St John the Apostle, Luton
St John the Apostle, Luton
St John the Apostle is a Roman Catholic church on Sundon Park Road, Luton, in the Diocese of Northampton. It belongs to the parish of the Holy Family and St John the Apostle, which also serves Marsh Farm.
- Location
- Luton, Bedfordshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Bedfordshire
- City / town
- Luton
- Address
- Sundon Park Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 3AL
- Postcode
- LU3 3AL
- Built
- Converted 1965–66 from a former granary; blessed 1966
- Consecrated
- Blessed 1 November 1966
- Architect
- T E Wilson of Leicester
- Denomination
- Catholic Church
- Dedication
- John the Apostle
- Diocese
- Northampton
- Parish
- Holy Family and St John the Apostle
- Style
- Converted agricultural building
- Opening hours
- Please contact the Parish Office for details.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Taking Stock records a utilitarian agricultural building, formerly used to store wheat when the surrounding land was arable, converted to a church in the 1960s. The parish history states that in 1965, through Councillor James Cussens, a former granary on Sundon Park Road was purchased and architect T. E. Wilson of Leicester was asked to convert it into a church, with a parish hall and living accommodation. The church, first dedicated to St John the Evangelist, opened in 1966 and was solemnly blessed by Bishop Leo Parker on 1 November; by 1971 the parish was called St John the Apostle. Taking Stock dates the blessing 1 October 1966 and notes a bungalow presbytery of the early 1970s.
The building is a large rectangle with a shallow-pitched roof, long clerestory windows, and single-storey side wings. The entrance gable has a large central window, a mosaic of St John above, and a tall metal cross on the ridge. Inside, a gallery stands over the west entrance; the nave has a gull-wing ceiling, clerestory lighting and plastered walls, with narrow aisles divided by painted uprights. The sanctuary is raised on four steps with a block-like timber altar. The church is not listed.