---
title: "St John the Evangelist, Chichester"
description: "Located in Chichester, Sussex. Built 1812–13. Grade I. Late Georgian Classical, with Greek Revival and Egyptian Revival elements style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Churches Conservation Trust","Sussex","Chichester","Grade I","Georgian","James Elmes"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-john-evangelist-chichester"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:28:37.856Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:33:20.029Z"
location: "Chichester, Sussex"
country: "England"
county: "Sussex"
town: "Chichester"
address: "St Johns Street, Chichester, Sussex, PO19 1UR"
postcode: "PO19 1UR"
built: "1812–13"
architect: "James Elmes"
denomination: "Churches Conservation Trust"
dedications: ["John the Evangelist"]
grade: "I"
style: "Late Georgian Classical, with Greek Revival and Egyptian Revival elements"
materials: "White brick, partly rendered, with stone dressings; slate roof"
website: "http://www.stjohnschapelchichester.co.uk/"
openingHours: "Open daily: 10am to 4pm."
parish: "Former proprietary chapel (Churches Conservation Trust)"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1026696"
gridReference: "SU 863 047"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas"
---

# St John the Evangelist, Chichester

St John the Evangelist is a Grade I former proprietary chapel on St John’s Street, Chichester, an elongated octagonal preaching house of 1812–13 by James Elmes, now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

## Overview

Historic England records a building of 1812–13 by James Elmes of Oving, a rare survival of a pre-Ecclesiological, Low Church interior. Walls are yellowish-white brick, partly rendered, with stone dressings and a slate roof. The plan is an elongated octagon. The pedimented west front has a pilastered stone doorcase and, above, an arched window with a blind balustrade. Side porches serve staircases to the galleries. A cupola copies the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in miniature. Arched windows light the sides; a vestry stands at the rear.

Inside, galleries on slender Egyptianate iron columns form a rectangle within the octagon. A three-decker pulpit of American birch — square readers’ desks and a circular pulpit on a spirally fluted stem — stands in front of a modest altar, with the organ on the gallery behind. Trustees founded the chapel for Chichester’s New Town; it later passed to the Diocese of Chichester, was declared redundant on 22 June 1973, and entered the care of the Redundant Churches Fund (now the Churches Conservation Trust) on 17 August 1976. It remains consecrated and is used for concerts as well as occasional services.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1026696](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1026696)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_the_Evangelist%27s_Church,_Chichester)
- [Friends of St John’s Chapel](http://www.stjohnschapelchichester.co.uk/)