Buildings of Newport (39)

St John the Evangelist

The Church of St John is a Victorian Church in Wales parish church in Maindee, Newport, Wales.
The church was built between 1859–60 by Prichard and Seddon of Llandaff. The tower was completed in 1911 by John Coates Carter. The church was devastated by bomb damage in 1941. The church interior was reconstructed between 1951 and 1952, after an arson attack on November 11, 1949. It was reopened by the Bishop of Monmouth on September 18, 1952.


July 1858
Group meets at The King’s Head Hotel in Newport
A small group of people decided to build a church in the Parish of Maindee, Newport. Building began in 1859.

17 April 1860
St John’s the Evangelist Church Opens
It cost £200 to buy the land, £2000 to build the church and £300 for the tower. The main architect of the building was Mr Seddon whose name was quite well known among church devotees. The church opened on Tuesday 17th April 1860 with a service led by the Bishop of Llandaff. The first vicar was the Rev. James Newman who came from Brecon.

1861
The Bell Tower
The church bell was installed in the bell tower marking the completion of work on the church.

1949
War Damage Repaired
The stained glass windows at the east end of the church were damaged during bombing in the Second World War and were taken away for repair.

12 November 1949
A Serious Fire
On the 12th of November, a serious fire started and much of the inside of the building was destroyed. It cost £50,000 and took nearly three years to repair the damage caused by the fire. The windows at the east end of the church are the original ones that were away being repaired at the time of the fire.

18 September 1952
St John’s Reopens
After 3 long years, the church reopened