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St John the Evangelist's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the cathedral city of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Built in 1812 to the design of James Elmes as a proprietary chapel, the octagonal white-brick "evangelical preaching house" reflects the early 19th-century ideals of the Church of England's evangelical wing before High church movements such as the Cambridge Camden Society changed ideas on church design. The Diocese of Chichester declared it redundant in 1973. Although worship no longer takes place in the building, its theatre-like design has made it a popular venue for concerts and musical events. The church is a Grade I Listed building. ==History== Chichester, the county town of West Sussex, is an ancient settlement at the junction of several Roman and medieval roads. Roman walls encircle the heart of the city, which is divided into quadrants by straight streets with a market at the centre. Its cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Chichester, makes Chichester a major ecclesiastical centre, as well as an important commercial and administrative centre. Within the city walls there were eight〔 medieval or older parish churches, including the 13th-century All Saints-in-the-Pallant, St Andrew Oxmarket and St Olave's. The southeastern quarter of the city centre, site of an ancient friary, was mostly developed in the 18th century and became known as New Town.〔 It lacked an Anglican church until the early 19th century. At that time, a combination of urban growth throughout Sussex, the challenge posed by the rise of Protestant Nonconformism, and new ideas about the style of Anglican worship—which were closely linked with different styles of architecture—"gave rise to an unprecedented wave of churchbuilding". Many were funded by the government (by way of the Church Building Act), diocesan organisations and national societies; but in some areas, particularly Sussex, private fundraising was a popular alternative method of getting churches built. The proprietary system involved the purchase of shares in the church by private individuals, who received in exchange a "sitting" (the right to own a pew). The shareholders, known as proprietors, could use this pew for themselves and worship at the church, or sell it or rent it out. In some cases, an admission fee was levied on visitors who were not proprietors of the church. Some of the income from this process would support the curate and any clerks or other ministers. A minority of pews were free: they were kept aside for poor local worshippers.〔〔 This method was followed in Chichester, where St John the Evangelist's Church was founded in 1812 by a group of trustees who wanted a church in the southeastern quadrant.〔〔 They commissioned 30-year-old architect James Elmes to design the proprietary chapel.〔〔 He was ill during the design and building process, so the project was overseen on his behalf by George Haviland, an architect who was at the start of his career and who later became a prominent prison designer in the United States. At the time, ideas about Anglican church design were starting to split along ideological and theological lines. The High church movement demanded formality and ritual, placed central importance of the Eucharist and was less concerned about preaching; its churches reflected this by favouring the Gothic Revival architectural style and features, large central altars and lavish decoration. The Low church or Evangelical wing of Anglicanism emphasised preaching, personal belief and an absence of ritual.〔 St John the Evangelist's Church was designed according to an "extreme Low church plan" in which an enormous central pulpit was the focus for the congregation and the altar was so insignificant that it "dwindled to a kind of kitchen table".〔 The height and prominence of the pulpit ensured that the preacher could see all worshippers, and they could see and hear him.〔 The church, an elongated octagon in the Classical style with some Greek Revival features, was built of white brick and cost £7,000 (£ in ).〔 It was opened in 1813, and served the local area for more than 160 years thereafter. It later passed into the control of the Diocese of Chichester, the local Anglican diocese; but falling attendances caused the church to be declared redundant in 1973.〔〔 Three years later, it was transferred into the care of the Redundant Churches Fund—now the Churches Conservation Trust.〔 It is still consecrated and holds occasional services.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St John the Evangelist's Church, Chichester」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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