ST JOHN'S CHURCH, MEADS, EASTBOURNE
RE-ORDERING

St John the Evangelist in the Meads, Eastbourne was largely rebuilt in 1955-57 by Dove brothers of London to a design by Seth-Smith Monroe & Matthew in the contemporary style of the period influenced by the design of Coventry Cathedral and also retains the original Campanile style tower of 1869 with its Gothic revival style flint facings and natural stone dressings, quoins, jambs, mullions and window tracery. The 1955 church has a concrete structure with flint facings, radiused stone quoins and stone window jambs, heads and sills in a distinctive cruciform design.
CPL Architects were appointed to carry out an internal re-ordering of the sanctuary to provide a flexible space for contemporary worship and events. In addition to new lighting and Audio Visual system by specialists the re-ordering includes the installation of acoustic wall panels to improve the acoustic reverberation and clarity of the space for music and speech, together with an artwork piece on the east wall fabricated from a backlit copper cross reformed from an original exterior feature of the building. The north porch has also been re-opened as a means of escape and a stone ramp with stainless steel and glass balustrade installed to provide safe egress.