Take a Tour

The present church building at St John's was completed in 1887 . It is built in the nineteenth century Gothic style, of sandstone with brick features. It has two front doors, the north door opening to Halifax Street and the south door to the garden. There are stained glass windows at the front and back of the church and the original leadlight windows along the sides.

The sandstone walls are unusually tuck-pointed. The angled buttresses are also noteworthy.

The tower, which still dominates the streetscape, integrates well with the rest of the church. Its bell is still rung for services.

At the eastern end is a small memorial rose garden, set aside
in 2000 and presided over by a bas relief Christ in Majesty,
by noted South Australian sculptor Rosemary Madigan.

The nave is simple and unusually wide with elegant king-post trusses in the roof. There is nothing to distract the eye from the handsome sanctuary. Along the side walls of the nave runs the original decorative frieze, uncovered during the recent restoration.

The nave stained glass windows on the southern wall



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The colourful reredos features the Archangels
Michael and Gabriel, painted by James Aldridge.

The carved wooden altar which originally stood against the eastern wall of the church was moved forward in the early 1990s in keeping with present-day ideas for the more direct involvement of the People of God in the performance of the liturgy.

In the early twentieth century the chancel was much more ornate, with a wrought iron rood screen, a wide decorated frieze under the windows and brocade wall hangings to frame the fine altar.

Today its simplicity fosters the quality of our

worship.

The dramatic rood cross, separating chancel and nave, was made by the members of the Little Monasteries of Bethlehem in France, whose vocation is to create art work for churches.

The octagonal pulpit was carved by the grandson of the church builder, William Rogers. Behind it is the foundation stone of the 1887 building.

The carved oak gothic bishop's chairs and side chairs to the right of the chancel were made by an Adelaide Hills cabinet maker.

The main pipe organ in the chancel was built by James Dodd and commissioned in 1901. It was substantially rebuilt by George Stephens in 1996. Its sound and the acoustics of St John’s are widely admired.

At the back of the church stands a second baroque organ, built by Fray for St Mary Magdalene's, Moore Street, Adelaide, in 1897. Now in private ownership, it was lent to St John’s while the Dodd instrument was being rebuilt and continues to be used here.

The Steinway piano complements the other instruments.

At the end of the pews is a children's corner, comfortably furnished and equipped where children can quietly play during the service.

The Mary statue was also made by the members of the Little Monasteries of Bethlehem and acquired in 2000.

The Baptistery at the western end of the church contains a marble font presented by the Needham family in 1919 and dedicated by the Right Rev'd A Nutter Thomas in that year .

The most interesting of the stained glass windows on the western wall is the central window which depicts St Paul at the altar of the Unknown God in Athens and was made in the studio of Morris and Co to the design of Sir Edward Burne-Jones.