FARNHAM COMMON, Buckinghamshire – St John the Evangelist. 

Extension 1924

In 1924 a plan was submitted for an extension, including a south aisle, vestries, Lady Chapel, sanctuary, west porch and narthex, and completion of tower.  Eventually only part of this was carried out, with the south aisle extension and the work on the tower being deferred.

However, a new sanctuary was constructed, giving a better sense of proportion to the building, and the vestries and new porch were built. The sanctuary was extended eastwards, losing its apsidal shape in favour of a flat end wall.  Its roof follows on effectively in style from what was already in place. The guide book says:  Had this plan been carried out in its entirety, St. John’s would have had few equals of its size and period.

The dedication of the additions to the church took place in 1925, and was reported in the Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette of 6 February of that year.

After describing the background to the original part of the building, which dated from 1907, the additions – and costs – were described thus:

The additions comprise:  North porch, 10-ft. by 10-ft., £250;  chancel, 7-ft. or 8-ft., £942;  lowering of the font and transferring the entrance of the heating chamber to the exterior, £81;  choir vestry, 18-ft. by 15-ft., and clergy vestry, £1,370;  a total of about £2,650, which, with the architect’s fees and other minor alterations, becomes £2,900.  The architect was Mr. G. H. Fellowes Prynne, and the work has been in the capable hands of Mr. William Hartley, of Wexham, who, on its completion, made a gift of a flagstaff, which has been erected in the churchyard.