The following notes by the Reverend Henry Robert Whytehead, are from the booklet The Minster And Church Life In Warminster, published in 1911:
St. John’s Church
For many years the people of Warminster, living in the township of Boreham, had felt the need of a Church, the Minster being a mile and a half distant. At length the late Squire of Bishopstrow and his son, Mr. George Temple, both keen and devoted churchmen, gave eight acres of valuable land, as a site, burial ground, and part endowment, besides £500, and when on S. Matthew’s Day, 1865, the beautiful Church was consecrated as a chapel-of-ease to the Minster, the whole of the £2,700, which the building cost, was either paid, or promised. Sir E. Street was the architect, and St. John’s is a model of what a country church should be. It consists of Nave, N. Aisle, Chancel, Organ Chamber, and Vestries. The benches are of plain oak, substantial, and unpretending. The East Window represents the Ascension. The reredos, by Earp, is a beautiful one, and is a memorial of Mr. W. J. Temple. The Altar was offered by Bishop Hamilton, and the pulpit, the low screen, the font, lectern, and several stained-glass windows, have been given by various friends. The upper brass screen of very handsome design, was placed in memory of Mr. George Temple by his widow.
The massive stone lych-gate was erected in memory of Mrs. Temple by her three daughters. Close by are the school and sexton’s house, of which Sir E. Street was also the architect. More recently a large addition to the school was made in memory of Lieutenant Vere de Lone Temple by his family. Visitors are always struck with the combination of Church, lych-gate, house and school, and with the exceptionally lovely churchyard, with its carefully planted trees, its neat gravel paths, and smooth soft turf. A few years ago by the strenuous exertions of the Reverend E. W. Legg, then assistant curate, and the members of the Guild of the Ascension, and their friends, a Parish Room was added to the group of St. John’s buildings. This serves as an invaluable meeting place for all kinds of parochial purposes, both religious and social.
At the present time, a large scheme is afloat for the enrichment of the interior of St. John’s, by pictures of scripture scenes, which have been prepared by Mr. C. E. Ponting, consulting architect of Salisbury Cathedral, to be carried out by Mr. J. Powell, of Whitefriars, in opus sectile. The Reverend J. W. R. Brocklebank, assistant priest at St. John’s, and his father, have given very largely to this work, which it is hoped will be continued by the efforts of many friends of the Church, until the interior is generally enriched.
