Parts of St John the Evangelist Church, Wotton, date from the second half of the 11th century. The tower and sections of the nave date from this time, the blocked round arch in the tower's west wall is typically Saxon or very early Norman. Excavations in 1975 revealed foundations, extending westwards from the tower in line with the two modern buttresses, of an even earlier church building with mortared walls and a chalk floor.

The main roofs are of Horsham stone slates, whilst the porch which was built in 1857 to replace a previous timber porch, and the vestry to the south of the chancel, also mid 19th century, are covered with plain tiles. The bellcote has timber shingle tiles and a lead covered spike finial.

The inner south doorway was inserted in the 11th-century nave wall during the late 12th or early 13th century. The arch is constructed of alternating green firestone and clunch (chalky limestone rock) and is famous for the minutely carved heads on the inner order (lower ring of stones). The lowest carving on either side are modern repairs, whilst the other six are original and, from the second-lowest on the left going clockwise, represent a pilgrim, queen, nobleman, priest, king, and pope.

The high chancel arch dates from the mid-19th-century and was built to replace the smaller original 13th-century arch. The chancel and adjoining Lady Chapel also built in the mid-19th-century. The east windows were also updated at that time and replaced the three original lancets.

The Lady Chapel became the Evelyn Chapel in the late 16th century. It contains some interesting Evelyn family monuments, and a marble font probably dating from the early 17th century and used for the baptism of John Evelyn (1620 – 1706) a celebrated English writer, gardener, and diarist who was born in Wotton.

The Wotton churchyard wall contains low openings that were to allow access for sheep to graze the churchyard, a traditional practice in sheep farming areas such as the Downs. The absence of Yew trees (poisonous to livestock) in this churchyard seems to support this assumption.

wealdanddownlandchurches.co.uk/wotton-church

JakobusPilger

June 24, 2024

The first name John has been widespread since biblical times, and so it should not surprise us to find a whole series of blessed and saints with this name over the two millennia of Christianity. At the threshold from the Old to the New Testament we encounter John the Baptist (also John Baptist), to whom most of the churches dedicated to John are dedicated. But one of the four men who wrote the New Testament Gospels also bears this name. This church in Wotton is dedicated to him, JOHN THE EVANGELIST. A long church tradition has regarded the evangelist as identical with the apostle John mentioned in the Bible, but this is doubted in biblical scholarship.

"The Gospel of John exerts a peculiar fascination. It is difficult to escape its solemn, sometimes mystical language. It addresses deep human needs and longings: hunger and thirst, the search for fulfilling eternal life, the longing for personal communion with God.” (Franz-Josef Ortkemper)

Translated by Google •

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Location: Wotton, Mole Valley, Surrey, South East England, England, United Kingdom

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