. M. G. St. J. Nicolle, a previous Rector, and executed by Mr. Alfred Fisher
of Chapel Studios, was given in memory of Margaret Roberts. On the left is an
open book flanked on its corners with the symbols of the four Evangelists and
bearing the words from the Book of Wisdom: "The souls of the righteous are
in the hands of God." This is balanced on the right with a selection of
musical instruments and the opening bars of the hymn: "Thine be the
Glory".
2. The Lady Chapel (former Chancel)
2. The Lady Chapel (former Chancel)
This was the original 12th century Church and extended to the tower crossing. The East window is Victorian but in Norman times would have consisted of two lancet windows surmounted by a rose window.
The very fine reredos has the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Apostles' Creed inscribed in 18th century French and reflects the post-Reformation tradition of the Anglican Church.
The two Biblical texts are, in translation,
"go into all the world and preach the good news to all
The altar, minus its wooden altar-piece and two altar seats, are probably William IV and the oak eagle lectern is mid-Victorian.
There would have been a piscina,
for washing the holy vessels, on the South side of the altar, but that has
disappeared. The black and white tessellated marble floor of the sanctuary is
contemporary with the reredos.
The oak altar rails, made in the Parish in 1987, illustrate the beauty of local craftsmanship. The stained glass window, depicting the two Archangels (Michael and Gabriel), was given in 1910 in memory of John Arthur Vaudin and was executed by H. T. Bosdet, a noted Jersey- born late-Victorian artist.
Opposite the South door on a small granite pillar stands 17th century copper collecting pot donated by the Seigneur of St. John, Abraham de Carteret, in 1677.
Legend has it that one of the
three church doors had to be blocked up because some frugal parishioners avoided
the two Almoners (deputy churchwardens) and their collecting boxes!
On the right hand side of the
door is the electrical control unit for the striking clock, given in memory of
Major J. H. Sims-Hilditch of Melbourne House in 1969.
3. The Tower Crossing
The font, of simple yet
aesthetically pleasing design, is late-Victorian, and is a "roving
font" at one time it was in front of the Lady Chapel communion rails and
in the early 20th century, moved to a position near the West door of the North
aisle (present NAVE). It has finally found its permanent home beneath the spire
very like the position of the original medieval font in the late-Norman times.
The window beneath the tower, depicting Christ as "Ecce Homo" and John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness, illustrates the tenacity of Victorian stained glass artistic tradition, and bears the hallmarks of the studios of H. T. Bosdet.
This window was donated in 1927
by the Rev. Ernest John St. John Nicolle B. D. to mark his 35 years as Rector.
The Treasury opposite the font was given in 1975 in memory of the Rev. Leslie
Sinclair-Lewis, M. A. (1908-1974), assistant priest. It is sited in a
blocked-up Norman doorway where in former times vergers kept stocks of oil,
candles etc.
Among the fine Church silver is a horn recalling the past tradition of blowing a horn on St. John the Baptist's Day (24th June), to remind farmers to pay their dues on that quarter day.
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