St John the Evangelist, Shobdon

St John’s is a Grade I parish church at Shobdon, Herefordshire, in the Diocese of Hereford and the Arrowvale group, rebuilt in the mid eighteenth century as an outstanding work of English Rococo Gothick.

Overview

Historic England lists the church as an outstanding example of the Gothick style. It was rebuilt between 1749 and 1752 for John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman, under the supervision of his uncle Richard Bateman, a friend of Horace Walpole and a member of the Strawberry Hill Committee of Taste. The architect is not securely named; the design is clearly influenced by Strawberry Hill and by Batty Langley. Twelfth-century arches and a tympanum from the medieval church were relocated in the park as the Shobdon Arches.

The listing describes ogee-headed openings, a west gallery of 1829 on slender Corinthian columns, transepts divided from the nave by pendant ogee arches, a three-decker pulpit with sounding board, and eighteenth-century pews pierced with quatrefoils. The south transept, the family pew, has a marble Gothick fireplace. A twelfth-century font of Hereford school type, with four lions around the column, stands at the crossing beside an eighteenth-century octagonal font.

Further Information

• Historic England list entry 1166734
• Arrowvale Churches