St John's is a Commissioners' church designed by the Lancaster architect Edmund Sharpe, and built in 1838–40.[4] The church cost £3,299 (equivalent to £380,000 in 2023)[5] to build and £2,599 of this was met by a grant from the Church Building Commission.[6] The foundation stone was laid on 3 September 1838, the same day as that at St George's Church, Stalybridge, also designed by Sharpe. It was consecrated on 24 May 1841 by Rt Revd John Bird Sumner, who was at that time the Bishop of Chester. The church opened for worship in July.[3] It provided seating for 1,234 people.[7] Fifty years later the church was restored, with little alteration other than the addition of two windows to the chancel.[3]
The church is built in stone with a slate roof. Its plan consists of a five-baynave with north and south aisles, a short single-bay chancel, and a tower at the west end. The tower is in four stages, it has a west door, and at the top is a copedparapet and pinnacles. A coped parapet also runs along the walls and gables of the church. The windows are paired lancets. Inside the church are galleries on three sides. The galleries and the nave arcades are supported by octagonal columns. The organ is in the west gallery.[2][4]
^Port, M. H. (2006), 600 New Churches: The Church Building Commission 1818–1856 (2nd ed.), Reading: Spire Books, p. 331, ISBN978-1-904965-08-4
^Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, p. 211, ISBN978-1-84802-049-8